<p>So I am very confused to whether I should rush or not. I love the whole idea of a sorority but my grades are more important to be because the stats for premed are obviously not in my favor. Is rushing the only major time commitment? My friend told me most of her sorority's events are optional but I dont know if this is true for all sororities.</p>
<p>There’s at least one sorority where you need to sell at least x number of tickets to the philanthropy or else you personally pick up the cost of the x tickets. </p>
<p>But I’m not a girl so I don’t know if that’s typical</p>
<p>This is just me speaking for myself and is not official info about Greek life at Northwestern, but here are my thoughts – </p>
<p>For time commitments, it varies from chapter to chapter. All chapters have weekly meetings which are required. These are usually on Monday nights and typically last an hour or two. If you decide to pledge, you will also probably have to attend mandatory new member meetings for your chapter. You will probably have other occasional mandatory meetings for things like recruitment, too.</p>
<p>Social events are optional. Philanthropy/service events are likely not.</p>
<p>Everyone at NU is focused on academics, so you would not be alone in being focused on your grades if you joined a sorority.</p>
<p>Back in “the day” we had several pre meds in the fraternity. Actually, one was a 6 year MD guy. My point- you can be involved in a sorority/fraternity and be a successful pre med. My advice, go ahead and rush. Look for a house and a group of students who meet your academic and socal needs. Academic/social balance is important.</p>
<p>.02</p>
<p>and, Go Cats!!</p>
<p>you’ll do better when you’re happier</p>
<p>I’m an alum, taking my son back today to start soph year. Everyone at NU is focused on academics - there are undoubtedly premeds in all the sororities. Several of my sorority sisters are now doctors, including one who is world-renowned in her given field; my H was in a fraternity and he’s a doctor. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>FWIW, median GPAs at sororities/frats are usually slightly higher than for non-Greeks.</p>
<p>My son joined his frat with a group of 6-7 friends; half his friends were pre-med, including a couple in HPME. They all did really well academically.</p>
<p>On the fraternity side of things at least, I knew people who dropped out of rushing because they were completely focused on pre-med GPA, I know others who loved and were committed to the fraternity experience as a refuge from their HPME/pre-med workload. Depends on the person, so try and see if you like it.</p>