My daughter is a current freshman and rushed but was not selected for a sorority. She had chosen Hamilton in part because she read that Greek life was unimportant and parties were open to everyone. She now reports that parties are mostly limited to varsity sports player and/or those who are in sororities and frats which is why she agreed to participate in rush in the first place. She tells me she will not have “anything to do” next year and is now considering transferring. I am not sure if her info is accurate or she is just overreacting. Does anyone have insight into nonGreek nonSports parties and/or availability of Greek or sports parties to people outside these groups.
As a statistical aspect to consider, sororities and fraternities are not especially popular at Hamilton. Note, for example, that Hamilton does not appear in either of these lists of colleges with high participation in these organizations:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-sororities
Hamilton’s CDS reports that 19% of men and 14% of women participate in Greek life. That may not be high enough to make national lists, but it is still high enough to have the type of impact OP’s daughter describes.
Hopefully OP will be able to get advice from someone who has actually lived through the Hamilton experience.
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I’m not surprised. Our D is at Colgate and I think the two schools are similar in their social options. 31% of women are Greek, 35% of men at Colgate. People might read that and think there must be parties for non-Greeks but that’s not really the case unless you are an athlete.
Our D reports that sports teams are like their own little fraternities. If you’re a freshman on a team, you hang with the team and go to the parties the upperclassmen throw. That’s a decent number of freshmen. Greek life starts sophomore year but D says that all parties are either Greek or athlete based so, just like Hamilton, those are the options. (For freshmen at Colgate, they can go to frat parties freshman year but, after that, they would not go unless they are Greek since most parties are mixers between specific sororities and fraternities.)
All of this to say that I bet your D is correct on her assessment of parties at Hamilton. From what I can gather about Colgate, non-Greek friend groups eventually form and those kids might have small parties once they are out of the dorms and into the upperclass townhouses. Maybe that’s similar to how it works at Hamilton.
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I think the OP’s D’s point is that the social scene, however small in actual Greek numbers, revolves around fraternity parties. It’s possible that the college doesn’t have a lot of other options for getting together on weekends unless you’re going to those parties.
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I don’t post on social issues much because perspectives can be so varied. Nonetheless, the students I’ve known who were recently at Hamilton and who also have some familiarity with Colgate regard the social environments of the two schools as being really different. Perhaps as substantiating information, Colgate students participate in sororities at over double the rate of those at Hamilton. Additionally, in contrast to Hamilton, Colgate maintains residential Greek houses.
In any case, this topic was quiet for 18 hours, seemingly until some statistical information was posted. This information shouldn’t suggest that I missed the point of the original post, but only that I approached the question from a statistical perspective, which wouldn’t, of course, preclude other approaches by other posters.
As a more personally informed comment, the OP’s daughter’s perspective may be influenced by initially having wanted to participate in Greek life. Most Hamilton women I’ve known did not have much desire in this area, and found social activities, including parties, based on their own associations and interests.
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I have no problem believing what your D said is true re: parties. That is not an uncommon scene at LACs with Greek life. Why are you skeptical?
I will say my D is at another NESCAC (no Greek life) and there the athletes’ parties/mixers tend to open up to all students later in the evening…maybe have your D look into that.
Linked below is a student take on Greek life at Hamilton, reporting 20.9% participate, and the skew is students from relatively high income families. It’s from 2019, the last normal year prior to the pandemic.
Note also that often the first years who have pledged are not counted in the official Greek life statistics (because they aren’t full members yet). So, the proportion of Greek participants is likely greater than what’s being officially reported, and might feel more prevalent on campus than what one might think on first blush.
Hugs to your D.
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There’s nothing wrong with statistical perspective on anything when it’s useful. In this case, I don’t think the two US News lists of apples, oranges and water balloons, and Hamilton’s absence on them, was particularly germane to the OP’s concerns. It is the role and influence on social life that Greek life plays on a given campus, regardless of %, that matters. Washington State University isn’t on either list (likely because the denominator is too big to generate a meaningful percentage), but I happen to know the Greek system there plays a HUGE role in social life in Pullman. Of course, with literally thousands of students not participating in Greek life, even in Pullman, there are likely other options.
I actually didn’t know this about Hamilton, I find it surprising given the trend among elite private schools in the NE of moving away from Greek organizations on campus, and I don’t recall my D factoring it in. But it stands to reason that Hamilton’s isolated location, coupled with a significant % of students in Greek life, could lead to the Greek system there having an outsized role in defining the social scene. I have no idea nor do I care, but it’s not unbelievable on its face.
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Hi. @midiweka
My DS23 is applying to Hamilton and is really interested in how Greek life influences social life, as he’s not interested in participating.
Can you give us an update? How’s your daughter feeling about the social situation now? I hope everything is going well.
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@MBWhitney If your S23 applied to Hamilton and wants more information on the social scene, feel free to PM me. D20 is a junior there and has had the opposite experience. She’s not an athlete or Greek and has had an active social life. There are no Greek residencies and the percentage of students participating in Greek life is in the teens. Most students are not Greek, and there is a lot going on on campus that appeals to different groups of students. In fact, she sometimes mingles with two different social scenes in one weekend because she has a diverse group of friends. (I think that’s particularly noteworthy because she is URM at a small PWI, which can be very difficult socially, depending on the school.) I can provide more information if you want.
*edited to change some info that may make her easier to identify 
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