<p>Stereotypes are everywhere and I the fact is that no matter what side of the fence you are on, you will feel defensive on your position. My daughter’s experience with her Sorority has been nothing short of stellar and I contribute her membership to her success in her job recruitment process. (She had and accepted a job offer in late September). </p>
<p>As the VP of recruitment (one of the most competitive in the nation) in her sorority she works both sides of the fence. She has to be spot on with the girls coming through the doors and be a leader and provide guidance to the women of her chapter. Her chapter at UT has an annual budget of over a million dollars. Being on the Executive committee of this sorority teaches her how to manage that budget and what it takes to stay on task, on time and on budget. Those are priceless lessons and achievements that coupled with her outstanding academic career and her generosity with her time in other organizations gave her a stronghold over the majority of other candidates she was going up against. </p>
<p>Young women can get that experience in other places, but typically in co-ed organizations, leadership positions are dominated by men and IMO sororities are a great springboard for women who are driven and want to lead.</p>
<p>And for the naysayers…my kid is not a cream puff. She will graduate in May 2015, hop on a bike as part of the Texas 4000 and ride from Austin, TX to Anchorage AK to promote hope and education on cancer research as her and her teammates raise over $800,000 for cancer. This will take them 70 days and take over 4500 miles. No building floats for this kid…and she is one of MANY sorority women at the University of Texas who are hanging up their pearls to do this. </p>
<p>I think Greek life is an excellent way to get leadership experience for those (such as myself) who didn’t have a particular interest area for extracurriculars. I didn’t have particular talent in music, art, theater, etc. nor did I have an interest in things like debate or newspaper, and I certainly didn’t have any athletic skills. My other activities on campus were positions related to student government and one particular service organization. I would say Greek life gave me some good leadership experiences – both observing and doing. </p>
<p>^ That’s a good idea for a thread: Movies you made your child watch. Not really college related, but it would be interesting. A few years ago, I made my D watch Dead Poets Society. It’s now one of her favorite movies:). </p>
<p>Hunt- there are a lot of posters (I put myself in this camp) who can say, “hmm. Some people get sick eating seafood in restaurants. Maybe I’ll order a tofu wrap next time I’m in a restaurant that had an outbreak. Or maybe I’ll be selective when choosing when (Sunday lunch when the seafood arrived on Friday morning? maybe not a good a idea) or where (sushi stand at the ballpark when it’s 95 degrees outside).”</p>
<p>One of my kids had a great Greek experience. It was well out of our realm-- nobody else in the family had ever been involved. I can engage in a discussion which highlights the positives as well as the negatives. And I am objective enough to realize that there were some pernicious elements to frat life which my kid was able to either ignore, take in stride, or manage but that another kid would not have been able to.</p>
<p>You don’t have to be in denial about Greek life just because someone in your family (or you yourself) was in a Frat or Sorority and had a good experience. And you don’t have to dismiss all kids in frats/sororities as drunken airheads, just because there are SOME Greek organizations which lean that way. </p>
Agreed, and that was my point as well. I think there is a significant disagreement about what the “typical” or “average” Greek organization is like–if that really matters much. What I think is important is to find out what the Greek organizations are like at the specific college that interests you–not what they are like at some other institution, and not what they were like at the same institution twenty (or even five) years ago.</p>
<p>I think I may have mentioned this before. When you join a greek organization, you join not just the local chapter. You join a national organization and you are committing to a lifetime membership. Of course, they aren’t holding you hostage or anything, but the idea greek membership is merely local is not what they are selling. If you find anything your chapter does anyplace problematic, you are part of that problem. Like it or not.</p>
<p>Honestly, and I know I"m a snob on this … When I see something that says “the girls we decide to pledge have to have a certain HS GPA for us to consider them,” I think … well, that’s damning with faint praise. This college must not be very selective, because shouldn’t <em>everyone</em> at this college be smart? </p>
<p>^^At a big public school? No, not everyone has a 3.0 or a perfect SAT score. Some students are admitted and must take a remedial course or two. Doesn’t mean they can’t do college level work, but they may be behind in a subject. At many greek houses, the time commitment is pretty high especially that first semester, so they limit those who can pledge to those who have a certain gpa from high school, or make them wait until they have a college gpa. At my daughter’s school, there are only 3 houses, and one of the three doesn’t do initiation until the spring so that the first semester’s grades can be considered. My daughter’s house has study halls required for pledges.</p>
<p>^^ The college I attended wasn’t / isn’t terribly selective. But it’s a decent school and was/ is reasonably priced for a private college. It was what my family could afford.</p>
<p>PG: not sure how snobby, but it may possibly be a bit provincial. Lots of smart folks attend non selective colleges. And grades don’t necessarily tell the whole story, though they may measure willingness to do busy work and thus be useful in selecting future float pompers. </p>
<p>All joking aside, I think it may be provincial to extrapolate the intense college industrial complex that most of us participate in (the fact we are here on CC kind of speaks to that) to the whole rest of the country. A ‘B’ average is just fine lots of places. And ‘C’ is actually average. And average kids go to college.</p>
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Lots of smart folks attend non selective colleges. And grades don’t necessarily tell the whole story, though they may measure willingness to do busy work and thus be useful in selecting future float pompers. </p>