<p>I've noticed that mosat the posters on here are a.) out of touch, b.) extremely biased</p>
<p>So if you have any questions on social life, particularly frats and sororities, I'd be happy to answer, I'm a senior in an organization now</p>
<p>Why not just give us the lowdown, straight up and out in front?</p>
<p>I’m a slightly older transfer & trying to get everything sorted… I’m moderately anti-frat, and though I could easily be seen as ‘that type’, I dislike all things frattastic - the trademark toolbox arrogance, the insecurity that lies in paying for built-in friends, the overcommitment to staying hammered, etc… I don’t particularly relish the idea of “weekly social life = beer pong x 5”.</p>
<p>So dish.</p>
<p>Frats at Dartmouth tend to be less “frattastic” then frats at other, larger schools. First of all with the smaller campus people don’t get isolated as much within their frat/sorority…this is compounded by the fact that you can’t rush until sophomore year. </p>
<p>That being said, there’s definintely degrees of frattiness within frats at Dartmouth. I believe most would identify the frats on Frat Row (Sig Ep, Beta, Sig Nu, Tri-Kap, BG, Phi Delt, Chi Gam) as less “fratty or fratastic” then the ones on Wheelock St (Heorot, AD, Theta Delt)…though Chi Gam may be an exception in that regard. (GDX is in a land all its own…not neccesarily fratty as much as pure steaky)</p>
<p>I would actually argue that the average Dartmouth frat brother is less inclined to traditional “Frattiness” as the frat row frats comprise a much larger population then their Wheelock counterparts, and the attitude between the two is absolutely different.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in a particular frat let me know, I can give you a fairly accurate characterization.</p>
<p>Finally, I know many people not in frats (though remaining independent is NOT the norm) and they seem to enjoy themselves and are capable of maintaining a functional social life</p>
<p>H was a Sigma Nu at UGA. I understand that they are one of the few national frats on campus. What are the pros and cons of that? Will you generally describe them?</p>
<p>Can you just give us a general overview of each frat?</p>
<p>Yeah…this will be cursory and of course somewhat superficial, but probably fairly accurate:</p>
<p>Frat Row Houses:</p>
<p>Sigma Nu: Tends to be perceived as the “nerdy” frat…many political conservatives…brothers still hang out a fair amount, they throw 80s parties all the time…can pick up when they’re having a party but otherwise tends to be one of the houses with a more empty basement.</p>
<p>BG: Known primarily as the drug house…it attracts lots of alternative type kids…people hang out at BG a lot (especially freshmen) and they throw a fair amount of good sized parties. They are known to dirty rush freshman (allowing freshman to pledge unofficially). The home of tea and cutter…two special drinks they serve.</p>
<p>Beta: To be honest I don’t know a great deal about this house, just came back to campus last year…many football players not wanting to join GDX came here as well as a good mix of people from all over campus. To be determined in many regards.</p>
<p>Sig Ep: Sort of broadly considered the “Everyman’s house” they allow anyone to join and don’t have a pledge term. It’s a big house with a diverse brotherhood. Basement is usually pretty crowded and they throw some big parties. I’d say they are one of the houses with the “nice guy” vibe. Lots of track/crew guys have come here recently. Ultimate frisbee calls this place home.</p>
<p>Alpha Chi: Another one of the “nice guy houses”…similar to Sig Ep in many ways but the guys here probably party a bit more and are a little less diverse. Their pledges wear read hats (sirens) all pledge term. People hang out here freshman year before they realize it’s really not that great.</p>
<p>Chi Gam: Have the stereotype of being a fun house that drifts towards the sleazy side. They’re home of the original dance party designed for brothers to grind on freshman to a dj. Basement is usually crowded (again with many freshman). Was once considered the baseball house and is to some extent, though that has been shifting a little bit.</p>
<p>Phi Delt: The brothers in Phi Delt don’t like to leave phi delt, and rarely do so. It’s a strangely close brotherhood obsesses with tradition and the “old school”. They have reds every monday which is a good party and their small basement usually has a decent scene going on. They had a lot of trouble recruiting a solid '10 class and the house probably will change somewhat because the '10s and '11s have departed from the personality of the past somewhat.</p>
<p>Tri-Kap: What was once the “asian” house, has made a definite change and now attracted a mix of guys. Monday nights are tri-kap freeze…a party with various frozen drinks…a big pong house and definitely one of the houses that has a dedicated set of girls there regularly.</p>
<p>GDX: football.</p>
<p>Wheelock St:</p>
<p>Heorot: In many respects its just the hockey house with a smaller group of brothers from different sports or non-athletes. Has somewhat of a sleazy guy reputation but probably not anymore than its Wheelock st. counterparts. They have a huge basement that gets hot as hell and rarely fills up. Their parties tend to be pretty good but mostly end up spilling into AD for the late night.</p>
<p>AD: Right next door to Heorot, AD has a more fratty vibe with bro-ish type brothers. Has pretty much become the sole rugby house since Phi Delt has failed to recruit rugby guys as well now, also home to the soccer team and a number of squash/tennis/golf guys. They tend to be a crazier house that throws parties constantly. Basement is infamous for smelling horribly (because they have grates to **** in around the walls)…a strong pong house as well.</p>
<p>Theta Delt: Home to the lacrosse and basketball team, Theta Delt is a mix between the bro vibe and the jock vibe. The brothers tend to be pretty inclusive. They throw a fair number of parties but as of late the off-night scene has been slow (not rare for Wheelock st. frats).</p>
<p>Psi U: The sailing/skiing frat known for being preppy and at times a bit snobby. Known for their custom drink the porchcrawler. They tend to have a solid group of regulars and throw some big parties, their basement is probably the smallest on campus and gets HOT, and crowded.</p>
<p>SAE: What was once the conservative guys party house has drifted more and more to ther nerdier side. There’s always one or two houses where freshman go because you can always “get on table” in pong, and this has definitely become one of them. Throw parties every now and then. Solid group of guys but for whatever reason has a slipping reputation.</p>
<hr>
<p>In terms of pledge terms, certain houses are known for having particularly brutal pledge terms and those would be AD, Tri-Kap and Psi U</p>
<p>The jockiest houses would be GDX, Heorot, and Theta Delt</p>
<p>thats all I can thinkof for now, but feel free to ask more specific questions</p>
<p>thanks for the descriptions, tycosaurus, they’re pretty interesting to read. which house are you currently member of? And what exactly does “bro-ish” mean?</p>
<p>“And what exactly does “bro-ish” mean?”</p>
<p>trying way too hard to pretend like you didn’t get into Dartmouth due to good grades and a ton of extracurriculars</p>
<p>^^Why would anyone pretend that? Didn’t nearly everybody get into Dartmouth due to good grades and a ton extracurriculars?</p>
<p>hahah tycosaurus, your description very closely matches what other students have told me about frats. At least there are some diversity in the types of frats, should be a fun time. </p>
<p>Also, did anyone else read this article? It was by a non-drinking student who is a member of AD; he talks about being sober in the frats. I thought it would be an interesting read for you guys…</p>
<p>[Sober</a> in the Animal House - Well Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/sober-in-the-animal-house/]Sober”>Sober in the Animal House - The New York Times)</p>
<p>just read the article… I want to meet this guy! He seems pretty cool - and cute!</p>
<p>OP, what do you know about some of the co-ed frats like Alpha Theta, The Tabard, and Phi Tau? Is it a different experience than the traditional all-male frats?</p>
<p>Tabard has lots of drugs and perhaps the most LGBTs of any frat on campus – it’s also ragier than the other coed frats. Phi Tau and Alpha Theta are both nerdy, but Phi Tau is also generally much weirder (they’re big on nudism, for example). Alpha Theta is probably the most normal of any of the coed frats, but the dynamics are still pretty different because it’s coed. The experience at any coed frat will be very different from a typical frat or sorority.</p>
<p>I really wonder if it would make sense for the college to put more efforts into developing healthier more mature residential life social options.</p>
<p>Is the overall student population generally accepting and friendly, or is it really an extension of high school with a cliquey environment?</p>
<p>I’m curious: the college guides say that only 38% of male students join a frat, so how can remaining independent be “not the norm”?</p>
<p>I believe that includes freshmen, who are ineligible to join. If you take out freshmen the number should be well over 50%.</p>
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<p>Freshman year the former, then the latter. Basically, people spend a year finding their footing and carving out a niche for themselves on campus. After that they only become interested in meeting freshmen who could get recruited into their organizations. So basically, if you make a mistake and join organizations that you later decide you don’t want to be a part of, or that fall apart after you join, you are screwed.</p>
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<p>Because we’re living in a jockocracy. Or is it idiocracy?</p>
<p>While I would mostly agree with Xanatos’s description, I think it’s a mistake to characterize Dartmouth as an extension of high school. For all our immaturities and insulation from the outside world, people are nowhere as disrespectful or intolerant as high schoolers so often seem to be. Most people are pretty nice. It’s true social life is rather cliquey, but it’s cliquey for very different reasons than high school social life is.</p>
<p>I’d say there isn’t a dichotomy between “accepting and friendly” and “cliquey.” People at Dartmouth are simultaneously both. It’s not because they actively dislike those who are different – it’s because after you establish your social circle as a freshman there’s not really any impelling reason to seek out new people.</p>
<p>A few responses:</p>
<p>I’d rather not say what house I am in, but believe my comments to be pretty unbiased (I hope)</p>
<p>I know the author of that article, he’s a friend of mine and a good guy…if nothing else, cool that he’s getting to write so young</p>
<p>I would not say that being bro-ish is denying one’s background, there are many people at dartmouth who are capable of partying hard and maintaining a solid career at dartmouth, there are also people who party and flunk out, there are both kinds in every fraternity on campus…bro-ish just refers to the lifestyle of hanging out a lot, being active in certain frats, possibly playing a sport…its a culture</p>
<p>And actually I believe the scene at Dartmouth to be very accepting…much more so than a typical school…there are certainly cliques but they tend to be less prominent and less defined than one would expect…i would argue that people project cliques onto other groups more than they actually exist</p>
<p>Sorry…and about greek life percentages…xanatos is right those low numbers include ineligible freshman…but it feels even higher than 50% for whatever reason…i find it rare to talk to an upperclassmen who is independent (more so for guys)</p>