<p>How is the Greek life at MU (specifically frats)? </p>
<p>Really big? Really small? Thanks.</p>
<p>We'd been told by the tour guide the Greeks pretty much dominate the social scene.</p>
<p>Hmmm, that's bad...</p>
<p>And very preppy...have you read the "The Insiders Guide to the Colleges?" (from the Yale Daily News). It's know as "J.Crew U." Supposedly, everyone gets dressed up for class. We were there in the summer, so we didn't see many students. Weenie, they have kind of cool video on their website...It'd be worth your while to take a look. Let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Not everyone gets dressed up for class. That's a HUGE stereotype of Miami, and those people would be the vast minority in my classes. A lot of people wear Miami paraphernalia, and you would definitely fit in with jeans and a sweatshirt/T-shirt.</p>
<p>As for Greek life, I think about 1/3 of the men on campus are in frats. You can avoid it as much as you want, though-- I haven't had any trouble with that. A lot of people participate in intramurals or club sports, and clubs are obviously great ways to meet other people. There are some social events on campus, like the After Dark program at Shriver on Friday nights, and of course there are always things to do in the dorm. My dorm is really close to an auditorium, and a lot of people go to hear the a cappella groups and the steel band. We're also having two awesome speakers next week (Sandra Day O'Connor and Gregory Maguire-- author of Wicked).</p>
<p>Aussie-
Was Maguire as incredible as he sounded in The Student article?</p>
<p>YES. The article really doesn't do it justice. I had dinner with him as well, and he was absolutely hilarious. Some Scholar-Leaders and Harrisons read Wicked and are going to see the musical in Chicago/tour Chicago in February. I thought his speech was particularly interesting since I'm in an Honors folklore class-- some of the lecture revolved around the nature of fairy tales and how they're so universal and important to children.</p>
<p>Oh I am soooooo jealous :)
I really liked the Tylenol metaphor.</p>
<p>the j crew u thing is blown out of proportion. I would say 5% of students dress up for class. everyone else goes in sweatshirts or tshirts, and sweats shorts or jeans. People do dress up when they go out</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, greek life was mentioned in a Student article I read today about housing on campus. The paper said that the fraternities have a population around 1600 students; put that together with around 26 sororities having at most around 100 women each (and not all have that many) who do not live in houses either; you end up with around 4200 students who are involved in the greek system (about a third, just as MU reports). That makes them the minority. Only way a minority dominates anything is if the majority lets them.</p>
<p>Additionally, one of the things that I have often noticed at Miami about those involved in the greek system, is that those involved in the greek system are the type of people who get involved, period. I had sisters who were involved in everything from athletics to student government, to academic honoraries. They tend to be the joiners and leaders. The things outside the greek system that I was involved in generally had 30-50% of the people who were also in a fraternity or sorority. Editor of the paper, and student body presidents while I was there, were not in the greek system. President of the American Marketing Association was.</p>
<p>To say that the greeks dominate the social scene would have to mean that 50-70% of the student population just stayed away from everything social, didn't have parties, go to the movies, attend plays and sporting events, etc.</p>
<p>BTW-this whole discussion seems predicated on the assumption that being greek is a bad thing. It is not. A big component of most fraternities and sororities is charity fund-raising and service work, not to mention the huge emphasis on scholarship (having the highest average chapter gpa is something most chapters seek to achieve).</p>
<p>Are there some bad chapters that are only interested in partying and socializing, yes, however they are the EXCEPTION, not the rule. By and large being part of the greek system is a valuable experience for many collegiates and enriches the college experience.</p>
<p>My two cents worth.</p>
<p>BTW-I had NO intention of joining a sorority when I went off to school, I went through rush the first time because I was curious and I wanted to get into my room more ahead of the start of school and going through rush in August was the only way to do that back then. I waited until my sophomore year to pledge because I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do when the two-week rush period ended freshman year. I cannot imagine my life now without the men and women that I met through the greek system, who twenty years+ later are still my closest friends.</p>
<p>Greek life definitely doesn't dominate the social scene, but it does have a large presence on campus. That being said, you're not completely 'out of the loop' if you don't go Greek. For the most part, frat parties are open to just about everyone so it's not like you need to go Greek to have a decent social life.</p>
<p>As far as the whole "J. Crew U" deal goes -- people here definitely care about how they look, but there are more people who wear hoodies and jeans to class than people who dress up. However, it's a completely different story when people go out...but I think most schools are like that.</p>
<p>I found a great video that gives a pretty decent overview of Miami -- I'd definitely suggest taking a look at it. Go to <a href="http://www.theu.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.theu.com</a> and click on college videos...just enter your e-mail address and it will send you a link to the full length video.</p>