Okay, thanks. I do know plenty of upstanding citizens who partook in Greek life, but I just know it’s not for me.
- High School Student
Your point?
^That you don’t have enough college experience to be giving advice like that.
I just know that Greek life is not for me. I know I’m not in college yet, but being on a campus heavily involved with Greek life has really turned me off to the idea of it. I know they do a lot of philanthropic work too, but partying is definitely a main attraction of Greek life (just not for me). So, my advice still stands: don’t do it!
You saw a couple of shirtless guys day drinking one time, that’s it. I really wouldn’t regard that as an actual observation or experience with Greek life.
I’m fairly confident the people who put this discussion on the front page only read the OP’s first post and nothing beyond that.
[quote]
I just know that Greek life is not for me. I know I’m not in college yet, but being on a campus heavily involved with Greek life has really turned me off to the idea of it. I know they do a lot of philanthropic work too, but partying is definitely a main attraction of Greek life (just not for me). So, my advice still stands: don’t do it
I don’t like how this thread has become very negative and accusatory. I shouldn’t have to defend my reasoning for preferring not to be a part of Greek life. I am not the type of person who parties, and I’m realizing that I don’t want to be. You can take or leave my advice. I am mainly saying it to those people out there who know they aren’t into parties like me. If you don’t have anything nice to say in response to that, then please don’t say it at all.
Knowing what you do and don’t like is fine; nobody’s trying to force you to go Greek. I think what made people laugh is that you’re giving advice to other people like you know what’s best for them.
I have 4,200+ posts on College Confidential. Believe me, I am not a party animal.
No one is criticizing you for choosing not to participate in Greek life. You just came off as self righteous and ignorant by making broad, sweeping remarks about affairs that you don’t actually understand. If Greek life isn’t your thing, then fine. But you made claims about Greek life that you can’t really substantiate through anything other than a single observation made on a single day at a single school that doesn’t really speak to any particular fraternity or sorority but yet, in spite of this, went ahead and used this single observation to advise people to stay away from Greek life.
I am deleting/editing quite a few posts that represent a complete degeneration of the conversation between 2 members that ought to know better. Stick to the topic and quit getting personal.
Thank you!
A few observations:
- Greek life is not for everyone.
- Readingaddict97 is entitled to her own opinion. You do not have to agree with her.
- There are few highschoolers whose opinions don’t evolve on many issues during college. If that isn’t happening to you during college, you aren’t learning much.
- Personal experience is not required for an opinion. I think it is bad to be a heroin addict, but I have never been one. I do not plan to become one so that I will have a more substantial opinion.
I hardly think “heroin addict” equates to “Greek life.” The analogy I would choose would be like holding a crying baby, handing it back, and telling everyone not to have children. 
It’s a personal choice based on one experience that may be a great choice for you, but certainly not everyone else should base their reproductive choices on that one time you held a baby.
okay but not all Greek life is like that? You clearly don’t know anything about Greek life if you think they’re all about social partying. There are sororities and fraternities that aren’t even about partying and more about finding people to network with, or are dedicated to doing some kind of service. There are even academic-based Greek organizations, to. For example, two of my housemates are in a sorority dedicated to community service. I thought Greek life was all about partying and drinking too when I first entered college, but after seeing the different kinds of frats and sororities at my college, I stopped being biased against them.
Not all greek life is like that, and you will see party animals, alcoholics, and/or crazy people in every sorority.
I would recommend going to rush parties if it’s possible and see it for yourself if the sorority suits you or not. I am pretty sure you can google the sororities chapters in your school
Reading, I’m genuinely curious, how do you know you’re not the partying type? I always wanted to go to a rigid school with neither partying nor sports, but then I tried it out and realized I’m into (legally) having fun with other people. “Partying” can facilitate that.
The whole heroin/partying thing: heroin’s illegal. “But so is underage drinking, which might happen at parties!” Felony possession vs a misdemeanor.
I don’t think a heroin analogy is apt… “Trying” heroin isn’t quite the same thing as rushing a pre-med sorority or a philanthropic frat.
No one is forcing OP to rush. Tons of people are not interested in rushing. What came off as problematic was the fact that OP was advising others to follow her path when many, many people actually benefit greatly from Greek life and a lot of her assumptions about Greek life aren’t really all that true. (Whereas one can thoroughly research the consequences of heroin use without actually touching the substance.)
I think a better analogy would be something like a lot of schools have swim teams. I would never join my school’s swim team for a multitude of reasons (spend too much time styling my hair to get it wet, hate chlorine, pool locker rooms are gross, etc) and no one would ever force me to join a swim team but I’m not really in a position to tell people not to join their own school’s swim team.
When you make claims like “my advice: Don’t do it!” - you imply that there is something inherently wrong with Greek life everywhere in all circumstances. If OP qualified her statement to fit the specificity of her own observations, like, “Don’t join Juniata’s Sigma Omega Frat” that’d be a bit more rational.