<p>What is it like to be a member of a sorotity/fraternity? I've heard bad things (drinking, hazing...) and good things (encourage academic success, promote community service, lasting friendships) about it. Which are truer?</p>
<p>First rule of Greek life is that it's going to vary from campus to campus. Things that are common and accepted (even encouraged) at one campus may be completely foreign at another. While this is true for most everything, I think the biggest example is hazing. At some campuses it's rampant, dangerous and downright abusive, but everyone puts up with it or looks the other way. At other schools it's completely absent.</p>
<p>Beyond that, again, campus to campus. At my alma mater (midwestern StateU), the greeks had an average GPA that was .2 higher than the non-greek averages, with chapters regularly posting all-house GPA's over 3.45 - pretty good when you consider most chapters are 80+ in members. Greeks also dominated campus organizations holding most of the major leadership positions. It wasn't uncommon for campus groups to be more than 70% Greek, even though only 15% of the entire student population was Greek.</p>
<p>But again, I can contrast that sort of success to other schools I'm familiar with, and the greeks do nothing but drink and get high. Grades are abysmal and no one is involved in anything. </p>
<p>As for drinking - it's ubiquitous at college. Greeks do throw parties, but so do a lot of other students. Whether you think that's bad or not really depends on your view of the situation.</p>
<p>I would agree with the previous post, it really depends on the campus, and within that, from chapter to chapter.</p>
<p>As a member of a fraternity, I'll tell you that it was one of the best decisions of my life. At the same time though, when I'm talking to other guys about joining my fraternity, I'll willingly say that it's not for everyone.</p>
<p>Being in a fraternity has given me the opportunity to meet a ton of new people, not just in my chapter, but in the Greek community as a whole. I believe that you also create a core group of friends that are always there for you. Beyond that, being in a fraternity/sorority enables you to hone your leadership skills.</p>
<p>In terms of academics, my chapter is #1 out of the fraternities on campus and we're above both the "All-Men's Average GPA" and the "All-University Average GPA."</p>
<p>With regard to community service, on my campus, Greeks complete 11 times more volunteer hours than non-Greeks. Greeks also donate more money to charity than any other group on campus (can't remember the exact figures off the top of my head though).</p>
<p>I think that a big problem is that people outside of the Greek community assume that all we're about is partying, drinking, etc. This problem then affects a few new members who have to realize that there's actually work involved in being in a GLO (Greek-lettered Organization).</p>
<p>Now, I'll tackle the big one of your questions last, hazing. When I pledged my fraternity, I was never, repeat, never hazed in any way. Since being initiated, I've never hazed any of our new members. But, I've heard of other groups on my campus that do haze, which is a shame.</p>
<p>Like everything else, it varies from campus to campus, and more importantly, from chapter to chapter within each campus.</p>
<p>I implore you to consider joining a fraternity/sorority. Check out the Greek-life section of your school's website and/or contact the Greek advisor at your school for more information.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>Unless you're at a huge and impersonal college, you can easily make "lifelong friends" and "study buddies" without pledging a frat and paying the annual dues. At a smaller school like mine, I see no obvious reason to pledge, except for potential "in's" with future business partners; but then again, shouldn't having the same alma mater be enough of an "in"?</p>
<p>The financial obligation to a GLO is something to be considered. But it's very hard for me to explain to a non-Greek what being in a fraternity/sorority is like. It's far and away more than making lifelong friends, it's also about cultivating the leadership and social skills as well developing a strong character. These words may seem trite and superficial, but to the millions of people who have have ever been in a GLO over the past 150+ years, these things are very true.</p>
<p>Also, while, being from the same alma mater helps to some extent, joining a GLO gives you contacts with people from numerous schools around the country. There are over 100,000 alumni members of my fraternity around the world.</p>
<p>The benefits of being in a fraternity or sorority certainly can be found in other places on campus. I'm not going to dispute that, but what makes a GLO unique is that all those benefits are in one place and can act synergistically with the opportunities elsewhere.</p>
<p>You can get leadership experience from student government, community service opportunities from service organizations like Circle K, scholarly benefits from academic honoraries, close friendships with a small group of people from the dorms (although I had 24 guys in my pledge class - I don't think the dorms is going to give you quite that number in a situation where everyone in the group is friends like they are in pledge class), scholarship money from plenty of outside sources, parties just by knowing the right people, and so on and so forth. But no one organization or group on campus can provide all those things at the same time except for a GLO.</p>
<p>And trust me, alma mater is nice, but there's nothing quite like meeting a brother from another chapter who knows what you're about. I have one fraternity brother who just graduated from Georgetown law who found a job with another alum of my fraternity (different chapter) in the DC area - he's making more money and doing more than an associate at a bigger law firm simply b/c of this connection. Likewise I've had business opportunities and help thrown my way simply b/c other alums of the greek system as a whole at my alma mater knew what my chapter is about.</p>
<p>greek life is awesome. I'll also agree that greek life is different at every college and chapters are different at every college. Most of the other chapters of my fraternity are, well, really dorky. As far as rushing, don't go somewhere based on we have highest GPA, we win greek week every year, we bang the most sluts every weekend, etc. Only join a fraternity that you feel like the brothers are most like you because I know many who joined for those aforementioned reasons are not happy with their decision and some deactivate. As far as hazing, it's such a broad term and at my school hazing can be as minor as making pledges dress up the same or making them stay at the house after 11pm. Some chapters are well known for some bad hazing while others don't haze. Pledging sucks, but you will meet some really unique people, have some memorable moments, and have great times.</p>
<p>And please, these types of questions have been answered so many times. Just search. :)</p>
<p>What exactly is the point of a fraternity?</p>
<p>If you're referring to a social fraternity (which is what people usually associate with the term "fraternity") then I've already explained their primary purpose.</p>
<p>"It's far and away more than making lifelong friends, it's also about cultivating the leadership and social skills as well developing a strong character."</p>
<p>People join fraternities for different reasons, but to me it all boils down to what I quoted above.</p>
<p>For more information about what fraternities are all about, check out "The Fraternity Experience" which is a website sponsored by the National Inter-fraternity Conference.
<a href="http://www.fraternityinfo.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.fraternityinfo.com/</a></p>
<p>i joined a sorority and am so happy and thankful that i did. i grew up in a place where no one went greek and remember the show "sorority life" and sitting around talking to friends about how i'd never subject myself to that. then i went to college and wanted to have an open mind about everything - including greek life. in my first semester i had a lot of fun going to open frat parties, and saw how chilled out greek life scene. in the spirit of trying new things, meeting new people, and again, keeping an open mind, i went through rush and found a house that was right for me.</p>
<p>as with anything, there are some complaints i have with my organization - but i realize that these issues are not because its a greek organization and that i could have them about any extracurricular i belong to.</p>
<p>sure there's drinking, and there's parties, and sometimes there's questionable behavior of your sisters or brothers, but i've never felt obligated or forced to participate in anything i didn't want to. it's truly all in fun, and at least on my campus, the students are smart enough to realize when fun things become stupid and dangerous. my chapter, and all the other sororities on campus, don't haze, so that's a non-issue and a huge factor as to why so many women decide to go greek on campus. i'm about to be a senior and i am confident that while many of my best friends from college that will be my friends through life i'll have met through my sorority, i also realize that i'll have many friendships with people i don't know through greek life.</p>
<p>i'm more involved on campus and in our community through my chapter, and i can say that i would not be involved in community service without it. and academics matter.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Generally full of retarded, insalubrious f***s. Take advantage of the free parties they throw; avoid joining at all costs. Prepare to be amazed at how many mindless females fall for the retarded frat guy shtick, however.
[/quote]
That of course is at NYU. At schools where greek life is more prominent, it can be very positive.</p>
<p>so basically you pay money to get more friends....
That's stupid.</p>
<p>LOL. Possibly. Keep in mind I have firsthand experience with these oafs. During recruitment week, or whatever the **** it's called, I went to the Manhattan Hooters, and then went drinking afterwards. Bills paid courtesy of the Gamma Chapter of Delta Phi. Only at NYU are frats desperate enough to take measures such as this, others being advertising 24/7 via Facebook, etc. You could tell they were in dire need of more retards to fill their coffers. Don't even get me started on how high the level of douchebaggery was during the entire time. Especially regarding the way they vocalized their opinions on women, etc.</p>
<p>thats such a ignorant way to look at it. ive seen the most sociable outgoing people join frats/sor...what does friend count have to do with it. the reason i am thinking about it is because I like the whole concept of a team, being an ex football player. its just a great atmosphere, especially when you have a lot in common and have gone through alot with those people. along with the community service, future oppotunites, and parties of course.</p>
<p>It seems that you pay for the name and the history, perks possibly and opportunities.</p>
<p>You can do all of those things without having to pay anything.</p>
<p>Wow, there's an awful lot of hatred toward Greeks here.</p>
<p>The reason that those of us in GLOs pay dues is mainly to cover liability insurance costs. This insurance is to cover problems that may occur at, among other things, socials or more importantly in a fraternity or sorority house. Basically, it's kind of like having a car, it's great, but there are some costs involved. </p>
<p>I'll also revert back to what I and several others have said before in this thread, Greek life differs from school to school and from chapter to chapter.</p>
<p>Also, I'm quite fond of this quote about Greek life, "Those on the outside looking in can't understand it, those on the inside looking out can't explain it." Greek life isn't for everyone, but it is for me and quite a lot of other people.</p>
<p>Um, who said anything about Greeks?</p>
<p>For Pete's sake, all you people who say Greek life is akin to "paying for friends" seem to think it's like a magazine subscription. It's not! House bills are usually the last thing on everyone's mind. Like ANY other club or organization, there are operating costs. Nobody gets get kicked out and disowned for a delinquent payment, so stop trying to cite that as a reason that Greek life is "evil."</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that at some schools, social life sucks. Period. I don't care how social of a person <em>you</em> are, I'm talking about the collective campus environment. Lack of school spirit, lack of club participation, lack of options, whatever. Of the 25 people that were on my floor freshman year, I was lucky to see 3 of them in any given week after the first month because everyone was so reclusive. Nobody got involved, and the lack of psyche among my peers was dragging me down too. As soon as I joined my house, I met and befriended not only the 35 or so active brothers, but a whole slew of people in other houses <em>and</em> even a lot of non-greek independents. It opened up a huge door to campus life and involvement and I am thankful for my decision. I have grown stronger as an individual, and have become far more confident and outgoing than I was when I first set foot on campus.</p>
<p>I will concede that Greek life at other schools may suck and have little redeeming value. I will concede that Greek life is not for everyone, and apparently not for a lot of people on CC, but that is no reason to make sweeping and insulting generalizations across a nation of 3500 colleges just because you think your $hit smells sweeter.</p>