<p>Hey guys! I'm a CompSci major in Warren College and it's going to be my freshman year. How time consuming are fraternities in general? Will joining a frat cause me to fall behind in my studies - considering that Computer Science is one of the most demanding majors at UCSD? Do you recommend joining a fraternity and why? Thanks for any help in advance!</p>
<p>Pledging is pretty time consuming. My friend pledged freshman year and his grades dropped quite a bit that quarter. We are both EE majors so it is somewhat understandable since he didn’t come back to his dorm until 4 in the morning most days. It is really up to you. It is extremely time consuming, but if you should go for it if you think you can handle it. CS homework usually takes a long time to finish, especially if you have no programming experience. I am also unsure if I want to pledge because I know my GPA would take a massive hit if it do.</p>
<p>yeah i agree with the previous poster. a lot of my friends are in fraternities, even though pledging is time consuming, all of them said it was worth it. they all seem to be really cohesive</p>
<p>Thanks for replying, guys. @liquifiedkronic That’s the kind of information I was looking for… I’m not sure how pledging works… does it take place over several days or weeks? I’m also wondering, if you don’t join a fraternity can you still attend most of their parties? Is social life really as bad as some people say it is if you’re not part of a fraternity? LAST QUESTION: How much is the average cost per year to be part of a fraternity? ~$1,000?</p>
<p>I believe rushing (going to events/meeting the frats) happen during week 2 of the quarter. If you get a bid you get installed during week 3. After that you are in a period called pledging. Pledging is different for every fraternity. There are also 3 different types of fraternities: Social (the fraternities most people are familiar with), Multicultural (frats geared to a specific culture, race, or ethnicity), and professional (co-ed frats that are geared to a specific profession). I’m in a cod-ed professional fraternity and our pledging lasts 8 weeks and I believe most frats have around the same length. </p>
<p>Things you should consider:
What of frat do you want to join?
At rush ask questions!! Ask “brothers” (people that have already been installed into the fraternity) how many hours a week does pledging take up. One thing I can tell you is that it does take up A LOT of time. You have to have time management skills if you want to succeed in pledging and in academics. It is definitely possible to do both, and there are many engineers in frats- there’s even two engineering frats. </p>
<p>Cost:
Pledging and being an active brother does costs a lot. Some frats are more $$ than others. They can range from $45- $600 a QUATER. Usually the professional frats are cheaper.</p>
<p>Life at UCSD:
UCSD is not as socially dead as it leads on. However, many parties are off campus so for a freshman w/o a car it may seem like that. It is hard to party in your dorm/ on campus- try Ihouse and the Village (if you don’t know what those are you will when you come here). You don’t just have to join a frat to go out/ party, but joining something whether it be a frat or a student org will help. </p>
<p>Even if you don’t decide to join your first quarter at UCSD you can always join in Winter or Spring, or any year at UCSD. </p>
<p>PM me if you have any questions- esp if it’s about professional frats.</p>
<p>Thank you so much Nicholep.</p>