<p>Hi, I will be a freshman at Michigan next year and had a couple of questions about greek life. </p>
<p>1) As an engineering student, will I have time to do greek?
2) How hard is it to get a bid at a frat?
3) How bad is hazing at Michigan?
4) If I am not part of a frat, are there still parties on the weekends to go to and is it easy to meet friends?
5) Would you suggest going greek? (why and why not)</p>
<p>Any help would be great. I am just not really sure if I want to join a frat or not, but I want to get the full college experience so any knowledge would be helpful!</p>
<p>@MichBound15, my son is in Greek life at Michigan, so here’s one perspective.</p>
<p>1) Engineering students have very demanding class schedules, however, there are some are involved with Greek life. One of my son’s good friends, who is a serious engineering student, pledged during Winter rush, after getting a semester of adjusting to the academic workload. But for engineering, premeds or the students with academcially demanding majors, it is tough juggling fraternity demands with academics, and trying to keep your grades up, so be forewarned.
2) There are over 30 fraternities at Michigan. It is very tough to get a bid to a top fraternity - you must be great looking, very outgoing, connected to some members, a legacy may not even help you. However, once you get beyond the top tier fraternities, you can get bids to several fraternities. Again, if you wait until Winter rush, you have a semester to check out the various chapters and what their members are like. If you want to rush in the Fall, you should do more research on this forum and other sites regarding the reputations and hazing practices of the fraternities.
3) A fraternity was just kicked off campus for very bad hazing, so it can be bad for some fraternities. There are a couple of fraternities that have no hazing policies. Again do some research and you can find this information on which fraternities have bad hazing.
4) My son felt that as a freshman, his social options were limited by not being in a fraternity. He rushed half-heartedly both in Fall and Winter, received several bids, but ultimately decided not to pledge. He may rush next Fall, however, he’s living in a house next year with some fraternity friends and some independents. He has great friends already without being in a fraternity.
5) The Greek decision is up to you. Only 20% of the students at Michigan are in Greek life, so most students do not go Greek. My son considers himself an academic at heart, but he is very social and likes the idea of having lifelong brothers. The tough thing at Michigan is that Fall rush happens right away in Sept, before you’ve had to time to check out the chapters, adjust to college, etc. So it might be wise to wait until Winter rush, when you are settled in and have had time to check out what the various fraternities are like. </p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>If you are not in Greek life you will still have the opportunity to go to parties and you will still have the opportunity to make life long friends, those things aren’t frat exclusive…</p>
<p>Also once you really get into your engineering schedule you will not have tons of free time, so be warned.</p>
<p>@Sportsmom42 Confused on whether your son is in Greek life, you said in the beginning he was but then said he didn’t pledge but might next year? i was just wondering because as an incoming freshman who doesn’t want to commit to greek life this year but might as a sophomore i wanted to know how your son felt about rushing as a sophomore. Do a lot of guys do it? and would you be able to get into the top frats, i heard from a friend there that phi psi and pike are the top is that true?</p>
<p>It’s complicated, Boizuca. Son rushed in the Fall as a freshman and became President of a start up fraternity at U of M. But after a few months, they realized they didn’t have alum and national support and could not get a house on campus, so all the officers resigned. It was a bummer…the guys had high hopes and were excited about the leadership opportunity. He plans to rush again next Fall as a sophomore, which has it’s challenges, but it’s an option. </p>
<p>Pike was considered one of the top fraternities, but recently got kicked off campus for a major hazing incident. If you search this forum, you will find plenty of discussion about the different fraternities at U of M. One advantage of waiting until Winter rush or rushing as a sophomore, is that you’ll be settled in and have a better idea of what the fraternities are really like. Ultimately, the best fraternity for you is the one where you feel most comfortable with the other brothers and pledges in your class.</p>
<p>^Pike did not get kicked off campus, Psi U did.</p>
<p>Psi U was kicked off for the hazing violation. Pikes were disciplined (kicked off I thought) for a really inappropriate party invitation. Check The Michigan Daily - stories are there.</p>
<p>Pike got temporarily suspended by their nationals but are back now as normal.</p>
<p>Just a couple of corrections to SportsMom’s post. Most of it was accurate.</p>
<p>-Engineers do participate in Greek Life… and it’s a lot more than you’d think. I personally can count over 20 Engineers that I know who are Greek. It’s all about time management. Greek Life isn’t more time consuming than any other club that actually demands its members to be active.
-If you’re a legacy, you’re gonna get into the Fraternity. Most if not all Nationals will force chapters to recruit legacies heavily. If not, they have to give specific reasons as to why they didn’t give them a bid.</p>
<p>If you’re a legacy you will get a bid but that doesn’t mean you make it though pledging or get dropped by the frat or your pc. check out the frat you have legacy in but dont pledge just because your dad, brother, cousin… was in that frat. frats change constantly. moral of the story check out the frat u have legacy in but by no means only rush there, and accept the bid to the place you fit in the most</p>
<p>When you say legacy, do you mean legacy at the school or frat? Secondly if it is legacy at a frat, does it only matter if the legacy went to the Michigan frat or can it be from any school?</p>
<p>SoccerWolfP, a correction to your post. One of son’s best friends was the legacy of a founding father at a fraternity at U of M and did not get a bid, so not all legacies receive bids. He joined another fraternity.</p>
<p>Was that Fraternity still on campus at the time? Are they recognized by nationals?</p>
<p>Unless a legacy is completely incompatible with the brothers in the house, it’s almost unheard of to not get a bid… Sons of legacies can often get their dads to even call nationals and dispute the decision. I’m sure if the kid really wanted to join the Fraternity, he would have been able to.</p>
<p>SoccerWolfP, yes, the fraternity is on campus and one of the most popular houses, recognized by nationals, etc. Despite being a legacy, he didn’t receive a bid. It’s possible there was a mix up, someone dropped the ball. He also may not have been a good fit for the house. He was upset about it when it happened, but ended up joining another fraternity and he is happy, so it all worked out. But it’s not accurate to say if you’re a legacy, you will definitely get a bid. I was in a top sorority years ago and we didn’t extend bids to every legacy. We did to most, but not all, usually because it wasn’t a good fit.</p>
<p>I’m in an upper tier house at Michigan and legacies are definitely not always given a bid. If some dude’s brother like just graduated or is still in the fraternity, then yes he probably will get in. But we couldn’t care less if his dad was in it or even in our chapter. We turn down legacies annually and there’s no appeal process.</p>