<p>so what are the advantages/disadvantages of joining a fraternity/sorority? is it all just a big party or are they actually serious organizations? do they really help you make friends? are you doomed to no social life if you don't join? see, i'm not into the whole partying thing at all; i'm most definitely the serious academic type. but the school i'm planning on attending is about 50:50 when it comes to going greek. i just want to consider the merits before i make a decision.</p>
<p>its varies school to school and frat to frat...thats the point of rushing, so you can "test out" each frat and decide which fits you
try to talk to upperclassmen, theyll know better</p>
<p>As in most things, it depends entirely on the school you are attending. At some places it's nothing but getting trashed, skipping classes and hazing pledges. At other places, grades are hugely important, chapters compete to do the most community service and graduates of the greek system are well represented in medical, law, business, and other grad schools, as well as filling some sweet jobs.</p>
<p>If you go to a school with a greek system that is about quality more than just getting wasted, and you find the house that is the right fit for you, going greek can be one of the best decisions of your life. If the greek community is not that way, and you join a chapter that doesn't match your goals, then it could be an extremely bad decision.</p>
<p>How to tell? First you can call up the schools Office of Greek Affairs and ask them things about grades, awards won by chapters with their national organizations, if any houses are on probation (and for what infractions, if they'll tell you), how involved are greeks on campus, how much community service is done, those sorts of things.</p>
<p>If the info you get says that the all Greek GPA is higher than the respective all gender gpa, if the student body president has been greek 28 out of the last 30 years, if the community service total is averaging about 1000 hours per house, and chapters have been winning numerous awards from their national organizations, that's probably a greek community worth joining. Everyone can throw a party and have a good time, but to be solely focused on that is not good.</p>
<p>Speaking from the sorority alumna perspective, joining a women's fraternity has been a decision I will never regret. Not only is your membership beneficial for your 4 years of undergraduate school, there are many alumnae associations with which to affiliate upon graduation.</p>
<p>NPC organizations (the women's fraternities and sororities) have much stricter rules than most dorms. No men or alcohol in the house leads to a relatively quiet study atmosphere. Each of the NPC groups has set a minimum GPA for their members. As Dr. Bigredmed said, many houses have mandatory study hours.</p>
<p>It's been awhile since I was an undergraduate but I still serve as an advisor to a nearby chapter of my sorority. If I had any reservations about the Greek system, I would discourage my own children from joining. My D is about to go through recruitment this January and I wish her all the best.</p>
<p>Usually college websites have pages for Greek Life. Many times there are links for grade comparisons, the individual chapters, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah that is how my school is 50/50 for Greek. However, it feels like there is a lot more than the percentages say. Some of the fraternities here are more focused on partying and such, but when it is such a large portion of the student population you can not judge it on stereotypes. I'm planning on rushing, just to give it a try and see if I like it. Nothing is lost by rushing, if you don't rush you might just wonder what would have happened if you didn't.
I have also talked to indepndent upper classmen here and they just say that if you don't do greek, you should/probably will anyway have friends in frats and just do clubs so you have a group of friends. At my school it might be different though, because we are so small and many Greeks live on campus, so it allows for less isolation.</p>
<p>Definitely talk to people that are already in greek life on campus. At my school, the greek system (at least as far as sororities go) is pretty different from most, because we don't live in the house. I really like it that way, because we get all the benefits of being in a sorority, but we're not separated from the rest of the campus. I am so glad I decided to rush, though. My mom was against it, but I decided I would just rush to meet people. However, I fell in love with AXO, and I decided to join. </p>
<p>Also, different sororities/frats will likely have different reputations. For example, we're known as the "smart" sorority on campus. I believe we have the highest GPAs of all the greek orgs, very few people in the house are into partying, and we do community service and are really involved on campus... It fits me really well. </p>
<p>Check out some of the old threads on here about greek life. I think you'll find a lot more information in there. And talk to people in the different greek orgs at the school you're going to, rather than looking at their websites, because then you'll probably get a wider range of opinions.</p>
<p>willmingtonwave, your school sounds similar to the one that i'm going to, presbyterian college.</p>
<p>there are only about 1200 students, and all greeks live on campus. there are only 3 sororities, and none of them even have houses, so everyone is all mixed together. and it has a pretty strict honor code and absolutely forbids hazing.</p>
<p>i've checked out the webpages, and all of the sororities seem pretty service oriented. they also say that they will not allow any greek organization which functions as only a social club, which i'm guessing means that you can't just join to party, which is good.</p>
<p>so i guess next year i'll rush and see if i like it. from what all of you have said, it sounds like it can't hurt.</p>
<p>Yeah, go in with an open mind and see if it is for you, many people have told me that it was the best thing they ever did in college. But it sounds like the Greek system at your school is not the stereotypical animal house one portrayed by the media :)</p>