Would it be a good idea to mention not having fraternity housing as a reason to transfer among other, more important reasons. After academic reasons, I mention how my time in the honors program made me realize I loved being part of a community and that I never thought of joining a fraternity until now. My school has fraternities but no dedicated housing, so it doesn’t have that communal feel. I’m afraid I’ll come off as somebody who wants to party even though I have other reasons for joining a frat!
Anybody?
Why don’t you just talk about community in general and leave out a direct comment on greek life. Not sure what school(s) you are applying to but not all higher ed administration is a fan of greek life even when it has a presence on campus.
Yeah I was thinking about that but there is still a community at my school. The housing is the real issue. I guess I’ll write about something else in place of that.
Agree with @doschicos
I think the only problem with @doschicos suggestion might be that it could come across as vague - after all, what attracts you to the community? I think that if Greek life has a real presence at a school it’s a valid thing to mention, but perhaps going into a desire for fraternity-dedicated housing is too specific. After all, this probably shouldn’t be your primary reason for transferring because if it is where does that leave you if you don’t get a bid anywhere? If it were me, I would include a brief mention of Greek life as a larger discussion of community or maybe instead focus on an interest in a service fraternity instead of a social one.
@Sam998 thanks for the advice. It’s not the main reason for transferring, which is actually the desire to attend a research university. The fraternity part is just a small subsection. I really like your suggestion.
I don’t think I would mention it. One of the older members of my fraternity used to give a speech every year about how if someone came in and took a sledge hammer to all the stuff in our house, including our house itself, that in the longterm it would mean nothing. Possessions and parties come and go. They got tossed out and replaced as soon as they start to break down Brotherhood on the other hand is supposed to be eternal. It does not end with graduation when you leave the house behind. I wouldn’t go to a rush event and say the housing is the main draw so I certainly wouldn’t say fraternity houses are a major enough draw to feel the need to mention them in a university transfer essay. It would be one thing to say that you want a school with a stronger or better greek life or something like that, but to link it all to housing is somewhat undermining what fraternities are supposed to be about - and is the kind of thing that I could see rubbing both pro and anti-fraternity people the wrong way.