<p>I have read that approximately 40-50% of Dartmouth students participate in frats and sororities on campus. This statistic kind of scares me. Even though I know that many students and faculty at your school claim that the Greek life really provides a sense of community and is welcoming to all people (parties must be open to all students/only a few pledged members actually live in the houses), I can't help but feel a little wary of hazing and the connotations generally associated with their rituals, or just frats in general. Can a Dartmouth student please comment on how Greek life has affected his or her experience in college? Is it really that welcoming? Does it define social existence or cause exclusion?</p>
<p>I think it's really really silly how people get so frightened of the Greek system because of the stereotypes. It's true we're a party school, but it's not the ******baggy bad-natured kind of thing you might find in some state universities. To be more precise about it, 2/3rds of all eligible students are members of a Greek society, and I'm part of the 1/3rd that's not (though I'm considering rushing in the winter).</p>
<p>Hazing is only something you have to worry about when you pledge, and there's no pressure to rush. As an unaffiliated student you can still go to parties and whatnot, and nobody at all will make you drink. It's standard for Greek houses to provide water for pong, and some students do dry rush (Hank Paulson was one of them, supposedly). I don't know what pledge rituals are like, especially since they vary from house to house, but most of them are good-natured from what I can tell - though that's not saying much.</p>
<p>It's not true I think that parties <em>must</em> be open to all students, and I'm sure each house has its own members-only parties, but the fact is that most parties are, and that there's no resentment about it at all from the Greeks. Everyone enjoys a good party, and I've seen even the most reserved and/or conservative people imaginable at frats, without problems. And if you don't want to go out, you don't have to.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say that the Greek system causes exclusion, though I have been seeing less of my now-affiliated friends going through their pledge terms. It's not like you'll be ostracized for not being a brother or sister somewhere. It is true that social life here is largely defined by the Greek system, but I don't think it has to be. I have a lot of friends who don't bother much with fratting, and we do our own thing. There are so many things to do at Dartmouth that it's hardly an issue, I think. You only have to be worried about it if you're so socially retarded that you can't make friends with anyone. It's really up to you, what you want Dartmouth life to be. You can define it by fratting hard, booting and rallying, or you can define it by all the other options open to you - stargazing on the golf course, watching a movie with friends, playing pong at a room party.</p>
<p>Overall though I think the only way to get a feel for whether you'd be comfortable with this is to visit. I didn't get to visit Dartmouth before I came, but I love it here.</p>
<p>Thanks for that response; it was exactly what I was looking for.</p>
<p>I did NOT expect to join a sorority before I came to Dartmouth, because I had a very stereotypical image of Greek life in my head. But the Greek system at Dartmouth is NOT like the stereotype - there are enough houses, and they are all different enough from each other, that most people can find a place where they feel comfortable. Sure, there are some houses where I would have felt out of place, but I am SO GLAD I went through rush, because I absolutely love my house.</p>