<p>We could really use a little advice in this area.</p>
<p>If a student would choose to join a Greek social organization at W&M, would it be more beneficial to do this as a freshman or wait until their sophomore (or later) year? There is a lot of evidence that the school practices grade deflation so it concerns us that joining a Greek organization would only make a student's GPA suffer even more. Do you feel this might be true? Is there a stigma attatched to a student waiting until their sophomore or junior year to go through Rush making them a less desirable candidate for brotherhood as opposed to lesser known freshman?</p>
<p>Does choosing to remain independent affect a student's social life greatly? To attend Frat parties must you be on an invitational list, must you have a close friend belonging to that fraternity, or is anyone and everyone welcome? </p>
<p>Also, it seems that the number of chartered fraternities greatly outnumbers the actual fraternities that have their own housing on campus. What's up with that? Do the frats w/out campus housing have houses elsewhere and where are they located? Have they been booted off campus?</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice given. It's a little confusing why they would have Rush for freshman w/in a couple of weeks of school starting in the fall.</p>
<p>I know some sophomores that rushed, and I've heard of a couple juniors doing it. I would personally (as someone who is NOT a member of a social fraternity) recommend that they go through the process during the second semester of freshmen year. Then you get 3 years with the greek organization,, and the first semester of college without having to add that to the things you are worrying about.</p>
<p>The parties are generally open invitiation.</p>
<p>What fraternities are you looking at that do not have housing? I might be able to explain why (no guarantees though). There is a feeling on campus, especially among some, that the administration doesn't like frats, so they "look for" reasons to get rid of them.</p>
<p>and you can argue either way about the grades, but there's a reason WM has a reputation for lots of work and stressed out students.</p>
<p>In terms of getting into the best fraternity/sorority, it may help your child's selection chances to participate in the first formal rush for which s/he is eligible. This may not be as necessary for boys as it is for girls. My D's friends and hs classmates who are at W&M all pledged ASAP.</p>
<p>It does appear to me that the administration is not pro-fraternity. Upon touring the campus, it is quite noticeable that there are several vacancies in the Fraternity Complex. Also from the FCA literature, there appear to be approximately fourteen frats plus one additional frat that recently received their charter, but it seems that only maybe about six or seven of those frats have housing in the Fraternity Complex.</p>
<p>At quick glance I see no housing at all for Beta Theta Pi, Delta Chi, Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Alpha, Lambda Chi, and the newly chartered Alpha Tau Omega. What are the living arrangements for those frats and how can they possibly have any parties when they have no house to hold them? Also, with so many vacancies why are they not housed in the complex? </p>
<p>After reading the responses here, it does make more sense to hold off on participating in rush until 2nd semester freshman year. I can't imagine trying to find out the different reputations each of the frats have in such a short amount of time when first starting school.</p>
<p>Would I be correct in assuming that basically anyone can go to any fraternity party (formals excluded) even without being a member? From what I remember from my Greek experience is that if someone who is not a member of that fraternity and has no very close friends there at the house and they showed up at a party, they were not exactly made to feel welcome. Is that not the case?</p>
<p>everyone is welcome to the parties. If the parties officially have alcohol, then I believe there has to be a list, so I don't think many of them officially have alcohol, but it happens in the rooms, etc. They're often advertised around campus / on facebook and such.</p>
<p>The frats have to apply for campus housing. In order to be housed on campus in those buildings in frat row, they have to have a certain number of people (I believe 30?) to live there. If they don't get enough people, then their unit goes into the housing lottery in the spring and anyone can choose to live there. Sometimes in this case, a bunch of them still choose to live in the Unit, and it's basically their place anyway. Sometimes they move to Ludwell and get a few apartments near each other.</p>
<p>This year PIKA lost their unit because not enough members sent in their housing deposits on time. Having seen the units, which are across the pathway from the largest freshman dorm Yates, I think the College is right to move the frats away from the center of campus as much as possible. It's impossible not to notice the rushing that begins a few days after parents wave goodbye! The College has a love/hate relationship with the frats - they are a longstanding tradition - many administrators at WM were Greeks, they are a source of alumni bonding and funding, they provide the primary social outlet on campus, but they present challenges with security, risk and management. The College knows that not all prospective parents of the stronger applicants are thrilled to see them on campus but a surprising number of parents love the tradition. </p>
<p>I understand that most parties are open but each frat/sorority has it's own closed parties - formals, for example. It's worth remembering that 78% of males do not belong to a frat although a higher percentage of females do belong to sororities. Having been through that first year with a freshman, definitely, definitely encourage the student to wait until 2nd semester - even still they are so young and inexperienced re: who they are signing on to be family with for the next 3.5 years.</p>
<p>Re: grade deflation at WM. I do not think that is a myth. I haven't checked this but was told only one person graduated last year with a 4.0. I don't think that is true for many schools.</p>