We visited Penn last week and the tour guide said that 30% of students belong to fraternities or sororities but of the four kids I know who are freshmen, all are pledging so I am wondering whether the kids we know are an unrepresentative sample or whether the percentage is on the rise.
The number is usually around one-third. However, most fraternity men are outgoing, so I’m not surprised that it would often feel like “everyone” is Greek.
You will also find it varies a lot by the kids background and friend group. Penn’s rush is in the spring semester, so students have already formed friend groups. Often, a friend group will all rush or all not rush. You could have just as easily talked to 4 students and none of them are rushing.
I have two students who both went Greek at schools with about 30% Greek life.
DD’s school was more of a campus school and even though they claim only 30% Greek, Greek life dominated the campus. There wasn’t much else going on beyond frat parties and sorority/fraternity events.
At Penn, even though they say 30% Greek life, the social scene does not seem to dominated by the Greek system at all. While DS is Greek, I still hear about so many things he is doing that are outside of the Frat environment.
So even though they have a lot of Greek options at Penn, if you choose not to participate, it will not limit your social life. You won’t feel left out not being part of it. I don’t think I could say that about the school my DD attended with the same % Greek.
ETA:
Oh and @uesmomof2 you weren’t the only ones visiting Penn recently
That’s true. My daughter did not participate in any greek house but she had some wonderful EC activities and interaction at Penn in the last 4 years. Those activities gave my daughter a real boost in confidence and job placement. She has at least 2 EC each year. This senior year, she has 3 ECs.