<p>As a foreigner, I am really curious about the whole Greek culture in U.S. campuses. I've done a lot of research about Greek life but the comments seem to be controversial and mostly biased depending on whether they are in the system or not.</p>
<p>I know that not all of the fraternities/sororities carry the negative stereotypes(partying too hard, hazing...etc), but offer benefits like brotherhood/sisterhood, academic resources, community services, networking, leadership positions, and great social life. However, my question is, can't you accomplish all these things while being a non-greek student(aka a GDI )?</p>
<p>I heard a lot of people say it just the matter of your choice, but sometimes it seems like they automatically referring those who don't go greek as non-sociable and nerdy. Is that really the case? Can't you be as social as the fraternity boys and go to many parties even if you are a GDI? Can't you build leadership skills and networking from other highly recognized student organizations? </p>
<p>I am not trying to compare which one is better, but I just don't understand why many people are giving out the concept that "It's ok not to join us, but you won't have these advantages." Can't they just be two different ways to achieve the same goals?</p>
<p>I need some objective opinions on this especially the social life part.</p>
<p>This is entirely dependent on the school you’re at.</p>
<p>At my school it’s not a big deal at all. Heh. I had never even heard/seen the term GDI before a few weeks ago on CC (I’m not greek, but have a ton of greek friends).</p>
<p>Literally COMPLETELY dependent on the school. At some schools it barely matters (or they don’t have Greek life at all), and at some schools it’s a huge part of campus life and you may feel a bit excluded if you aren’t into it. Usually schools with huge Greek scenes are pretty large in general though so you can usually find other like-minded people. However, that’s not always the case.</p>
<p>Anything the greek community offers you can do on your own through various volunteer groups on campus. It allows you to pick and choose what parties you go to as well.</p>
<p>I always felt the greeks on American campuses were for the people that were too socially inept to make friends themselves. I never looked at campuses heavy on greek life, either though.</p>
<p>It makes a huge difference. I’m in a Fraternity and my whole life is revolved around that. I go to a school that is about 40k undergrad so my fluff classes that I have to take (for the general education requirement) can get as big as about 500 people all in one lecture hall. I love going to a huge school but everywhere I go I know people because I’ve met them (because we’re Greek).</p>
<p>The way our Greek system works is basically we all throw parties during the first month which also the rush period but after that there are basically hardly any parties at all. All of the fraternities and sorrorities start doing mixers with each other during the week which if you aren’t in either organization you are not allowd to attend. The social life outside of greek life is almost none existent unless you throw one yourself or go to the bars. I’ve been to apartment parties here and they suck. </p>
<p>Along with the social aspect is the brotherhood, philantrophy, leadership opportunities, and a bigger network. Joining an organization that has all of this plus more that I haven’t mention will prepare you for life later on. Brotherhood is hard to explain to an outsider it’s basically a feeling. It’s a good feeling to know that you have a family at school to count on and later in real life. Our school is big on philantrophy we do thon which helps raise money for pediatric cancer ( last year we raised like almost 10 million). My fraternity alone has a lot of leadership opportunities along with a leadership conference once a year out on by our alumni and both are great because that is one of the many things that sets you apart from everyone else in the job hunt. We have alumni all around the country and being in the organization you basically Have a keg up from the competition because you have a connection that no one else has.</p>
<p>Do your research to see if you want to join or not. Go through rush with an open mind and go to as many houses as you can. You get what you put in as far as pledging which should only be a semester long but after that you will have the best time for the rest of your life (I enjoyed pledging myself with my pledge brothers because deep down I learned so many things that I can apply in real life and some great stories). </p>
<p>When I come back as an alumni I like the fact that I can just stop in and see how the house has changed and meeting the new faces representing the same letters hat I would eventually use to wear (kind of like a small home that I can come back to and reminisce on the good times I’ve had here.)</p>
<p>You will get a lot of negative feedback from here but take it with a grain of salt (along with my opinion). Each person will have their own unique experience.</p>
<p>it really depends what school you go to
there are advantages and disadvantages to joining a fraternity/sorority. the biggest disadvantage is the fact that it’s so time consuming and your grades will be affected</p>
<p>i think the social networking/connections (post graduation) is overrated and doesn’t really make a huge difference. joining a fraternity is a good way to make a lot of friends and be involved socially in college though</p>
<p>“We have alumni all around the country and being in the organization you basically Have a keg up from the competition because you have a connection that no one else has”</p>
<p>I do think that joining fraternity is a good idea if it is a good one(no hazing, partying too hard and stuff…), but would it weird for a junior transfer to join? and how much are you expecting to pay if you don’t live in the house(thats the biggest factor that I concerned)? Can you know how much you will be paying before pledge?</p>
<p>Also, you talked about having connection will make you stands out from competition, but wouldn’t it go the other way around? Maybe some employers see that you are not part of the fraternity he were in, or the one he had negative impression at, so he might on purposely not to choose you?</p>
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<p>Back to my original question. I know joining fraternity is definitely one way to have great social life, leadership opportunity, but is it the only way? By being a non-greek student I don’t mean you do nothing but study. Like I mentioned, there are some highly recognized student organizations that you can do. Does anyone have any experience or have heard student that didn’t join greek but still pretty social(go to parties and knows everyone), involved in all kind of leader position and have strong networks?</p>
<p>It depends on the school. I think Dartmouth for instance has like a 60% Greek participation rate. Whereas my school, UMD, is something like 13%. Here you don’t need to join a GLO to have a life. I’m more into small get-togethers than huge parties anyway, and my house has been more than able to facilitate that.</p>
<p>That said, I’m rushing a professional fraternity. Guess I’m into the whole brotherhood thing.</p>
<p>First, you will have 40 or so ready made friends.</p>
<p>Second, you will get to go to the frat parties your frat has. Often, they will invite sororities to their parties, so now you can meet girls you never would have met.</p>
<p>Third, sometimes your frat will be invited to a party at another college (perhaps even a girl’s college).</p>
<p>Fourth, often the frat is in a nice old house, so it will be better to live there than in a dorm room.</p>
<p>I did not join a frat when I went to college, and it was a big mistake.</p>
<p>I want to second what Cabhax said about brotherhood. My wife and I were not members of a GLO, but we experienced the concept of brotherhood with our DS last year. While playing basketball at the rec center, he got accidently elbowed in the eye going for a rebound. A brother saw what happened and drove him to the ER because he needed stitches and x-rays. The hospital was backed up with major emergencies so he was at the hospital about 6 hours. The brothers coordinated so that the homework he needed to finish was brought to him and someone was always with him until he was discharged. As a parent 300 miles away, its nice to know he has that kind of support network available.</p>
<p>On the social side, he never has to worry about not having anything to do on the weekends. There is always an event, a party, a trip or a mixer scheduled.</p>
At many universities (MIT for example) fraternities often have higher average GPAs than the student body average. Clearly your opinion is not universal.</p>
<p>Your comment is clearly not universally true so please keep your warped opinions to yourself. I attend a college that has no Greek life (part of the reason I attend this college) and even I wouldn’t make such an asinine remark.</p>