I am going to be attending U-M next year, and I am well aware of the prevalence of Greek life throughout the school. I decided that I do want to join a fraternity, however I am unsure as to whether I should rush first or second semester due to maintaining a good GPA.
On one hand I want to get to become acclimated with the school and the people/things within it, as well as understand what college courses are truly like.
But I also think it might be better to get pledging over with from the beginning and have an instant source of new friends. I also have friends in some “good” fraternities and I don’t want to wait and possibly lose those connections.
Overall, I understand Greek life shouldn’t be my top priority - and it isn’t - however I am wondering as to whether or not it is manageable grade-wise for an incoming freshman to pledge first semester.
An advantage of waiting is that you can get more information about each house before deciding which to join. That is in addition to not doing it while adjusting to college.
Although I’m not in a fraternity, just an on campus club, I feel like you’ll have higher social standing if you join in your first semester over second. It’s interesting when people become early on active members as they’re seen as having more potential for growth in an organization than a member that appears to be less enthusiastic / joins later.
Yes, you stand out if you’re the freshman that becomes highly involved as early as possible while others are still getting acclimated to college.
By U-M, do you mean University of Michigan? If so, there really isn’t a prevalence of Greek life throughout the school. Yeah, it exists, but it’s not extremely present.
I would argue being in a frat can be beneficial to your GPA. You will feel less stressed in your personal life because you will have brothers to support you, furthermore, it is good for networking with brothers about your classes. I can guarantee there will be someone in the frat who has taken a certain class or professor before that can help you out if you need it. Being in a frat doesn’t mean you go out all evening and never get any work done - you don’t have to be in a frat to do that; it is what you make of it.