<p>I've heard that Wake Forest is absolutely DOMINATED by their Greek Life, as in to the extent if you're not in a sorority or fraternity, you are outcasted and don't have any friends. Is this even true? I really want to go to a college that isn't totally dominated by sororities and fraternities, and I don't want to go to a school that's really cliquey. Is Wake Forest super cliquey? Do they have a lot of cliques and don't intermingle with one another? Thank you for any replies!</p>
<p>Wake forest is definitely very greek and very cliquey. However, its absurd to say that independents dont have friends or are otherwise ostracized. One of the reasons that many students do choose wake forest, though, is because of the dominant greek life. If you have a problem with a school that is heavily greek, you may want to look elsewhere.</p>
<p>Ditto. Wake Forest has an exclusive Greek System that is extremely cliquey. There are only 2 or 3 Chapters with good reputations on campus. Because the faculty is essential anti-Greek, PanHellenic sets Rush quotas so low that getting in a good sorority is extremely difficult. The process is very competitive and an incredible distraction from academics. Also, being a first generation Greek school, Wake Forest does not acknowledge any legacies. Keep applying! </p>
<p>notimpressed,</p>
<p>Did you just not get a bid or something? You sound so bitter. As a Wake Forest sophomore who is unaffiliated, I can say without hesitation that everything you said is hyperbole at best, and at worst, a blatant misrepresentation of Wake.</p>
<p>Half of the student body is unaffiliated. That’s half. With a 50%. The faculty is not “essentially anti-Greek,” they actually do a pretty fair job of trying to uphold regulations while not being overly aggressive. Considering every Greek organization has at least one faculty adviser, I guess you’re about as unfamiliar with how campus organizations work as you are with Wake Forest itself.</p>
<p>Gosh you are so bitter. The rush process takes place before second semester even starts…it can’t hurt academics because class hasn’t even started. Wake is not a first-generation Greek school, the first fraternities came in the late 1800s. Sororities are newer because sororities didn’t really become a “thing” until the mid-20th century, when Wake was still Baptist affiliated.</p>
<p>You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about and are clearly blinded by the fact that you did not get your preference with a sorority. I have friends in Greek Life and friends who are not. I enjoy being independent.</p>
<p>If you are good socially, friendly, and fun to be around, you will have friends at Wake Forest, whether you wear Greek letters or not. That goes for life as well. You can either sit around and post derogatory comments online, or you can get out of your room and make some friends.</p>
<p>Regards,
A perfectly content GDI at Wake</p>
<p>Here’s my perspective on Greek life, to follow up Ronaldhinho’s comment, as a non-Greek, male WFU sophomore.</p>
<p>Wake Forest parties are almost exclusively run by Greeks. No one argues that. Students 21 and up enjoy going downtown to Winston-Salem and trying the local bars and breweries, but until that point, Greek organizations provide the entertainment.</p>
<p>Any Southern university you look at will have a varying degree of Greek presence. It comes with the territory. That being said, Wake Forest is not any better or worse than its peer universities, especially the private ones.</p>
<p>Being in a Greek organization is the easiest way to get involved socially. You get to go to parties, meet people, and if you join, you have a lot of new friends and a group with which to identify.</p>
<p>However, like I said in my previous comment, half of Wake Forest students do not identify with a Greek organization, myself included. I did not want to be forced to be friends, or “brothers” with people I didn’t necessarily like, I didn’t want to essentially waste a semester going through the pledge process, and I had some moral reservations with the lifestyle.</p>
<p>That being said, I have many friends in different fraternities and sororities. Of course sometimes I feel excluded, I won’t sit here and lie to everyone. There is a sense of exclusion in every situation when a person is not a part of something else. Sure, sometimes I’m like, damn I’d love to be able to go to the beach with 50 bros and hang out for a week, or take a date to the mountains for a weekend. But then I think about the rich, diverse experiences I’ve had at Wake Forest through other organizations in which I participate, and I realize that everything at Wake and everything in life is give and take.</p>
<p>I have been able to have friends in almost every organization on campus, I have developed my social skills in many ways because I haven’t had the crutch of an organization to fall back on to make friends for me. In the end, I hit, I pitch, I run the bases. No organization has done it for me. And I take pride in that. I love hanging out with my friends in fraternities, and I love hanging out with my friends in literary societies, policy networks, athletic teams, religious organizations, and everything in between.</p>
<p>No, it hasn’t been easy. Yes, sometimes it has been inconvenient. But it has been worth every bit of it. Greek life is something that plays a role in the social life of many Wake students, and to ignore that is wrong. However, Wake is only cliquey to those who do not venture out, who do not make friends for themselves, who do not take risks and who do not put the effort into having relationships with people. My friends in fraternities have had a great college experience, and I have had a great college experience. It’s give and take. What will you give up? What will you take from it? In the end, that’s up to each person reading this; that’s up to each Wake Forest student.</p>
<p>No one from College Confidential will be able to capture the awesome experience that is Wake Forest University. I love it so much. Being Greek helps you enjoy Wake from one set of aspects, being unaffiliated helps you enjoy it from another. There’s a big gray area though. The vast majority of Wake students are not of the extreme type who take Greek or non-Greek and run with it until the belt unravels and the pants fall, exposing their own prejudice, rather, most are in that gray area; most take their experiences and meet in the middle, recognizing the unifying quality that makes us all Wake students. It takes effort to get there, but most do. I feel sorry for people like notimpressed who have not realized that yet. I really do.</p>
<p>No college you attend will present you an easy social scene. Every school is challenging socially; it’s a fact of life. Human nature won’t change with a few less fraternities and sororities on a campus. What makes Wake Forest stand apart is that it is worth the challenge.</p>
<p>If you want to be Greek, awesome! There’s so much fun in that. If you don’t want to be Greek, awesome! There’s so many opportunities available for that too. Ultimately, there’s only two words I can say:</p>
<p>GO DEACS</p>
<p>WFU '16</p>
<p>Hey mcbabysheep…</p>
<p>Students like you are exactly why I hope my son chooses Wake.</p>