<p>So I'm thinking about joining a fraternity but my work mate (girl) and parents think it's too expensive. My work mate said I'm pretty much just paying for friend. I've heard it's expensive to join and hazing dangerous pledging is involved so:
1) is joining a fraternity the only way to social?
2) is that the only way to party?
3)is hazing or dangerous pledging really involved or required?
4) what's the difference of college life inside and outside the frat</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>This is just my experience having not joining one but meeting people who did.</p>
<p>1.) No it’s not. There are plenty of social activities like joining clubs, hanging out with your dorm mates, etc. Frats make it much easier for being social.</p>
<p>2.) No, unless your college is very frat heavy. Even if you don’t join one you could still find someone in a frat/sor and attend their parties.</p>
<p>3.) Hazing shouldn’t be involved ANYWHERE. It’s a misconception of what you see on TV. Dangerous pledging shouldn’t be allowed as well. You shouldn’t expect these things.</p>
<p>4.) I can’t answer that. But my roommate is in one and the difference between is negligible except he have more connection and know more people.</p>
<p>1 and 2 are pretty much spot on (anything I would correct will come out in 4)</p>
<p>3)While Descuff is right that it shouldn’t be present, just want to say that there are chapters that do. Those are bad chapters though and you shouldn’t join them.</p>
<p>4)The big difference that leads to many of the other smaller differences is that unlike any other club or your dorm mates, frats blur the lines between organization and friendship and teach you a lot of skills with regards to social and organizational interactions that are harder (if not impossible) to come by else where. Additionally, the 24/7 nature of a fraternity in contrast to other things makes it easier to build deeper friendships. Many other things I could say will depend on the school and the chapter that you’re in. At some schools frats are not needed to be social but drastically expand your social scene. At a big state school with over 30,000 kids enrolled, it might be nice to belong to a 24/7 community (again, to contrast with other orgs) that is under 100.</p>
<p>Whether or not a frat is too expensive is dependent on your own personal finances and what you get out of the dues. Odds are it is not too expensive and you are certainly not just paying for friends. The only a small percentage of your dues will leave the chapter and go to the national org, the rest is spent on stuff you guys will do - how is paying dues and then using those dues to pay for things you do any different than a group of friends coming together and paying for some activity?</p>
<p>“3)is hazing or dangerous pledging really involved or required?”</p>
<p>varies per fraternity.</p>
<p>you’ll only know which frats do what by hearing about what they do during the pledging process from other people.</p>