<p>I'm very interested in U of M but I'm wondering a few things.
I watched a UM Greek life video on youtube and the frats seemed very academic, did a lot of community service, and said they were great for leadership opportunities. Is this true? Or did the video just want to show how they're "supposed" to be? Also, if you are a current student, do you regret joining/ not joining a frat?
I'm also wondering what the mentor program is all about? I looked at it briefly on the website but didn't get a good feel for it. Is it a good idea to apply?
Another thing I'm curious about is learning communities. Is this an academic replacement of a fraternity? Or is it "nerdy" and not very social?
I like going to football and basketball games at my high school and would love to go to michigan's games. Is buying season tickets worth it? If I remember it cost about $280 each. How easy is it to fit games into your schedule? obviously this depends on personal schedules and time management skills, but in general, is it easy to make it to games?
Thanks for the help and sorry for so many questions. I'm probably over thinking all of this but I'm just very interested In U of M and college in general.</p>
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<p>I am not a current student and was not in a frat but it sounds as if the video embelleshes actual greek life.</p>
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<p>The mentor program attempts to form a group of freshmen with an upperclassman and a faculty member. Whether the program works is hit or miss and depends largely on how well the group fits together. I you don’t have a good feel for it, then I would blow it off. It is definitely not necessary.</p>
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<p>The learning community for most students is a means for avoiding north campus. For the most part it is a typical dorm experience with some additional academic requirements and some social programs. Some communities are probably nerdier than others. I would not consider it a replacement of a fraternity.</p>
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<p>I would definitely get the football tickets. Most students go to the football games and it is definitely worth it. Subsidized if you talk to bearcats. You should have no problem fitting football into your schedule since life in the fall on Saturdays revolves around the football games. Basketball is more of a personal choice but the team has been playing well so the student attendance is up. The games can fall on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday so it is possible that the games (especially Tuesday and Wednesday) will conflict with your schedule. Some may also fall during breaks or final exam study periods. As a result, basketball is harder to fit in the schedule. Also the schlep to Crisler will seem longer in the cold and the dark than the walk to the big house in the fall. You can always try selling your ticket to basketball games because not everyone gets them and people who don’t have them will want to go to a game every now and then. If you like going to high school basketball games, I would recommend getting the tickets. The hockey games are also a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Thanks. All answers are appreciated</p>
<p>Yeah, it sounds like that video is making frats sound better than they are. To answer one of your questions, no, I do not regret joining a frat. I’m happy greek life doesn’t play a large part on campus too.</p>
<p>Also, buy football tickets. You’ll regret not doing it if you don’t</p>
<p>You don’t regret joining or you don’t regret not joining?
And single tickets or season pass tickets?
Thanks for the help. I realize this isn’t a very important question, I’m just curious.</p>
<p>My bad</p>
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<li>I don’t regret NOT joining a frat</li>
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<p>By season tickets. You can try to sell the less appealing games if you do not want to go, but it’ll be cheaper to get season tickets then trying to buy ND, Nebraska and OSU tickets. Or at least very close, so you might as well get all of the tickets. </p>
<p>Once the fall rolls around, you are going to want to be at the games.</p>
<p>However they portrayed Greek life in that video is a misrepresentation to an extent. They’re going to try to advertise themselves as being more contributive than they actually are. However, most frats still do things like what you’ll see in the video, just not as often as they want you to believe. That being said, Greek life is a thing, but not a massive thing on campus. It’s prominent enough so that it’s always around and you’ll always know people who are in it, but it doesn’t dominate campus or social life by any means. I don’t regret not joining one. As far as I know, none of my friends regret their decision to join or not join Greek life.</p>
<p>For football-- Buy football tickets if the cost isn’t an issue for you. The life on campus revolves around the games on Saturdays and very few people are doing anything else. You’ll feel left out if you don’t. The games are very easy to fit into your schedule because you will have absolutely no other obligations scheduled at that time, unless you have a job.</p>
<p>As far as schoolwork/studying goes-- it’s early enough in the semester where you won’t be stressing for end of the semester projects or finals or anything like that, so any work you have to do can usually be saved for Sunday. For noon games, you get up at 8 or 9, party, go to the game, and you’re back at your dorm before 4 (unless you choose to go somewhere else). If you REALLY have work to do, you can do it after, assuming you’re not too exhausted from drinking/yelling/being on your feet for hours.</p>
<p>For basketball-- these are more difficult to work into your schedule, since they often occur during the week and are in the evenings, but it’s okay since there’s between 15-20 games to attend each year. Missing a game here or there isn’t a big deal. I bought tickets this year and only made it to a little over half the games, but I still felt like I was getting my money’s worth. If you really try, you can work it out so you make it to all of them. There have been students who have gone to every game The atmosphere is excellent in the newly renovated arena, and the walk to the arena is only bad if you really dislike the cold.</p>
<p>Tickets are cheap for students, even after they raised the price for football these year (about $7/ticket). After you graduate, you’ll never get cheaper tickets for major-conference college football or basketball games for the rest of your life, so take advantage of it.</p>
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<p>They sell only season pass tickets to students.</p>
<p>To present another view of Greek life, my son and his friends felt strongly freshman year that if you want a good social life as an underclassman, the primary option is by joining a fraternity and/or sorority. Greek life does provide many social, community service, and leadership opportunities, as well as a social community, lifelong friendships and perhaps even job opportunities via networking. That being said, you can find the same things without joining a sorority/fraternity. </p>
<p>My husband and I were involved in Greek life during our college years. Both of us had great experiences. While parties and the social scene are a big part of it, you can bow out of events when needed in order to get your studying done. And the data is out there - the average Greek GPA is slightly higher than the Michigan average, so kids are finding a way to have fun and still get their studying done.</p>
<p>Don’t let others decide this for you - check it out when you get to college and make the decision for yourself.</p>
<p>Just to clarify: it’s absolutely not difficult at all to have a great social life as an underclassman at the university without being in Greek life, no matter what anyone says. The people that say this must be either very boring, or clueless as to how to socialize or have fun in any way but partying, or both. The only way that this is true is if getting wasted with masses of other people two or three times per week is imperative to you having a good social life. I say that with absolutely no spite or mean-spiritedness, that’s just the way that goes. Otherwise, there are plenty of people not in Greek life to socialize with and plenty of things to do on weekends and during the week that don’t involve frat houses. So, I advise that you choose Greek life based on two things: 1) how important partying is for you and 2) how much you want your social life to be planned out for you.</p>
<p>Entenduintransit, despite your statement - “I say that with absolutely no spite or mean-spiritedness” - that’s exactly how your comments come across. You most definitely have a bias against Greeks and that’s obvious in your comments. Wow. </p>
<p>My son and his friends are definitely NOT “very boring or clueless as to how to socialize or have fun in any way but partying”. They are great students, leaders, happy and well-adjusted. While they enjoy parties, they are not raging every weekend, contrary to what you say. </p>
<p>Many of our adult friends, my husband and I included, were involved in Greek life and have gone on to highly successful careers and lives and are now CEOs, MDs, and many other successful professions. Again, you can achieve this without Greek life, but Greek life can be a terrific social connection for students, provides a community to be part of, which at a school the size of Michigan, is a great thing.</p>
<p>Your son saying that joining Greek life is the “primary option” to having a good social life as an underclassman is a little insulting to the ~80% of students who never have and never will join Greek life, quite frankly. I’m not trying to downtalk your son or his friends or anyone in Greek life at all. Of the six people I consider my closest friends at UMich, three of them are in Greek life, so I know what it’s all about because they share everything they do with me and I know it’s a mostly positive thing. I am simply disputing your son’s belief that it’s necessary to have a good social life. It’s an asinine statement. I assume that if someone truly believes that, they are unaware of other possibilities to socialize and have fun. That’s just logic. So, I’m sorry I came off that way but I’m not sorry for what I said.</p>
<p>You are correct that the majority of students at Michigan do not join Greek Life, including my son, who has a very good social life without being in a fraternity. He never made the statement you are nitpicking above. He does feel that as a freshman, it’s harder to find social options to attend and that joining a fraternity or sorority provides a ready-made social life. This is factual, not asinine or insulting to anyone. Of his six closest friends, three joined fraternities and three did not, so they are similar to you. His girlfriend is in a sorority and really loves it.</p>
<p>After your scathing description of Greek life, I felt compelled to present another viewpoint. Yes, there are raging parties and for some chapters, that’s what it’s all about. Conversely, Greek life can provide great leadership training and opportunities. Interestingly, three CEOs of large, successful corporations, who are close friends of ours, were fraternity presidents during their college years. A couple of them never drank during their college years and still do not. </p>
<p>My point to the OP is that he/she should check out Greek life for themselves and decide. Sorry this discussion was hijacked by a debate on Greek life.</p>
<p>I appreciate the different view points on Greek life. I will have to check it out and decide if/when I get accepted. It just seems like you have to “rush?” Really early and I think it would be hard to get situated and join a frat so quick. I could be wrong but doesn’t it happen pretty quick? And its not really possible to join as a sophomore is it?</p>
<p>SportsMom mentions the other poster is clearly biased against Greek life… well obviously SportsMom is biased towards it.
The OP will have to decide for his or her self. If you are the type of person that will want to join Greek, you’ll join Greek life. If you aren’t, you won’t. As much as either side wants to skew Greek life its still pretty much what you think it is</p>
<p>Also, I still love that “Greek life students have higher GPAs than the average student”. Lol . What are Greeks majoring in? What “extra” resources do they have</p>
<p>This is an interesting topic that we constantly had debates about even when we are recruiting kids. </p>
<p>A slight majority of people (including me) have bad impressions of frat boys during our college years and auto-ding resumes of kids who list heavy fraternity involvement. Not that we think they are all jack asses but we think it’s more probable that they are and not worth taking the risk.</p>
<p>Others who were involved with greek life themselves would try to exert their pull and get their people in, especially people from the same frat.</p>
<p>Some just don’t care.</p>
<p>But ALWAYS HEATED DEBATES when it comes to this topic. For me, I just try to avoid the whole debate so I find other excuses to ding them.</p>
<p>Mich00, to answer your questions, yes rush starts right after school starts in Sept. There is also Winter rush in January, although it’s my understanding that not all fraternities participate in Winter rush. Son rushed in the Fall, received a few bids, and decided not to join a fraternity, although he is considering rushing as a sophomore, which you can do, but fewer sophomores receive bids so it is harder. </p>
<p>ThisIsMichigan, et tu? I plainly stated that I was involved in Greek life when I was in college. If it had been a bad experience, I wouldn’t be touting it’s benefits. Unless you’ve participated in Greek life, you’re really in no position to attest to it’s benefits/drawbacks. The comments made above indicate that non-Greek posters don’t know the resources available in Greek life. Here is the data on GPAs from U of M…I’m not making it up. [Greek</a> GPAs | Greek Life](<a href=“http://greeklife.umich.edu/article/greek-gpas]Greek”>http://greeklife.umich.edu/article/greek-gpas)</p>
<p>Each chapter has it’s own GPA standards, designated study times, etc. Some pride themselves on maintaining GPAs above U of M’s average, while others could care less. That’s something to check out during rush. Another example, fraternity officers are sent to leadership training and conferences, paid for by the chapter. Whatever your career aspiration in life, leadership training is a great benefit.</p>
<p>Lastly, as I stated from the start, Greek life is not for everyone. Check it out, decide whether it’s a good fit for you. Don’t let others biased opinions decide for you. Also, every fraternity has a website…if you research them, you will find many U.S. leaders, businessmen, politicians, etc who were members of fraternities…including at U of M.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best this Fall.</p>
<p>SportsMom, this was your post</p>
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<p>If you are going to go around claiming this then its just as easy to say you are biased towards Greek life.</p>
<p>Saying only students in Greek life can comment is foolish too, as I am guessing, since they are still a part of it, that they’ll have a positive few of it too. </p>
<p>Non-Greek students can tell prospective students about all the things they won’t actually miss out on by not going Greek</p>
<p>And on the GPA thing. My point was that I am not surprised Greek students have a higher average GPA than the university average. One point is in regards to any extra material they may have, like years of exams saved up, or something. I’m sure its not that big of a deal and its not my main argument.</p>
<p>The main argument has to do with common majors for Greek students. I don’t see many frat bros in my engineering courses. The average engineering GPA is below the university average. By not being as involved in some of these majors and more so in other (business kids get a 4.4 for an A+, ***?) Greek students are, on average, supposed to have a higher GPA than the entire university averaged out.</p>
<p>But, based off of the data you posted, that’s not always the case. 34% of the time since Fall 2000 the average Greek GPA was lower than the university average. The average difference in these averages is 0.0058. This is hardly anything solid. </p>
<p>The boys have to thank the girls here as well. The average male greek student GPA has been lower than the university average every semester since Fall 2000, an average of -0.06. The females on the other hand have only been lower once, with an average of +0.05.</p>
<p>So based on your data, and the average majors of those involved in Greek life, I’d say the average Male Greek student has a lower GPA than the University average, especially among other males. Its probably a wash for females</p>
<p>I don’t have much recent information, but back in my day Greek life almost died out on the Michigan campus, and few would have regretted its passing. My impression is it’s made something of a comeback since then, but it’s still not hugely popular. Something on the order of 20% of women join sororities, and a little over 15% of men join fraternities. At schools like Northwestern, the rates are roughly double that. At some schools it’s closer to 50%,</p>
<p>What I would conclude from this is that the vast majority of Michigan students see no need to go Greek to enhance their social lives, or for any other reason. But there’s a persistent, and I assume enthusiastic, minority who do, and they are generally accepted as being a part, albeit a relatively minor part, of the campus scene.</p>
<p>I would also guess that it is precisely because they are such a small minority that the fraternities and sororities at Michigan feel compelled to try to put their best foot forward in a public relations sense, and that’s what accounts for the video emphasizing community service. I don’t doubt they do a lot of genuine and effective community service, as fraternities and sororities do elsewhere. But I also don’t doubt that they function as Greek organizations do elsewhere, primarily as social organizations to create close (and somewhat exclusive/exclusionary) bonds of trust and loyalty among their members, and to sponsor social events–parties, mainly–for their members and their invited guests.</p>
<p>Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Personally, I never had the time of day for it. but some find it a valuable part of their college experience, in some cases the defining element of their college experience. The great thing about a school like Michigan is there’s plenty of room for people with divergent or even diametrically opposed views to get along as part of a larger student body and a larger university community.</p>
<p>ThisIsMichigan, it’s not my data…it’s posted on U of M’s Greeklife website. I think you meant based on “the” data…having said that, you are correct - the boys can thank the girls for having higher GPAs and pulling up the Greek average. Although there are several fraternities that do have GPAs above U of M’s average.</p>
<p>Honestly, based on the reactions from posters here, I’m a bit relieved that my son didn’t join a fraternity…would hate to think employers might have a bias against fraternity guys, but apparently some do.</p>