<p>How big are the sororities there? Is it hard to fit in if you don't join? What are they like?</p>
<p>Each sorority class is about twice the size of a fraternity one - 30-40ish people? The Greek Houses fill a niche requirement that's missing among upperclassmen - sort of that community/closeness that the freshmen floors get. Otherwise, sororities should have meetings once per week, and I guess the character of your house depends on which sorority you choose to pledge.</p>
<p>It's not impossible to fit in if you don't pledge - I would say that depends on who you associate yourself with freshman/early sophomore year. If you find that all of your friends pledge, and you don't, then yes it's probably going to suck (I've seen many sad cases of people "bro-ing" out on their roommates and such this year - the social dynamics of this are fairly interesting). So...overall, I'd say it's harder, but not impossible.</p>
<p>are there stereotypes associated with certain sororities? if so, what are some of them?</p>
<p>Uh...alright.</p>
<p>Kappa and KDE are probably the most highly sought after sororities, with the perceived prettiest girls and highest prestige on campus. I'd say KDE is more diverse than Kappa though - Kappa doesn't seem that diverse at all.</p>
<p>TriDelt has that "nice girl that you would take home to your parents" thing going on. Indeed, some of the women I know there are very nice.</p>
<p>AZD is perceived as a worse version of TriDelt.</p>
<p>Sigma Delt is kind of random - I really don't know what niche it fills at Dartmouth. A bunch of fun women though, according to my BG friend.</p>
<p>Alpha Phi is the "asian nice girl" sorority. A large chunk of the Phi's are Asian American. The sisters there also seem to take studying more seriously (relatively speaking, of course).</p>
<p>EKT is the least coveted sorority. I'm not going to say anything about it here.</p>
<p>This is VERY helpful.</p>
<p>Can someone please do a similar breakdown of the Fraternities at Dartmouth? (I don't want to have to make a separate thread)</p>
<p>why?</p>
<p>seriously, somebody could do it, sure, but it's been done. a lot. look around a bit, and i'm sure you'll find one. the D and the Review put out a similar piece every year stereotyping each frat.</p>
<p>furthermore, it shouldn't be a deciding factor on your decisionmaking ... all you need to know is that the greek scene is prevalent and can <em>seem</em> dominating, but in fact it doesn't have to be. The greek scene is also quite open and a good way to meet people.</p>
<p>some people have misconceptions about greek life, and Dartmouth's greek scene is unlike that at most other schools. about 2/3 of eligible undergrads participate, so it can't be all bad, right?</p>
<p>in any case, you should be making your decision on the presence of greek life in general, if you want greek life to have any bearing on your decision.</p>
<p>also, while there are general stereotypes for all greek houses, everyone's personal view on each house is different, and the individuals you meet within the stereotype will more often than not realize that the stereotypes of the house do not truly fit the amazing, wonderful people who comprise the brother- or sisterhood of the organization.</p>
<p>Actually RNL, I find that it's easier to describe the fraternities and whatever niche they serve to fill in Dartmouth culture. That's too bad, because a lot of the sources out there tend to be too politically correct. I'll just post my thoughts here:</p>
<p>AD - Probably the most highly coveted fraternity at Dartmouth (as evidenced by the size of this year's pledge class). Soccer house. Ragey types who love to play pong 24/7 - look here! Kind of open.</p>
<p>Alpha Chi - Perceived as the house full of "boring white guys." Very chill, and very nice guys IMO. Alpha Chi also comes off as a very laid-back, approachable house (much more so than AD, Heorot, Psi U, TDX, etc., perhaps in part because of its reputation). Brothers are very incestuous - they like to stay at Alpha Chi, and not really hang out elsewhere. Very open.</p>
<p>Bones Gate - ****ing crazy. I have a good friend who's a brother there, and it's kind of the house that really isn't shy about dressing down, and just does things for the lawlz. The only house that didn't require formal wear for its rush period, because it doesn't give a crap. Quite open.</p>
<p>GDX - Football house. Huge basement. A lot of the brothers de-pledged there to go Beta, so it's definitely lost a lot of its personality. Not too open.</p>
<p>Beta - Eh...too early to tell. Didn't really establish an identity yet in its first term. Some people are saying that it'll go back to its ragey ways when it can start serving drinks again...but we'll see. Still mostly big, football player types.</p>
<p>TDX - The Boom Boom Lodge is quite out of the way in terms of location, and it's probably that way too with respect to 1st year men and the like. Lacross (and perhaps Basketball too?) house. Big dude, jock types. Hence, not very open.</p>
<p>Tri-Kap - Asians and urban types tend to pledge here. Very enthusiastic about dance parties, Monday Night Freeze, and other fun events. Very open, and quite laid-back as well. </p>
<p>SAE - Used to have problems getting people for its pledge classes, because the seniors were always terrible to freshmen. Not the case anymore. The house has made an effort to include much more liberal and athletic people throughout the years, but it still has that air of conservativeness/preppiness. Kind of open, although it'll probably get better with this year's pledge class. It should be noted that SAE probably has the sickest network out of all the Dartmouth fraternities.</p>
<p>Sig Nu - Nerd house. "Highest-GPA" house. Very open to freshmen. Actually, just open in general. Very unorthodox, and fun/laid-back special events every term.</p>
<p>Sig Ep - Viewed as "wussies" by the more hardcore ragey types. Arguably the most laid-back house on campus though (hence, very open). Because of its consistently large pledge classes, the identity of the brotherhood is left to be questioned. Diverse, yes. What is Sig Ep though? Not sure.</p>
<p>Phi Delt - Just a bunch of animal house type weirdos. Rugby house. Phi Delts just love to "hang out" in the truest sense. Quite open.</p>
<p>Chi Gam - Lightweight Crew, Tennis, and Baseball house. Lots of rocking dance parties. Kind of jocky, but also quite open as well.</p>
<p>Chi Heorot - Heavyweight Crew and Hockey house. Not that open actually, especially compared to its little brother Chi Gam. Right up there in terms of campus prestige alongside AD, and TDX.</p>
<p>Psi U - Aquatic sports house. Very conservative. Not very open. Like SAE, a very sick alumni network.</p>
<p>Alpha Theta - Easily the smartest house on campus. Probably has had the most valedictorians out of any house. Very quirky, and serves to fill the needs of those who weren't lucky enough to get into MIT's East Campus or the like. </p>
<p>Phi Tau - Serves to fill the needs of those who are perhaps geekier or more science/math/technology inclined than Alpha Theta people. Otherwise, very similar to its neighbor.</p>
<p>Tabard - Very open and wild. Has weed, and perhaps other psychedelic things as well. I personally like the house.</p>
<p>As someone who's hung out a bit at Alpha Theta and Phi Tau, I will just add that these houses are weird. Whether that's weird in a good or bad way depends on the individual, but Phi Tau especially is rather odd. This lets me segue to my next point, which is that these stereotypes shouldn't matter to you since you aren't even on campus yet. You should not be worrying about specific Greek houses until you get into Dartmouth - heck, maybe not until you're eligible to rush. The more important thing is that you have a general idea of what the Dartmouth social scene is like.</p>
<p>^^ right, and these stereotypes exist. but knowing brothers at all the houses, are these all necessarily true of the members? definitely not.</p>
<p>is your experience with these houses going to change based on your gender, friendships, connections, relative attractiveness, social status on campus, outspoken political positions and (if applicable) chances of you rushing said house? absolutely.</p>
<p>doesn't change my core point that the stereotypes are not truly descriptive of the brotherhood, and that what the stereotypes are should be irrelevant to a decision whether or not to attend the College.</p>
<p>I would say that the stereotypes are fairly accurate. After all, a good number of D150 guys <em>do</em> join Chi Gam, soccer players <em>do</em> tend to join AD, and swimmers <em>do</em> tend to stick with Psi U. </p>
<p>Also, it's important to remember that sociologically, people tend to act like the people they associate themselves with (after all, why has Dartmouth sustained this heavy drinking image for so long...). So even if the stereotypes aren't patently true, the fact that these images exist in the minds of your typical Dartmouth students will definitely affect the social dynamics here.</p>
<p>yes, but there are also a lot of D150's NOT in ChiGam and in other frats, and lots of AD's that are not soccer players, or even athletes, etc.</p>
<p>and yes, that's true, to a point.</p>
<p>i'm just saying that these stereotypes shouldn't necessarily be thought of as the be-all end-all of a brotherhood, because you can certainly be in one of these houses without fitting the stereotype, and will still be a valued brother. Furthermore, in terms of deciding on whether or not to attend, it's really not important.</p>
<p>Do you have any idea what proportion of rushees are turned down, overall?</p>
<p>Do the math. We can only look at 1st choice rejections (those who were turned down even though they shook out at a specific fraternity), and the most selective house, Sig Ep, had about a 50% acceptance rate. So you have at least that to get into your first choice house, and significantly higher odds if you're willing to take any house you can get (I feel sorry for you if that's the case).</p>
<p>dang, since when did SigEp get selective?</p>
<p>seriously, though, don't worry about frats. Just go where you're most comfortable, don't worry about the "stereotypes"</p>
<p>a lot of people of the same "kind" end up at the same houses not because they all play to a stereotype, but because they will tend to have similar interests/personalities/activities, etc.</p>
<p>Sig Ep was always selective in recent times (AD is right up there too, although their acceptance rate was 70% this year). I think it's the combination of people wanting to join a fraternity with a relatively benign status on campus (afaik, Sig Ep really has no negative stereotypes other than that they're "wussies"), and an extremely generous pledge term (actually...it's nonexistent). Also, the brotherhood has had pretty good academic accomplishments - I think they might have had the 2nd highest number of valedictorians in terms of Greek Houses (it's something like, Independents >> Alpha Theta > Sig Ep, Tri Delt). Like with Tri Delt, it's just that kind of combination that makes the house prestigious overall (though, not as socially prestigious as TDX, Chi Heorot, or AD). </p>
<p>And also:</p>
<p>
[quote]
but because they will tend to have similar interests/personalities/activities, etc.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>[ANECDOTE] Or...you end up in the only house you got into. I know a guy who got totally dinged from SAE (like...so dinged it wasn't even funny - that's Greek life for you), and ended up at Chi Gam. Really, the guy was not a good fit for Chi Gam...he was just willing to take any house he could get (rather than none at all, which is really sad). It's kind of a weird dynamic, because you have this uber-conservative political junkie in Chi Gam, which is really out of place, but always makes for a lot of lawlz. [/ANECDOTE]</p>
<p>^Also, it should be said that these acceptance rates are artificial (#bids/#shakeouts). Plenty of people would love to join AD or Heorot or whatever, but they know they don't have a shot, so they don't shakeout/sign-in/visit those places.</p>
<p>Wow. Aerialblue's got it down pretty pat.
I'm in a fraternity myself (Trikap) and I would say that greek life is without a doubt, "big" at Dartmouth. But at the same time, don't freak out just because you think everyone at the college is going to end up being a drunkard...or that everyone just parties all the time. There's definitely a reasonable number of people who don't go out at all, or just go out during the big weekends (Homecoming, Winter Carnival, Green Key)...and it's fine. I have friends who don't drink and they never, EVER feel the pressure to do so. They also have a lot of fun (even during freshman year when everyone's going crazy).</p>
<p>So if you're worried about the sororities...don't, because they're all very open and if you want to join it'll be a good experience. If it's just not for you, don't worry, I have plenty of non-affiliated friends.</p>
<p>aerialblue, hahahaha, i know exactly who you are talking about.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think a lot of the '11s would know who he is. I didn't know he got dinged from SAE, though - I was wondering why on earth he'd pledge Chi Gam.</p>
<p>...Hahahaha</p>