Social life at Emory for non-Greeks?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
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<p>My son is interested in Emory -- its size and its strong academics, particularly in a couple of areas of interest, are very appealing to him.</p>

<p>However, Greek life is not particularly appealing to him, and several of the college guidebooks talk about how social life at Emory revolves around the frats and sororities.</p>

<p>I know that the majority of kids do not pledge. Nonetheless, as a graduate myself of a university with a big Greek system, I know that it can have a real impact on the social 'feel' of a campus.</p>

<p>So our question is: Will a friendly but kind of bookish, non-drinking, non-pledging male student have trouble finding friends and having fun at Emory? We would especially love to hear from any current or former Emory students fitting that description.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any insights people might have to share.</p>

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<p>No need to worry about the impact of Greek life. I disagree with the guide books in that I view fraternity as a resource for those who want it and barely an afterthought for those who do not. </p>

<p>I rarely went to fraternities after my first year at Emory and then never again after my second. I had a very active social life (as much as anyone writing a senior honors thesis) and never thought twice about my absence from Greek life. I think this is a fairly prevalent sentiment for Emory students so finding friends outside of a frat shouldn’t be a worry at all.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, I think pledging and (especially) drinking are very important to your social life at Emory, unless you’re lucky enough to find really special friends. The school feels very small…</p>

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<p>I didn’t rush and don’t drink, and I have a fantastic social life at Emory!</p>

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<p>Agree with rer678. People tend to think everyone drinks when they drink and are primarily surrounded by those who do it. Then again I have lots of friends from various “cliques” (or perhaps not in one) if you will. Most of my friends don’t drink heavily or hardly at all. Nothing too special about them other than the fact they are my friends. Plus I’m from Georgia so it’s easy to network with those at other Atlanta institutions.</p>

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<p>Non-Greeks can find friends and have fun*</p>

<ul>
<li>I guess some people enjoy watching movies every Saturday night.</li>
</ul>

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<p>I don’t drink and neither do most of my friends. On weekends, most of the kids on my floor (except for a couple of kids who liked the greek scene) would get together, invite kids from other floors, order a TON of food, watch movies/tv shows and just hang out…It was pretty chill…Damn I am going to miss freshman year lol…</p>

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<p>Again, you don’t even have to do that. You can go to Six Flags (in this case, you should know someone w/a car), to an actual movie theater (train/bus), bowling(bus), Atlantic Station/shopping (bus) w/e. There are always events in say… mid-town rather it be the visual arts, music, or both. It isn’t as difficult to find something to do as everyone makes it out to be. It is merely the unwillingness to go outside of a comfort zone and travel in something other than one’s precious car at night. Needless to say, I’m not afraid to do so. I figured out a good portion of Atlanta metro by second semester freshman year. It was so easy. </p>

<p>Admittedly, it would be easier if the Lennox Shuttle ran as late as it did my 1st semester of freshman year (somewhere between 11:00 and midnight). Damn the economy lol. But anyway, this puts you in a desirable part of town, or if you don’t want to go to remain in Buckhead, you can go to mid-town or elsewhere because the MARTA station is across from the mall. </p>

<p>The schedule of Emory experience shuttles aren’t too bad the weekends they run (which is like every weekend). </p>

<p>My goodness! Some people really make it seem as if one’s only choice is A) Party/drinking or B) watching movies on the weekend if you don’t have a car. Get real. those who say so just aren’t willing to put in effort to do otherwise which is understandable sometimes, but they need to realize that their options are limited by their own will and nothing else. It’s not like Atlanta is boring. How many times do I have to attest to this fact? Then again, many come in from say NYC, Chicago, LA, or somewhere up north and presume inferiority of options in Atlanta and don’t find it worth exploring (trust me, I actually met many like this freshman year, and they have not changed a bit). Quite ridiculous if you ask me.</p>

<p>OP: Point is, you are not limited to your dorm or fratrow on weekends or any other day. You are not even limited to Emory. Be adventurous. Not to mention, keep up with events that are hosted by reslife and other organizations on campus. The only thing I hate about Emory is that people don’t even give such events a chance. These are the people that assume it’s lame, and then go on and on about how we don’t school pride when they clearly contribute to the problem. The events could be really good if people would just simply show up. They are only lame because of the low turnout. The level of school spirit should not really even govern the turnout of events with free food. Then again, I imagine that ppl just want to get trashed so bad that such events take a backseat, and hence you get lots of people convincing themselves that it is the only thing to do on weekends. Trust me, I don’t drink that much, but I even got to the point where I was convinced of such a thing (that is, when I decided to remain on campus), but then I started checking out some of the events (last year), and was pleasantly surprised by the general idea behind it. I just always wished more people showed up.</p>

<p>Colleges: I’d imagine that many of your friends will have a car next year. I recommend random roadtrips to say UGA. They always have lots of events popping off up there that do not involve alcohol (though they are mainly known for the ones that do) and are free! It’s a poppin’ campus every weekends for all types of people. Plus UGA’s food venues are extremely solid. They have won awards. It’s a great place to hang out.</p>

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<p>Yah they will. UGA has really HOT girls…=)…It was hard to explore atlanta, simply because freshman can’t have cars. My friends who were upperclassmen drove me around, but we went out like once every two months, so not that often. My freshman friends and I would often use taxi’s to go places, but taxi’s into downtown are really expensive.</p>

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<p>I agree about the girls ;).</p>

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<p>Thanks, all, for the helpful input. Emory is definitely on his list.</p>