I was looking at the Common Data Seat for Alabama and noted that 40% of women and 26% of men are in the Greek System; undergraduates. This seems like a high percentage to me when I look at ISU and Purdue. UMN does not have a Greek System and OSU does not publish.
My kids are definitely not the types that will Rush to join the Greek System and I am wondering if that will be an issue socially for them.
If you have experience with this can you give me your thoughts?
Both my boys at UA are NOT in the greek system. They both are engineering students and haven’t found it a problem (after all 74% of the men are not greek). I would worry a little more if I had a daughter, although my sons do have friends who are girls who are not in sororities and seem very happy and involved in other organizations (60% of girls are not in sororities.) Although I do think if you are in the Greek system there are more social opportunities than if you are not, I don’t think involved students will have a problem.
FYI, UMN does have fraternities and sororities (they even have houses on campus), however, only a small percentage of students participate.
I wasn’t the type to go Greek, nor was my spouse, but we both did at a college that was around 25% Greek.
I don’t think I would worry about it. Many non-Greeks go to frat parties, and there are many campus events for all students. The number of clubs at the university likely far outnumbers the number of fraternities and sororities, and the level of involvement can range from minor up to the level of a Greek commitment.
Just curious about your two in Eng at UA…are they enjoying Tuscaloosa? We are in the process with my Junior DS trying to see what colleges might fit for him. UA and Auburn are contenders as I am Auburn grad and UA is so competitive with scholarships it seems.
To answer your question mom2engkids, my kids really like Alabama and are excelling. My oldest is a 4th year student and if all goes right he will be graduating in December with a bachelor of science degree in both CS and Math, and a Master in CS. He already has a job offer 
My second year student is majoring in Electrical Engineering and Physics. Last year did well, although this year his classes are going to be much more challenging. Neither went Greek and although not super outgoing, have joined some clubs and social groups and are keeping busy. Tuscaloosa is alot like their home town (it has a suburban feel to it) so they feel comfortable there. Both love the UA campus - it is beautiful. The scholarships are pretty straight forward so when you apply you know what you will get-I like that. Both my kids have the Presidential and Engineering Scholarships (full tuition plus $2500 more per year.) My oldest was a NMF so he has a dorm scholarship too, plus some additional money (they have changed the package for new NMFs though) I am sure it will be hard for your son to go to UA for you as you are an Auburn graduate, but it is definitely worth checking out. (Just don’t wear your Auburn gear when you visit. I don’t get it being from OOS, but you know the rivalry is intense!)
@mom2engkids, like @kjcphmom, I’m from OOS so the intensity of the Alabama/Auburn rivalry has been a bit of a shock frankly, but aside from that, my impression is that students who fall for AU and the town of Auburn are seeking a slightly different fit than those who choose UA and life in Tuscaloosa. I’d visit both schools with your son and let him compare the two, both in terms of comfort and affordability. It’s nice to have choices!
Two words to answer your thread title: strong and influential.
My son also wasn’t the type to join a fraternity and hasn’t had any issues. The Greek system may be influential in student government, but frankly I’m not certain my son could tell you the name of the current student body president or anything the student government has done other than remove block seating at a few football games last year. If that’s something you’re involved with, you’ll notice the influence, but if it’s not something you’re involved with, it really has little impact on you.
He has male friends that are both Greek and non-Greek and based on his friends who I’ve met, believe he actually knows more people/has more friends that are not Greek. I know he’s gone to fraternity parties and even has a friend who is a president at one of the houses. It may have taken him a little longer to ‘find his place’ and develop a group of friends than those who chose to join fraternities, but he’s very happy with his path.
On the other hand, my son would be the first to say it seems like every young woman on campus is in a sorority. He knows very few females that are not in one of the houses. I do believe that a young woman can find her place without being Greek on campus (and I know there was a poster here at one time that had joined a house, then dropped out), but she will feel like she’s in the minority.
There are plenty of other organizations for students to find their place, you can look at thesource.ua.edu and then click on find an org and it will list all of the organizations registered at the school. There is a group for EVERY interest, so I’m confident that all students can find their place even if it is outside of the Greek system.
Thanks for the input everyone. Actually, it wouldn’t be hard for me if they go to Bama as the major problem/issue for us in the late 80’s/early 90’s was how gross FSU fans were so I am pretty neutral with Alabama schools. We are also looking at UAH as well.
Also being a greek from Auburn myself, I can tell you that it was very hard for my female friends who didn’t rush to find their group unless you already had something you were part of once you got there like the band or a sports team. Boys didn’t care one way or the other it seemed. I joined because I was OOS and didn’t know another soul going there that year…made some lifelong friends…had a lot of fun, but there are other activities to get involved in…I just didn’t know about them then.
I am a Bama grad and sent my twins to both Alabama and Auburn. Auburn seems to be more laid back about Greeks…if anything it’s more intense for men than for women. I think that’s because many fraternities have houses but the sororities don’t. It seems to be less of a big deal at Auburn if you’re NOT Greek. My son joined a service fraternity at Auburn and it pretty much functioned as a fraternity without a house, social events and everything. There are service and interest-based sororities at Auburn that function similarly to the NPC groups.
Daughter at Alabama was Greek but frankly, she could have not cared less - she was more wrapped up in her boyfriend and sticking with some of her high school friends. Too bad because if she had gotten a little more involved she would have had a better experience.
I’m an introvert, and in my case, joining a sorority saved me from staying in my dorm room every Friday and Saturday night!!
If a student is not going Greek or not in the MDB, I would highly recommend one of the other early programs - Alabama Action, Outdoor Action, Black Belt Action or Camp 1831
I am a current sophomore and I am right now not in a sorority. I will admit even though I did camp 1831 and Alabama Action, I was kind of sad that I did not join a sorority at the start of freshman year. I tried rushing the christian sorority and did not find it a good fit for me. However all the friends I made in it were amazing and I am still friends with them. Part of my still wants to join a sorority. I was considering rushing this year as a sophomore, but had to attend housing training for my job. If I could go back I would’ve rushed. If a girl rushes she does NOT have to accept a bid and can wait til spring. But its harder as the years go on. I do intend to rush next semester. But none of my close friends are in greek life. And I don’t know any guys in a fraternity except the engineering one. My advice, if theres any part of them that wants to rush, I would say do it because its easier to drop then try later. However if they don’t want any part in greek life, I don’t think its an overwhelming presence on campus. I was 100% against being in greek life because of the stereotypes and now that I’ve met so many amazing people in greek life, I want to give it a shot. I never felt like I needed to be in greek life because “everyone” was. At least in my experience it has been quite the opposite. I feel kind of weird rushing since none of my friends did. College is all about being confident in yourself. If they don’t want to be in greek like and are content with that, then there wont be a problem. However being on the border is the problem. Thats where I have found myself. I would just make sure they don’t want to join greek life for the right reasons and not because of the stereotypes.
I am not a fan of the Greek system. Since there were less guys in it then girls, I was OK w/ DS attending. We did make sure there were no roommates rushing, & they were also OOS. I was hoping he would be able to avoid the problems some parents are posting about on the FB page.
I would not have sent my youngest daughter there just because of the large number of girls in the sororities.
It’s fine to join COB (Continuous Open Bidding) - that’s what I did, since I was totally ignorant about formal recruitment. But you have to be aware that only a few sororities seek new members via COB. It depends on if there are openings in the chapter and if that chapter wants or needs to fill those openings. And if you are hung up on joining one of a few sororities that you deem “higher tier”, those are NOT the ones that have openings or, if they do, they only take women with whom they’re already friends.
Fraternities do not operate the same way - I don’t believe they have limits on membership numbers.
bamagirl18, you are correct - it’s not a big deal unless it’s a big deal to you. I believe I heard a number of 60% of freshman women pledge a sorority. But that number drops beginning the day after bids are announced. Some women find Greek life is not for them and they resign…others find that to be true after they’ve been initiated and start second semester…others later. By the time a student is a junior or senior, the % of women who are Greek is much closer to 30%, if not a little below that.
While I’m Greek and feel it’s a wonderful way to enhance a student’s experience, it is NOT for everyone. A female student can still have a wonderful UA career and not be in a sorority.
There are over 7000 freshman this Fall. About 2400 of them accepted a bid to be in a sorority, not including those who rush the traditionally Black Greek chapters. Since we know that the percentage of women at UA is higher than the percentage of men, and that more women rush than men, I am not sure it is true that 60% of freshman women rush.
^ what is the correct rushing figure, then?
Was right around 50% for Fall of 2014 that went through sorority rush. If 55% of the incoming class is female, it could be about 60% for Fall of 2015 (still leaving somewhere around 1,500 freshmen girls who are independent). Note that a small percentage of those who accepted bids this fall were second yr students. Percentages for current third and fourth year female students are no doubt much lower; it has apparently become a more popular thing to do the last couple of years, although not everyone actually stays in for their entire college career. (And again, the percentages for the young MEN in social fraternities are much, much lower as compared to the women.) There are SO many wonderful opportunities at UA…so many different avenues for making friends…both outside and inside the social Greek system.
I believe Chancellor Witt said there are about 7400 in the Freshman class. Considering the population ration women to men is about 57/43; that would imply 4216 Freshman women. That means that 57% accepted a bid. Higher than the 50% shown in the 2014 Common Data Set.
@Southlander Looks like the overall undergrad population in sorority is 39.5% per 2014 Common Data Set. That means about 20% drop out eventually (50% as Freshman to 40% overall). Do the majority drop out between Soph and Junior year. i.e. stays at about 50% thru sophomore year and drops to 30% Junior year?
Just as a point of reference, here’s a list of all the organizations a student could join at UA. If being in a sorority doesn’t appeal there are plenty of alternative groups and activities.