<p>Pretty good. Considered relatively preppy.</p>
<p>TKE is so sucky because they are at every school and hand bids out and every pledge gets initiated... they are not exclusive at all, they hold no prestige... tekes are usually super dorky guys that couldnt get a bid from a good fraternity if they tried, at clemson a typical tke wears black jean shorts and has a goatee</p>
<p>Hmmm... sounds like they're... well just plain strange guys I guess lol and I now understand why they have such a "bad" name in the world of frats</p>
<p>hmm we have 14 fraternities but no TKE</p>
<p>The Greek System is really strong here (think close to 80% of students) and we have a lot of Greek history in this town (Kappa Alpha Order was founded here, as was Sigma Nu and Alpha Tau Alpha) and I am really glad that I joined a fraternity. At a school like mine you really do need the fall term to get to know the system so I am also glad that we have formal recruitment in January.</p>
<p>"at clemson a typical tke wears black jean shorts and has a goatee"</p>
<p>Are you serious?</p>
<p>for those of you who have been in a sorority or a fraternity and thought it had a very positive impact on you, could you please go into more detail? what benefits, except a steady influx of social life, does being in one bring? if someone, for example, can establish friendships relatively easily without being affiliated with a sorority or fraternity, would joining be really worth it?</p>
<p>"if someone, for example, can establish friendships relatively easily without being affiliated with a sorority or fraternity, would joining be really worth it?"</p>
<p>Yea, it's a way to get more involved.</p>
<p>Joining a fraternity provides more than just friends:</p>
<p>A study by the North American Interfraternity Conference has shown that joining a chapter with a GPA higher than the all University (or all men's/women's average) will increase one's GPA. Houses strong in academics tend to put a focus on them, have study hours, good test files, and even extra textbooks to use. The benefit of having older members around also helps in knowing which profs to avoid, help on difficult homework or confusing concepts, as well as general advising that sometimes is better (or at least much more frank or candid) than what most university advisors will tell you.</p>
<p>As Untitled mentioned, greeks tend to be more involved. Again, older members tell you what is available, what clubs/organizations are fun to be a part of, and typically encourage members to get involved. Some chapters even have dedicated involvement representatives who will actually go and get applications for members, or inform members of upcoming deadlines and such.</p>
<p>Service and philanthropy combine to form a significant activity for most greek members. Chapters hold various fundraisers on campus to generate money for the cause of their (or their inter/national org's) choice (ie Sigma Chi and CMN, Delta Gamma for Aid to the Blind). </p>
<p>Leadership, chapters have to be run by the individuals, and there are plenty of positions that need to be filled. For chapters with houses, the responsibility is even greater. This can provide a lot of real world experience for members (the treasurers in my chapter had to manage an annual budget of nearly $400,000). Also, there are many, many programs sponosored by both the inter/national organizations and their governing councils to develop chapter leaders. National examples that draw students from across numerous chapters and organizations include the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI - great program, I went two years ago) and FuturesQuest (for members who have been initiatied less than a year, or are still pledges/associates/new members). Individual organizations also hold their own leadership programs like Beta Theta Pi's Institute for Men of Principle or Sigma Phi Epsilon's EDGE program.</p>
<p>Finally, the friendship can't be underestimated. The bonds that one makes in a pledge class are unique in my mind. The chance to live together with these people for multiple years, going on road trips, to parties, or just studying at the library week after week, year after year creates some amazing friendships. And while in the dorms or other places/clubs/teams, you may form friendships that are equally close, I think its different to have a large group in which everyone is that close. I had 24 in my pledge class and there was a core group of about 14 of us, who were all extremely close to everyone in the other 13. I mean, I met these guys 3 days before classes started, and 3 days after we graduated 4 years later, we were all in Vegas together. I don't think you find that in many other situations...you may be close with someone but are you close to some of their other friends?</p>
<p>Again, though, you have to find the right fit and make sure a house is meeting your needs. Otherwise it might not be worth it for you.</p>
<p>decent sales pitch...anymore and i would've gotten wood</p>
<p>but seriously: i never thought about it that way Red, thx</p>
<p>wow Bigred, I couldn't have said it any better</p>
<p>I vote as a freshman, to wait and rush sophomore year. As a freshmen you are acclimating to a lot of things. I agree with anovice's statement that the decision join a frat or sorority and the rush and pledge process is a big commitment and takes up a lot of time and in most instances you will be tied to this organization long after you graduate from college. Take time to get to know them, while making a good match and getting along with your brothers and sisters can b e a rewarding experience, getting in to an organization that doesn't mesh well with you and what you are about can be hellish.</p>
<p>Unless you have a sibling or best friend who is an upperclassmen I also think that waiting sophmore year does give you an opportunity to see the various groups in action as even national organizations have different cultures on different campuses. You should take a chance to do your research on your prospective group, check them out as you really don't want to get caught up in a group that is on probation or has sanctions on them. Read you school newspaper as they will be quick to tell you all the good, the bad and the ugly about the greek system at your school.</p>
<p>umm i think that the main benefit of the fraternity, especially at a school like clemson is that it takes a big school and makes it smaller</p>
<p>The problem I have with waiting is that some students might over the course of a semester or year decide that they are "really" busy and don't have time for greek life, whereas if you are in from the start, it just becomes what you know. The demands of greek life are just something you've always done.</p>
<p>And the newspaper at my school was always quick with the bad, but never with the good - very biased view.</p>
<p>i've read bigred's post the following way: in the essence, joining in allows you to socialize more with upper-classmen who will then instruct you on what would be wise or stupid choices to make in college -- that is a good reason, but not the only way to obtain guidance -- plus some will get to form close bonds to other members -- are conflicts very rare? do people who not fit in just quietly drop or switch the house?</p>
<p>You can't switch houses. You're a member for life. You can de-activate, but it's very rare.</p>
<p>I'd vote fall because it's usually the bigger, more extravagant rush, and so you'll get more attention and free food.</p>
<p>Also something not mentioned here are all the non-social frats. Music, buisness, engineering, etc. are the themes of a lot of co-ed fraternities. You can join more than one, but you still get a taste of greek life since you generally rush/pledge/initiate. The focus is more on interests than parting (though it obviously is part of it...college and all), but you can still get a great mentoring relationship with your big and make friends for a lifetime.</p>
<p>There are nation wide standards about joining and dropping a house.</p>
<p>If you initiate into an organization (go through their entire ritual and become a full member) than you are not allowed to join any other social fraternity or sorority. </p>
<p>Now for the ladies, if you accept an invitation to join a house, but leave before initiating, you are not allowed to accept an invitation (a bid) for one calendar year after you first acceptance. This is not the case for the guys. However, most chapters tend to be a little wary of individuals who quit one chapter and then try to join another immediately. </p>
<p>The non-social fraternities/honoraries you can have multiple memberships in and still be in a social as well (I was in my social as well as Omicron Delta Kappa and Alpha Kappa Delta)</p>
<p>
[quote]
hmm we have 14 fraternities but no TKE</p>
<p>The Greek System is really strong here (think close to 80% of students) and we have a lot of Greek history in this town (Kappa Alpha Order was founded here, as was Sigma Nu and Alpha Tau Alpha) and I am really glad that I joined a fraternity. At a school like mine you really do need the fall term to get to know the system so I am also glad that we have formal recruitment in January.
[/quote]
Sigma Nu was founded at VMI. ATA is a proffesional honors fraternity.</p>
<p>Like they say, "If you can't go greek, go TKE."</p>
<p>You can make friends on your own in college, but joining a fraternity is totally different. For me it was analagous to being on a high school sports team (in HS I did cross country, swimming, and track). These types of organizations facilitate a bond between members that any normal friendship is very unlikely to have. The reason for this is that you compete together, you go through the same pains and struggles, and you learn to rely on your teammates. Fraternities are the same way. You are hazed with your pledge brothers (despite claims made all houses who have proper pledge terms "haze" to some extent, at least at my school) and it builds brotherhood. You belong to an organization with much pride and tradition. You learn to love your house so that it becomes a part of you. You compete for your house in intramural sports and greek week. Really, there is nothing like it, and there is no reason why any person on campus who is not a varsity athlete should not at least consider joining. I would rush in the fall because it is bigger and having a larger pledge class can definitely make pledging easier. Plus a lot of houses hold their winter pledges over the summer and initiate them in the beginning of the year, which kind of sucks. Make sure you rush as many houses as possible though to find the one which is right for you.</p>
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<p>Whoops - I meant ATO not ATA. And yes Sigma Nu was founded in VMI, which is in Lexington - the same town as W&L, where KA Order and ATO were founded.</p>