<p>Is it really as bad as people say? Is UARK just one big high school? Are cliques prevalent and are the Greeks elitist? I saw quite a bit of graffiti around campus with greek domination claims and “GDI” attacks. Is the campus atmosphere generally that of a lot of in-fighting/separations? I can’t afford to go out of state (I have offers, but tuition is somewhere around 40k and my offer is somewhere in 15-30k, I can’t cover the rest of tuition + fees + room/board), and there are only three schools I would consider going to in state - UARK, ATU, or ASU-J. I’ve been going to a CC, have accumulated 74 hours, and quite honestly the place is just full of people who went to high school together, that still continue to hang in their closeted group of friends and act elitist to others. I honestly can’t stand elitism and have enough. Therefore, for someone who cannot stand elitism would it be wise to attend UARK, or should I go to one of the other schools (any recommendations?) ?</p>
<p>No, it is not nearly as bad as what you describe. People are accepting of everyone, especially if you are open with them. Sure, some people already know one another, but most are always willing to meet new friends. It is really no different than most other places, but I would say it is better than most, if you attempt to meet people.</p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing, especially about the Greek scene. I’ve heard it is very Greek, but I received some info. not too long ago saying only 20% of the student body participates(?) which seems to the contrary. From what I saw on campus, it didn’t seem near as prevalent as people say. But, of course, that’s from an outsider looking in.</p>
<p>U of A is a SEC school, so the Greek scene is obviously big. 20% might not sound like a lot, but Greeks pretty much “dictate”. I am incoming freshman, but have “lived” on this campus for 2 years.</p>
<p>However, the school is HUGE. 5,000+ freshmen or something. So, everybody finds their group of friends.</p>
<p>Webass’s view comes closest to my opinion on this (as a former student, not staff). I did not join a fraternity, but I had some friends that did any many that didn’t, so I went to some of their events but did not have anything to do with a fraternity on a daily basis. It’s true that about 20% of the campus is “greek”, but it is also true that they are very visible and are often very involved in other student organizations and politics. This isn’t to say you won’t have a good network of friends or will have a harder time in student organizations/politics necessarily if you aren’t interested in Greek Life, but you will definitely be aware of their presence. I think there are a lot of pros and cons to rushing and only the student can decide what they think will be the best fit for them, but no matter what your choice is, I fully agree that everyone can find a solid group of friends and be very involved (and visible, if you so desire) on campus.
-Matt</p>
<p>My friend is going to University of Arkansas and she says that it is very largely Greek; one of those schools you have to be involved with Greek Life to HAVE a social life. Who knows how far of a stretch that is, though.</p>
<p>^ I bet she was a freshman last year? :D</p>
<p>gec414,
That was not my experience at all. I suppose if you want to have an extremely active social life with the 20% of students that are going Greek (they do seem to stay pretty busy freshman year with rush activities, etc.), that might be closer to accurate, but there’s still that other 80% of the students that aren’t involved in Greek life. From a purely objective viewpoint, it just doesn’t make sense for the other 80% of the student body to not have a social life, does it? </p>
<p>Most people I’ve talked to that seem to have that viewpoint (in retrospect of course) that they needed to go greek to have a social life tend to be the ones that either came in with a group of previous friends that rushed when they didn’t, and had difficulty establishing a new social network afterwards (this is more common than you might think) or those that chose to stay in their dorm and didn’t really partake in any hall, campus, or student organization activities. The social benefit of fraternities and sororities is that they give students an immediate network of people to meet, make friends with, and so forth, but that’s really the only impact it will have on your social life as an undergraduate student. Does it make it easier for someone to make new friends and have a social life? Certainly, it brings a lot of social opportunities to you and you don’t have to go seek them out, which is a great fit for some people, and it can be a big benefit to have that relatively instant social network. Is it the only way to make new friends and have a social life? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in making friends and meeting people, you will have no difficulty doing so, whether you rush or not. As mentioned earlier, there’s a lot of benefits to Greek Life for someone who is interested in that, I am not trying to downplay that. However, as a former student who did not rush it’s always a little concerning to hear people making claims about the dismal social opportunities for students who don’t rush that I know from experience are simply not true.
-Matt</p>
<p>webass… no. And like I said, JUST what I’ve heard. Obviously Arkansas is such a big school and people will always have different opinions.</p>