Questions about Frats

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I'm really new to this frat stuff because I'm the first in my family to go to a US college. In any case, this is the kind of stuff I want to know:</p>

<p>What is a rush?
How exactly do you get in to a frat?
Anything one can do to get in?
Hazing? Is it a serious problem?
I'm not a heavy drinker, and I don't want to. Will the expect you to drink a lot or will a cup or so occasionally (or maybe never) satisfy them?
What are the advantages of joining a frat?
Will it ruin my GPA (as in not enough time to party)?
How is the frat housing like?</p>

<p>I know that this is a lot of questions, but I really am clueless about the entire greek system.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>a rush is the process of checking out all the fraternities/getting to know the brothers/selecting which fraternity to pledge</p></li>
<li><p>you go through rush process. if you like one certain house, and the brothers like you, they would give you a bid, which is an invite to join</p></li>
<li><p>every house is different. some houses are southern, so if you from the north, you dont have much chance. the best you can do is to be yourself.</p></li>
<li><p>not THAT bad</p></li>
<li><p>no one will force you to drink</p></li>
<li><p>life long brotherhood...........you'll see</p></li>
<li><p>depends.</p></li>
<li><p>cheaper.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>
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What is a rush?

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</p>

<p>Untitled answered this pretty well.</p>

<p>
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How exactly do you get in to a frat?

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</p>

<p>Impress the brothers. I know one of my class brothers and I played in the fraternity's annual beer pong tournament and won it (11-0) and both of us then received the first two bids to the fraternity.</p>

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Anything one can do to get in?

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</p>

<p>Don't be a complete social outcast. If the brothers see something they want in you, they'll give you a bid. What Untitled said is correct, about certain fraternities being Southern fraternities and not giving bids to northern kids. It happens.</p>

<p>
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Hazing? Is it a serious problem?
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</p>

<p>It depends on what fraternity. It can be.</p>

<p>
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I'm not a heavy drinker, and I don't want to. Will the expect you to drink a lot or will a cup or so occasionally (or maybe never) satisfy them?

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</p>

<p>That's tough. The point of a fraternity (besides a brotherhood) is to get laid and drink. That's pretty much all we do. . .</p>

<p>
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What are the advantages of joining a frat?

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</p>

<p>Getting laid. Drinking. Parties. Brotherhood. There are no downsides to a fraternity.</p>

<p>
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Will it ruin my GPA (as in not enough time to party)?

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</p>

<p>What? Do you mean not enough time to study? Some fraternities have mandatory study halls every night or so. Those in fraternities generally have the highest grades of anyone on campus.</p>

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How is the frat housing like?

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</p>

<p>I can't speak for any other houses, but our fraternity's house is amazing and we have our own chef. We're the only house on campus with a house chef.</p>

4

<p>which school do you go to, Ecliptica? and what's your house?</p>

<p>it must be f***ing awesome to have a chef. as a pledge, i have to cook.........</p>

5

<p>Tulane; Zeta Beta Tau.</p>

<p>It was a tough decision between ZBT and Pike (Pi Kappa Alpha) but I think I made the right decision in the end. Chef > *</p>

6

<p>As far as hazing goes, drinking can usually be associated with hazing (as with many of my friends fraternities- having to pound beer after beer after beer and if they don't do it, they get in huge trouble...)
There are a couple of non-hazing fraternities... ie Delta Upsilon and Sigma Nu</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all the responses! Keep in coming in.</p>

<p>I'm actually deciding b/w UC Berkeley and Cornell. Leaning towards Cal now..</p>

8

<p>At Dartmouth, you can join as a dry-pledge, and then you don't have to drink - in one frat I know of, dry pledges have to chug milk.</p>

9

<p>Untitled and Ecliptica - that's interesting to hear cause all of the frats on campus here are required to have their own chefs.</p>

10

<p>are you serious, DIMA???????</p>

<p>which school do you go to? washington and lee (lexington)?</p>

11

<p>Yeah, W&L! I believe it's mandated by the school. Our chef is pretty good too - his cooking often beats d-hall food. Other frats here go even farther, they have a whole team cooking up amazing food . . . they probably pay them a bunch too.</p>

12

<p>Yeah, I'm not sure if its mandatory, but all of the sororities, and each of the fraternties I know of have a personal chef, house mom(or dad), and a house cleaning staff.</p>

<p>Oh, and Roy - Greek Life at Cal is so fun!</p>

<p><3,</p>

<p>Izzie Bear</p>

13

<p>dima and izzie, **** you spoiled bastards.......... ;)</p>

<p>there's a ZBT chapter here at UVa as well.............i think you guys had a foam party last night.</p>

14

<p>Interesting, Ecliptica, Pi Kappa Alpha here is called PiKA, but I've heard it called Pike by people from other schools. Is it called Pike most places?</p>

15

<p>it's PIKE here...</p>

16

<p>can you pledge to multiple frats?</p>

17

<p>can you pledge to multiple fraternities?</p>

<p>YES, you can pledge Sigma Phi social fraternity and Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business fraternity at the same time, for example.</p>

<p>can you pledge to multiple SOCIAL fraternities?</p>

<p>**** NO!</p>

18

<p>Like Untitled said, you can be a member of a ton of different honor and professional fraternities (I'm being inducted into Phi Eta Sigma - a freshman honor society - in May) as well as a social fraternity.</p>

<p>However, you cannot be a member of more than one social fraternity. It just doesn't make sense and goes against what fraternities stand for!</p>

<p>That said there is a way around it (though you're not supposed to do it, there's no way the frat can stop you) - you could technically pledge a fraternity, then depledge before getting initiated and pledge a different fraternity, if another one is still willing to take you.</p>