@rickle1 thanks for the info on the business fraternity. I will talk to my DS about looking into it as I think he would enjoy it. I concur with what you say about the kids mixing all together. There are greek kids on the club tennis team and in other things he does. My son did say however there was a shift in some friendships a little because of friends rushing. Not that they didn’t want to spend time together but that his friends that are pledging simply don’t have much time outside of their frat and school.
@byeretirement I understand your points and I think most parents would prefer less greek life especially for boys because of safety reasons if nothing else. You are right that not everyone is secure and confident which can be tough no matter where you are in school. You mention ND and Michigan which are both very selective schools not everyone has the option to go to those schools. As with everything it is always about choices and doing what is good for you. If memory serves as it was a LONG time ago I did a lot of learning in college and hope my DS does the same be it good and bad.
Hello, just to give some more information about Greek life from a student currently attending Wake. First off, I am a girl, and it is absolutely untrue that 80% of people go Greek. It is also untrue that athletes can’t join Greek life, as I have several friends who on various sports team who decided to rush. It may be true that 80% of certain halls rush or that a higher proportion of athletes chose not to rush due to time constraints and already having a group they can identify with. I am a current senior female and despite not rushing I have had no problems having a social life. I have hardly found those involved in Greek life to be exclusive and I truly think the impact that Greek life has on Wake is way overblown. There are pleasantly of ways to get involved on campus (student union, government, academic societies, etc.) that makes establishing a friend group very manageable. In terms of guys not having as much time to maintain friendships during the process of rush, that is true for guys given the nature of rush but much less so for girls. If your only hangup at wake is the greek aspect, I don’t think it is enough to be a deciding factor.
@julia101g Nicely said 
I do realize I made a mistake when I said that athletes couldn’t rush! I meant organizations like the business fraternity that were technically Greek but didn’t count as such. my mistake.
As others have pointed out there’s other things to do. And if you do any given activity there are going to be Greeks, simply because of the amount of people who ARE greek and how small the school is in general. It depends on the person and the circumstance. Some stop talking to certain people because they rushed/dont hang out with certain friends bc of rushing. I only speak from my experience.
I didn;t realize Wake doesn’t have Greek housing. That is certainly a big plus compared to the school my son goes to which has multiple houses per frat. HIs school is considered very similar to Wake in appearance and spirit and Greek life there absolutely dictates all social life. Everything he does revolves around his frat. Anyway, by all accounts the social scene at WF is also extremely conditioned by Greek life and that is something kids and parents should be aware of.
As for rates, some here said 80%, the Wake official stats say 60% certain times of year. Whether it’s 40%, 50% or 80%, the numbers are clearly overwhelming and, in my opinion, a drag.
I was the original person to post the 80% number on here. I think what I said may have been misconstrued. I would like to clarify what I said.
The key is that I said close to 80% of female freshmen rushed. I did not say 80% pledged. Rushing and pledging are two different things. The former involves expressing interest in joining an organization. If you equate this to high school sports, it’s like trying out for a team. Pledging, meanwhile, involves receiving a bid and joining an organization. The number of female freshmen receiving bids and taking them up was probably closer to the 60% number that Wake puts out on the website, although it may be closer to 65% for this one class. To say that 80% of women are in Greek organizations is simply not true. Once again, I would lean on Wake’s number of 60%, although it might be slightly higher.
The 40% number getting tossed around is the number of males that are in fraternities. I do take issue with this number. It may have been true at some point, but at least now, it has to be a lot smaller. Between the number of fraternities that have gotten the boot over the last few years, the number of sub-20 pledge classes, and the increasing number of guys that simply don’t join, I would estimate it is somewhere in the mid-30’s.
I apologize if my original post was misleading. The very purpose of my original post was to illustrate the sharp gender disparities in Greek organizations at Wake. In other words, when Wake Forest say 50% of students are involved in Greek life, they are not lying; with that said, there is more to the story, and it depends on gender.
@wfufan thanks for clarifying. Your post raises another issue I think parents would be concerned about. If 80% rush but only 60% pledge, that means that there are 20% that didn’t get accepted. I’m assuming the vast majority of those did not walk away but were rather turned down. For you Americans high school is already so socially cruel at times, and college is a big transition. I can’t help but feel concern for that 20%. As is obvious, I am really against Greek life notwithstanding my son enjoying his frat experience.
@byeretirement I went to the Student Engagement talk at orientation in the fall. They said that 89% of girls that rush get placed in a house. No clarification about whether the 11% walk away or don’t get a bid, my guess it is a mix of both. Hope this helps. If you child is considering WF you could also call the school if you would like official clarification on something
Yes!! Good point @ibf ! If you have any questions, you shouldn’t hesitate to call the school and ask. There are people whose entire careers focus on Greek life’s impact at Wake. Their number is on their website. Furthermore, you may want to call the Office of Student Engagement. This is all just a google search away.
@CarriesBakers you seem like an amazing young woman!! I hope you find contentment and happiness at Wake.
Your great attitude and perseverance will take you far in life
So without frat/sorority houses, where do they hold their parties and functions?
“Greek life promotes segregation, cliques, and it gives our kids an excuse to not explore anything outside of their comfort zone.”
I don’t know what your experience what greek life is, but at my school (50% of students so not overwhelming) different organizations are encouraged to associate with each other and participate in each others events. As far as having an excuse not to explore anything, many schools have policies that you must be involved in something else on campus in order to participate in greek life. Some chapters won’t accept you unless you have a certain GPA or are in a certain number of other campus organization. The idea that greek life “promotes” these things is not true.
@HogeDoty there ARE houses right across the way from Wake Forest, but since they aren’t technically on campus, they don’t “belong” to wake forest. Parties are held on campus in leased lounges. Functions are held in places they rent out.
@a20171 50% of students in Greek life isn’t overwhelming? That’s the same rate as the one were my son goes. He’s in a frat and all social “fun” in his school revolves solely around Greek life.
all the activities, mixers, whatever revolve around socializing with people from their frat, or girls from sororities. They lose touch with kids they know prior to pledging and I suspect have little opportunity outside of classrooms to meet others. Of course it limits their exposure to people outside of Greek life and is cliquey in nature. This is no secret, what school are you going to?
Greek life reminds me of the caste system or the class system in the UK. My son loves being in a frat but he points out that Greek life is dying for this very reason. School administrators know better and are also trying hard to push them aside.
@byeretirement, you have made seven comments on this thread generally stating your disdain for the Greek system at Wake Forest based on your personal perception of Greek life in general and the experience of your son at another school. Your positions are clear and understood.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: This thread has turned into a debate, which is not permitted, so I’m closing the thread.