<p>A colleague of mine was cruising the Internet, viewing the web sites of the various colleges and universities that his son, a high school student, has expressed some interest.</p>
<p>In particular, my co-worker was interested in the pages that were dedicated to incoming freshmen (orientation programs, what and what not to bring to the dorms, course registration procedures, etc). For a couple of colleges, he said that he noticed that incoming freshmen had the option of residing in the houses of Greek letter organizations, better known as fraternities or sororities.</p>
<p>He has a couple question that he asked me to post: 1) how could or would a freshman join a fraternity or sorority if he or she had yet to go through formal rush.? 2) would it be better to live in the dorms with other freshmen compared to living in a fraternity or sorority house? 3) Should an incoming freshman join a Greek letter organization in his or her first semester or wait until least the second semester or later to join a fraternity or sorority?</p>
<p>Any comments would be welcome. Thanking you all in advance</p>
<p>I am surprised that freshmen can officially live in a fraternity house. I am assuming that the house must not have enough members living onsite to support its costs. These freshmen would not be considered members. If they are taking in guests, the guests would not be allowed in the membership room & would not be allowed to attend membership meetings. In addition, I doubt that living there equals receiving a bid (or wanting one when the time comes), so that might be a bit uncomfortable.</p>
<p>I think dorms are best for freshmen, but that's just my opinion.</p>
<p>When I was in school, freshmen had to live in the dorm. Rush was 1st semester. Pledges could choose to live in the fraternity houses 2nd semester, but they would have to pay for their dorm room, too. </p>
<p>Obviously, our rush was 1st semester. I liked that, but now that I am older ... I prefer delayed (spring) rush. My sorority went to that system. I don't think fall rush is necessarily bad, but spring is better. Most schools choose one, although some will have an informal rush in spring after a formal fall rush. Kids can always wait until sophomore year to rush. As for whether or not to join right away, there is no one size fits all answer. Much depends on the student, the culture of the school, the way the Greek system is organized on the campus, etc. The student will be able to figure out what to do! Some of my friends' kids joined fraternities last year & the moms were so surprised ... but their sons are very, very happy. They know best.</p>
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<li><p>Some schools have recruitment just BEFORE fall semester starts. A lot of big state schools in the South and Midwest do this. But I can think of others as well. My brother went to MIT (in the Northeast :) ), pledged a fraternity and never lived a night in the dorms. This was not unusual when he was there in the late 80s/early 90s.</p></li>
<li><p>In terms of the dorm vs. house preference, it's really an individual call. My brother would have had it no other way of NOT living in the fraternity. My sister and I both pledged the same sorority (different schools). She lived in the dorms initially and then moved in the house as a soph through sr. I liked my single and stayed in the dorms all 4 years but was a very active member of my chapter except for residing in the actual house. My D is a member of a sorority at HER school and she will stay in the dorms one more year and then we'll see.</p></li>
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<p>A lot of houses, especially at large-membership chapters, just don't have enough beds for all their members. It was never an issue for me to not live in the house because enough of my sisters did. I would have moved in the house if it had been required.</p>
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<li>Again anecdotal. Brother, sister, daughter each pledged as soon as they were eligible. This was Freshman Fall year for the siblings. D's school has deferred recruitment freshman spring semester. I pledged as a junior just because I wasn't interested my first 2 years. I have also served as an alumna advisor to several of my GLO's chapters.</li>
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<p>Positives of Fall Recruitment: Less of a chance of impressionable freshmen hearing the reps of the GLOs ie the WASPs, the ugly girls, the nerdy boys, etc. When you have spring recruitment, the freshmen have heard (and some believe) the stereotypes for the last 4 months.</p>
<p>Positives of Spring Recruitment: If you go to a school that is friendly and relatively social, you maybe more apt to bond as a class.</p>
<p>Informal rush for the sororities only happens if the chapters haven't made quota or aren't at ceiling. It's one thing to have informal rush in the spring after formal fall recruitment. You may be able to get some great freshmen that way. Having informal in the fall is the kiss of death for a woman's GLO at a competitive school. No one wants the freshmen to know that ABC didn't make quota.</p>
<p>I pledged a fraternity at MIT immediately upon arriving as a freshman. It was great having upperclassmen friends and knowing people like myself who survived. The support got me through a brutal freshman year. MIT did away with this system after some kid drank himself to death about 10 years ago. Frankly, I think the old system was better.</p>
<p>Yeah, at MIT now freshman are required to live in the dorms. It actually sucks for the 4 year dorm residents because those who are trying to create an informal living group on a floor will end up with half of their guys leaving sophmore year to live in the fraternities, which screws everything up.</p>