I am currently a junior considering applying to Penn. I’ve been doing a lot of research about life at Penn, but in regard to the social area, I’ve found that a lot of it is dominated by fraternities and frat parties. I am not sure how I feel about greek life yet, especially because I want to balance my time with my studies, but is it possible to get around in Penn without joining a frat? Are there such things as open parties or parties not run by frats?
I think you are a junior in high school? (Not a potential transfer?)
Most Penn students are not in Greek life. It is only about 30% of students. You can definitely have fun without it and most students do.
Also Rush is second semester so freshmen don’t have to deal with it when they first arrive, and have time to settle in.
Often students will do what their friend group does. All rush or all not rush. You will find a wide range of Greek organizations. You may like some and dislike others.
You can absolutely have a social life without joining a fraternity! As was mentioned above, only about 30% of students join Greek Life and the other 70% still have a wonderful time at Penn. One of the best aspects of Penn is the emphasis its students place on being social in every sense of the word. Students join extracurriculars that often become sources of the best friend groups you have on campus. Some find friends in their College Houses and that becomes the center of their social life. No matter what, there will always be a new community for you to explore and with which you can socialize. If you like to party but don’t want to join Greek Life, rest assured that many different clubs from the Parliamentary Debate team and Model UN to club Rugby and the Philomathean Society all throw parties. If you are not into partying, there are always events being thrown by the school and various clubs that are low key opportunities for you to get to know other people. One of my fondest memories from my freshman year was when the Caribbean American Students Association had a BBQ and invited everyone on campus. I am not of Caribbean decent and neither were most of my friends but we each got flyers on Locust Walk (the main artery through campus) and decided to check it out. The food was delicious and the music was a lot of fun. We had a really relaxed and fun Friday night just hanging out and enjoying meeting new people.
At Penn, you also have the added addition of America’s 5th largest city to augment your social life beyond the already robust social opportunities you will have on campus. With countless museums, restaurants, concerts, shows and more both on campus and off campus in the actual city, you will never be at a loss for something to do. The College Houses each have budgets to pay for students to partake in various activities on the hall and out in the city depending on how your hall chooses to spend your apportionment. Students will also often just walk the 15 minutes to center city on their own to explore, shop, visit the historical sites in the city and more.
At Penn the hardest part of your social life will really be finding how to do all of the things you want to do without distracting from your studies. But in no way would you be limited if you chose not to join Greek Life. In fact, you can still attend fraternity parties even if you aren’t a member and you can go to fraternity/sorority formals as someone’s date,
If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me and I’d be happy to answer them.