Greek life at Vanderbilt

<p>How intense is the Greek life at Vandy? I am not sure if I want to join a sorority, but I am most likely not going to. I know there is a high involvement in Greek life at Vanderbilt. Am I going to be a no one if I am not Greek?</p>

<p>It’s really pretty dominant for freshman and sophomore years. Once a student is 21, there are lots of activities off campus that are fun - music, bars, etc. It depends on the kid as to whether or not the Greek life bothers them.</p>

<p>“Am I going to be a no one if I am not Greek?” – certainly not! Especially if you look around you at all the many other clubs & events on campus and get involved. There are several acapella groups, dance groups, drama groups, an improv group, etc if you are into any of that; if not, their performances are free and fun to watch. There is student government, an organization that plans speakers or performers who come to campus, environmental clubs, student media (newspaper, TV, music recording), religious or service organizations, intramural sports… I could go on for pages…</p>

<p>You may want to participate in sorority rush in January to see what it is like (you should get recommendations from family friends for each sorority if you want to do that) but your fall semester may be enough to convince you that sorority life is not for you–my daughter had no interest as a freshman and didn’t change her mind this year. She has friends that are Greek, but most are not and they find plenty to do on and off campus, even though they are not yet 21 and she doesn’t have a car.</p>

<p>A lot of girls come into Vanderbilt thinking that they don’t want to participate in Greek life. Most of them end up rushing anyway because all of their friends on Commons are rushing and they want to see what it’s like. Those that join sororities invariably end up loving their sorority regardless of which one it is. Those that don’t will need to do slightly more work to construct their social groups, usually by getting really involved in various extracurriculars as LHSCary described above. The worst thing you can do at Vanderbilt is to be uninvolved or closed-minded, which is a guaranteed road to being lonely and unhappy. If you keep an open mind you will be fine regardless of whether you are Greek or not.</p>

<p>hi, here is a blog about issues between members of fraternities sororities and non affliated students f-ckinggdi.■■■■■■■■■■</p>

<p>Upon a recent visit to Vanderbilt several students told my son (from California) that there is a strong “southern bias” in the top fraternities at Vanderbilt. I know Vanderbilt is working hard to not be perceived as a southern school, but does the social culture still revolve around kids from the South?</p>

<p>No. A couple fraternities are predominantly southern, but they don’t dominate the social scene by any means.</p>

<p>All we are from the south, none of my D’s friends are. They are from Boston, New York, California, Michigan, D.C., and other places.</p>

<p>To answer the original question, I think that Greek Life is pretty important when your a freshman because that’s literally what everyone talks about to the point where it’s a little annoying. However, after that first year Greek Life becomes less and less important because there’s a “been there done that” attitude surrounding frat parties to the point that when your a junior/senior no one really cares about it. At that point there’s more important things to worry about (ie grad school, med school, job interviews, etc.). A lot more girls join sororities than guys, but you can still have a great social life if you decide not to join. If I were you I’d take a look at the anchor link website and look to see which clubs interest you and join. Some organizations have events for members and you can meet people that way.</p>