Hi. My son has been accepted to Smu and is thrilled. I am too but am a little concerned. I think the academics are good and especially love the class sizes. He was admitted into A&Ms engineering but we both feel he is better suited for a school with smalle classes. My concern, not his, is that he won’t fit in. I don’t see him fitting into the Greek system and definitely not dressing up for football. Everything I read on this subject seems to be from 10 years ago and I do think schools grow and or change. I would love to hear from parents or students of the current student body of what life is like for a non Greek type of student. Thank you and congrats to all the newly accepted!
My daughter is a freshman engineering student (computer science). She had a great 1st semester and enjoyed most of her classes. I know what you’ve read about SMU - and I was actually an SMU student as well in the late 80’s and 90’s and did just fine not being in a sorority, even though many were. I will tell you that the Greek system is strong but there are still a large number of guys not in it - particularly in the engineering school. With the Greek rush happening in January, instead of the beginning of the school year, students are able to make friends from the dorms and campus organizations before all that starts. As for the football games - many of the girls do wear dresses, but they aren’t fancy dresses. The guys just wear khaki shorts and polos or t-shirts - not a big deal at all. I’ve been at 2 different football games the last 3 years and none of it seemed over-the-top. It was hot, people were dressed comfortably. The "boulevarding"pre-game party is fun and you’ll see everything. I think the student body is pretty diverse and my daughter, now home from break, has been telling me about all of the “characters” in her new life - from all over the country and different backgrounds. Once in a while I’ll ask her if so-and-so is going to go through the Greek system recruitment and, if she knows, it is probably a 50/50 split. There is an engineering fraternity called Theta Tau that your son might like - it’s a co-ed social fraternity of engineering majors. He can join that as a freshman and it would be a fun way to meet people too. If you’d like to message me after the 2nd semester starts, I might be able to give you a pulse on how things are after Greek recruitment and my daughter may even have some engineering guy friends that could share their experience. One more thing, if you are on Instagram, you could follow “iamlyleengineering” - a different student takes over the account each week and you can see all the things that students are involved in, inside and outside of the engineering school. Best wishes!
Hi so I am a senior who has watched the school grow and change. SMU, though small, has people from all different personality types and backgrounds. Especially in engineering you will find a great group of people with similar interests who are generally less inclined to do Greek life. I have a bunch of friends that are engineers (I am in a christian dry fraternity and it takes in a much more different kind of crowd) They are great some like football games and go to everyone, others I know our passionate about there work or what they are designing.
Now It sounds like you live in Texas so I would recommend going to a visit day and/ or talking to Mickey Saloma.
SMU has changed a ton for the better and it will take a while to shake the stigmas remaining from the 90s and early 2000s. A transition is tough at any school (the first semester was tough for literally all my high school friends) but with the commons system and kids he meets in his classes it wont be difficult to find a group.
Make sure to encourage your son to join clubs they have an event the first day called night at the club - theta tau is an engineering group that is good to look at, cyber security club is growing, and formula sae (hilltop motorsports) is good if he wants to build and race a formula car. Tons of options for outside the classroom pursuits.
Hope this helps and let me know about further questions!
Thank you for responding. Lots of great info and definitely makes me feel more comfortable.
James, thank you for all the great info. We are in Texas. We have visited SMU in the summer, but plan a second visit. He received an invitation for a reception of the early admits in February and plan to attend.
@twinsmom99 , please post your experience after your visit. DS is invited to the reception as well, but we probably won’t be able to attend. (We are OOS and have to fly thousands of miles.)
Definitely will pass on what we learn!
@jamesk2014 What is the name of your fraternity? I am looking to join a Christian fraternity when I attend SMU.
@“CalebN.” It is called Brothers under christ and is represented by the letters beta upsilon chi (BYX “Bucks”). It is a member of the interfraternaty council and we just got a house! We have cell groups (like a life group), do worship in chapter, we have social events and formals but there is obviously a big difference between how we do it and other groups. I would search for the national fraternity website they outline stuff there.
@twinsmom99 I’m not a SMU student but I go to a school with prominent Greek life and I’m an engineer. From personal experience knowing friends who are in a fraternity (I’m in one) it is def possible to do well not being in a fraternity. There are plenty of student clubs and sports to join as well as engineering specifffic organizations. Many of them in addition to the projects they run, also have socials for members. Theta tau is a coed preprofessinal engineering fraternity. Def a good balance if your son wants a tight knit group of friends who have the same educational values as him.
@“CalebN.” If you don’t want to join a Christian fraternity there are also Christian ministries on campus which you should def join regardless if you rush a fraternity or not. Like @jamesk2014 said it can be a beneficial experience to meet other Christian guys in a Christian fraternity and create that bond. I know someone in a ΒΥΧ chapter and he likes it. I’m in a very large “regular” fraternity and I’ve never been ostracized for my beliefs so keep that in mind too.
Sorry, I was traveling on road and i accidentally hit post and now I can’t delete! See below for my comments on the early admission reception.
Bogeyorpar: we are just getting back from the early reception for Lyle admissions. It was pretty impressive. We met many faculty members who were very friendly as well as a multitude of current students. My husband who went to a rival school had to admit it was pretty impressive. Today, my son attended a computer science class. Said there were only 16 kids in it and the prof kept asking them if they understood. We were told impressive stats about of the ones not graduating were only delayed because they had done coop programs. That is a great retention rate. So if your son is still thinking about attending, I would definitely say the program is first rate. It has become my son’s first choice.
@twinsmom99, thanks for the update.