<p>I've heard so much about MIT Frats( and i guess that would make sense since there are 26 of them while only 5/6(?) sororities), but what about the sororities??? what are they like? which ones are known for what? what's rush like?</p>
<p>if you don't mind my asking here, what are the frats like (this can go for sororities too) and when/how do people typically get involved? Freshman year?</p>
<p>For inside frat knowledge, you want to talk to ask-paul. :) I mean, most of us know some about some fraternities, but there are a good two dozen of them. Most people who get involved with fraternities get involved during freshman year.</p>
<p>There are only half a dozen sororities (they tend to be larger than the fraternities), so it's a little easier to sort through. Their rush process is <em>much</em> more centralized and structured than that of the fraternities, and they also tend to be more open to non-freshmen joining. They also do informal recruitment throughout the year (AEPhi, the culturally Jewish sorority (AEPi's female counterpart) tried to recruit me when I was a sophomore, but I wasn't interested - nothing against them at all, I was just happy with my situation already).</p>
<p>Some <em>extremely</em> broad short overgeneralizations:</p>
<p>AEPhi - culturally Jewish, academic
AXO - course 16 (this one may be out of date/might have been the quirk of a particular class - it is the most dubious of statements that should already be taken with a grain of salt - but I know little else about them), have a lip-sync charity event each year
APhi - large and luxurious
KAT - service
Sigma Kappa - I know absolutely nothing about them
Pi Beta Phi - brand-new</p>
<p>It is also much more common for sorority sisters to remain in the dorms than it is for fraternity brothers.</p>
<p>I have had generally pleasant experiences and interactions with sorority sisters from the various MIT houses.</p>
<p>It would be pretty pathetic if we had nobody on the MIT forum who could give a better answer to this question than me, so hopefully someone more informed will come along. :)</p>
<p>My only experience with sororities has been as almost the only unaffiliated member of the cheerleading squad, so I can't really do any better than Jessie. :) Maybe cellardweller will comment -- I think I remember that his daughter is in a sorority.</p>
<p>But rush for sororities is pretty geared toward helping interested women find the right sorority for them (or if a sorority is something they want to do) -- it's not really exclusionary at all. Women who want to be recruited attend the ~weeklong recruitment process, which the sororities hold together in the Student Center, and temporarily deaffiliated sorority sisters called Panhellenic Recruitment Counselors advise recruits as they pick a sorority. Recruitment becomes progressively more centered on individual sororities as it progresses (e.g. events at the houses rather than at the Student Center), and at the end, recruits rank the sororities which they'd like to join, while sororities select recruits they'd like to have. Everybody's preferences go into a computer (at MIT, we less than three our algorithms), and the algorithm tries to make everybody happy. IIRC, there are very few women who still want to join a sorority who don't get matched with one in the end.</p>
<p>About 50% of MIT guys join a fraternity, and 20% of MIT girls join a sorority. Don't be afraid to explore frats and sororities; you'll likely be able to find one that suits your personality.</p>
<p>RUSH is probably one of the greatest experiences you'll ever have. In addition to meeting new people with different interests, you get steak and lobster dinners!</p>
<p>What are reputations like? I mean is it an excuse to hold a keg party or is there more to it. Any idea if Greeks have lower (higher) GPAs? Is there a social life apart from frats/sororities?</p>
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I mean is it an excuse to hold a keg party or is there more to it.
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<p>My cynical first answer is "It depends on the house", but really, I suspect that even the most party-hearty houses have more to them than that. If all they wanted were keg parties, there are easier/less risky ways to do it.</p>
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Any idea if Greeks have lower (higher) GPAs?
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<p>This one varies <em>widely</em> by house.</p>
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Is there a social life apart from frats/sororities?
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<p>Yes. This one I can answer definitively, since I never went to an official Greek party (though I socialized at a couple of houses and went to a couple of impromptu bbqs and things like that), and I had a thriving social life.</p>
<p>In case anyone was interested in the fraternity/sorority GPA question, I have data (from ask-paul) on which Greek houses made the FSILG honor roll for Fall 2007 (were in the top third of fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups, in terms of house GPA that term).</p>
<p>These are in alphabetical order - I don't have the actual GPAs.</p>
<p>Sororities (5 out of 5*):</p>
<p>Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Phi
Kappa Alpha Theta
Sigma Kappa</p>
<p>*These were all the sororities that existed at the time - Pi Beta Phi, the 6th sorority, was brand-new and didn't have the chance to compete.</p>
<p>Fraternities (7 out of 26):</p>
<p>Alpha Epsilon Pi
Phi Kappa Sigma ("Skullhouse")
Phi Kappa Theta
Phi Sigma Kappa
Theta Chi
Theta Xi
Zeta Beta Tau</p>
<p>Hey folks,</p>
<p>Sorry, I've been away from CC for some time. I hope this response helps answer the questions, although please feel free to reply or PM me if there's something you still find mysterious. :)</p>
<p>@ham: Almost all men who join a fraternity join during their freshman year. The primary logic to this is that pledging as a freshman allows you to spend four years in (what could be) the best part of your MIT experience, whereas that drops to just three or two years if you pledge later.</p>
<p>As for getting involved, Fraternity Rush kicks off right at the end of freshman Orientation. It begins with the "Greek Griller" in Killian Court, which is a casual opportunity for freshmen to meet brothers from a bunch of different fraternities and explore the various fraternity houses. MIT has 26 fraternities, and while they do have a lot of similar traits, they are each unique, so the Greek Griller is basically the first opportunity for freshmen to get a feel for what kind of house they're looking for. Rush lasts for about a week and tends to get progressively more serious as the week goes on, but even the formal bits can be quite rewarding (steak and lobster dinner, anyone?). Other typical Rush activities include things like boat cruises, paintball trips, poker tournaments, big parties, and lots of free food - which are all basically just an excuse for freshmen and brothers to get to know one another better. At the end of Rush, each fraternity extends invitations to join (bids) to a number of freshmen - who then become pledges of that fraternity if they accept. In other words, Rush is very much a mutual process between brothers and potential pledges, and although it's sometimes crazy and confusing it is also quite a lot of fun, in the end.</p>
<p>As for your other question, fraternities' personalities change all the time and also tend to be pretty diverse. In broad terms, there are definitely some fraternities that lean more towards having lots of athletes or lots of engineers, a couple that are decidedly eccentric and/or anti-mainstream, others that are more well-rounded, and so on. All the fraternities offer about the same opportunities when it comes to socializing / partying, although the specific modes of socializing do vary somewhat (some fraternities focus on one or two big parties throughout the semester, others have lots of smaller "pub night" parties every week, and so on). It doesn't make a big difference in the long run, I think: what really matters is the sense of belonging to something larger than yourself.</p>
<p>Ichigo: Fraternities in general have a reasonably good reputation at MIT. Especially compared to the perceptions and stereotypes of Greek communities elsewhere, MIT's Greek community is pretty phenomenal. And there is far more to being Greek than just throwing parties. :)</p>
<p>That said, I completely agree with jessiehl's response above: it's quite possible to find a healthy and active social life outside the fraternities. I enjoy having lots of friends in the dorms (and fraternities apart from my own). It's not really in the nature of MIT to be socially exclusive.</p>
<p>Regarding GPA, again, Jessie gave a more complete response to that, but I will say that fraternities tend to make scholastic excellence a priority of their houses, especially when it comes to helping freshmen adjust to the rigors of MIT. I got informal tutoring on math, physics, and biology from upperclassman brothers all the time when I was a freshman, for instance. Most fraternities also have some sort of official scholarship chair who organizes study breaks or arranges opportunities for brothers to meet with MIT faculty.</p>
<p>Hey ask-paul</p>
<p>Which Frat would you say attracts the Football Players? How about Chem E's or Bio E's?</p>
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Fraternities (7 out of 26):</p>
<p>Alpha Epsilon Pi
Phi Kappa Sigma ("Skullhouse")
Phi Kappa Theta
Phi Sigma Kappa
Theta Chi
Theta Xi
Zeta Beta Tau
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Ooh, look at Paul, being all academic and whatnot. :)</p>
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What are reputations like? I mean is it an excuse to hold a keg party or is there more to it.
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I think FSILGs at MIT are generally just another kind of living group -- some of them may throw good parties, but they're primarily a way for people who like each other to live together and create a culture and be friends.</p>
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Which Frat would you say attracts the Football Players?
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When I was there, a lot of the football players lived in DKE, with a few also in Kappa Sigma.</p>
<p>Yeah, the stereotypical football frats are DKE, KS, and ATO. Not that you have to play football to be in them, but I always heard that they made up a disproportionate amount of the team.</p>
<p>Paul would know about the ChemE/BioE thing. :) In general, though, people of certain majors aren't trying to cluster in (or avoid) the same living group. Occasionally it happens by coincidence (at one point, my hall had BCS majors at something like 6x the undergrad average, by total coincidence), or because some major has a correlation with people's personalities.</p>
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...some major has a correlation with people's personalities.
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<p>This may explain why EC is like half Course 6. (I may or may not be exaggerating. I don't think I'm too far off. =P)</p>
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Yeah, the stereotypical football frats are DKE, KS, and ATO. Not that you have to play football to be in them, but I always heard that they made up a disproportionate amount of the team.
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Ah! I meant ATO instead of KS. I think KS might be more soccer players. :)</p>
<p>i was under the impression that KS was the baseball frat :p</p>
<p>KS is everything apparently. I always thought it was the volleyball frat...</p>
<p>Well, then let's just call them "sporty". :)</p>
<p>what do the female athletes do? any sororities that are typically athletes?</p>
<p>Sororities tend to be bigger than fraternities, so it's tougher to pigeonhole a sorority (not that it's particularly easy or fair to pigeonhole a frat, even if it is smaller). A given sorority tends to be made up of a pretty wide variety of women.</p>
<p>This is totally irrelevant but I pretty much freaked out at the fact that MIT has a cheerleading squad...and that they're actually really great...that's so AMAZING :)</p>