<p>I visited Cornell this weekend, and there were definite clear advantages for me, however, I am somewhat concerned about the social life at Cornell. Cornell seemed to be somewhat of a party school, and the large frat/sorority frat population is disconcerting as well since I am an engineering student. Would I have to join a frat to get access to the the good parties, etc? I'm not interested in drinking, but I would like to build connections and meet girls, which would all be made significantly easier by joining a frat.</p>
<p>My S is a freshman engineering student and he joined a fraternity. We were at that fraternity parents’ weekend a few days ago. We were blown away by the amazing things these guys are doing. Many are in the engineering school and are so accomplished. We learned of their internships, post-graduate plans, and their academic interests. Pledging was time-consuming, but short. We feel that our son will be exposed to people who are goal-oriented and people who know what they’re there for. The social piece is part of college and we feel the experience will give our son a balance. There are 40 fraternities - so there is opportunity to find anything you’re looking for. Fraternity gives a student a smaller group in a large university. Don’t discount Cornell bc of fraternity - our son really wasn’t set on joining one and is now very happy he did.</p>
<p>There are students at Cornell who join a fraternity and love it (and a few who joined who may later wish they hadn’t).</p>
<p>There are students who don’t join a fraternity and have a great, and well rounded, college experience (and a few who did not join a frat who later wonder whether it might have been rewarding in some way).</p>
<p>Roughly 70% of the undergrad population chooses to not join a fraternity, so the idea that Cornell is “dominated” in any excessive way by the frats is not correct. Whether or not to join a frat is a personal preference kind of alternative.</p>
<p>The Greek system seems to be changing as the administration gets more heavy handed. Freshman year, especially first semester, social activities tend to be more dominated by fraternities. By sophomore year, you are generally either a frat guy or not. If you are a frat guy, your social life is more dominated by Greek events, if not, you do more stuff in C-town with close friends and/or social events with student organizations you are a part of. </p>
<p>Given the Greek presence at Cornell, it will always have the biggest parties that are most obvious to outsiders. After all, most people won’t let random people into their more private apartment parties, unless you are friends with people who are going. </p>
<p>Being an Engineer has little bearing on whether or not you are social. I’d say on average, Engineers aren’t the people partying 5 nights a week, but most aren’t social shut-ins either. There are over 900 student clubs and tons of events each weekend, plus I’m assuming you’ll make friends, so plenty to do. As for drinking, I didn’t my freshman year and it was no problem; just be sure you are comfortable around other people who are drinking, and sometimes heavily. If you do decide to start drinking, it’s best that you start with close friends who will have your back, and not a random group of people at a frat party. If you don’t decide to ever drink, if you have good friends, they should never put significant pressure on you.</p>
<p>You’ll see people on these boards who are highly supportive and highly skeptical of Greek life. I fall in the latter category. Hazing is generally understated, but it also exists in other groups as well. I tend to think overall, fraternities don’t promote the best qualities in people, but it does vary by frat. There are good networking opportunities, but you can find those through other activities as well. Definitely give it a shot and give yourself the opportunity to experience at least a few frat parties and experience some of the Greek life.</p>
<p>I’ll break this post down.</p>
<p>*I visited Cornell this weekend, and there were definite clear advantages for me, however, I am somewhat concerned about the social life at Cornell. Cornell seemed to be somewhat of a party school, and the large frat/sorority frat population is disconcerting as well since I am an engineering student. *</p>
<p>Cornell has parties but calling it a party school would be “disrespectful” to actual party schools, especially nowadays with the regulations that mikey alluded to. From what I know and personally experience the party scene isn’t the fun or liveliness it used to be.</p>
<p>Also, plenty of engineers join fraternities; so you wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>*Would I have to join a frat to get access to the the good parties, etc? I’m not interested in drinking, but I would like to build connections and meet girls, which would all be made significantly easier by joining a frat. *</p>
<p>Pretty much. I’m not going to go into the foolishness of tiers, but there are definitely some fraternities that are higher up on the scale of functionality and social power. There are many fraternities (around 40); but only about one-fourth the number of sororities. As you can guess, sororities can be fairly selective in interaction.</p>