<p>Don’t generalize all brothers in the top houses. I have a lot of friends in them and they’re not douchy in any way.</p>
<p>Watching the Illini beat Ohio State was even better. I still remember the audible to pitch to Thomas Rooks for the go-ahead touchdown…</p>
<p>I was able to grab the goal posts after both games though.</p>
<p>Now that I’ve dated myself, back to our regularly scheduled thread…</p>
<p>Just because you have people on here saying ATO and Sig Chi are the “in crowd”, you are doing a huge disservice to yourself if those are the only places you rush.</p>
<p>During those first two weeks, classes are easy and there’s little to no homework. Hell, you barely even have to show up. If you’re interested in Greek life, and you should be, make it a pretty big priority to go to as many houses as you can. Not just their weekend parties, but almost all houses have daily BBQs and other events. You main goal is to talk to the guys. Please don’t get stuck up on their location, their reputation, even the condition of their house. Because in 3 years, none of that’s important - the only thing that matters are your brothers.</p>
<p>I rushed blind, but I had influences from people just like you’re getting. I knew ATO, Sig Chi, Pikes were all ‘popular’. But there are SO many fraternities on campus. I visited at least 10 houses and I certainly could have done more.</p>
<p>In the end, I joined a house near the edge of campus with a very old, beat up house. Why? Because I liked the guys there so much more than any other house I visited. Once you’ve been around, it will be easy to make a decision on where to pledge. </p>
<p>Do not be intimidated by Greek life. Literally, they want you in their house just as much as you want to join. They want to get to know you. The real houses are not based on looks, drinking ability or anything like that. They are based on personality and whether or not you fit in with the crowd. </p>
<p>Pledgeship can be…rough…depending on where you end up. Everyone before you has gone through it and it’s nothing you can’t handle, even while keeping up with classes. It may be an inconvenience but it’s nowhere near impossible, or even that difficult. Don’t drop out halfway through…you’ll regret it the rest of the semester and even more when you’re a spring pledge.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>How long does pledging last?</p>
<p>Mciasto,</p>
<p>You make some very good points. However, no matter how you spin it, it’s still hard to choose a house without taking into consideration its reputation and the strength of the social calendar. </p>
<p>Yes, being comfortable and enjoying the company of your brothers for 3 or 4 years is important, but it’s still say hard to say no to the allure of a prestigious fraternity. I had a bid to an extremely popular house, but chose a less popular one for the same reason you did: I just felt more comfortable around the guys. </p>
<p>However, I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t jealous when I saw Sigma Chi have hundreds of attractive females waiting to get into their after hours parties. Additionally, I found it frustrating to see legacy members of one of the popular houses (these guys were dorks) dating attractive women just because they belonged to the “in crowd”.</p>
<p>@mciasto Some people rush the top houses for their own reasons (i.e. girls, better social calendar, maybe even the brothers). I’m not saying just rush the top houses, but the OP wanted to know that anyway.</p>
<p>@d3rph3rp 1 semester with initiation usually being at the beginning of the next semester (after Hell Week).</p>
<p>My first semester is 12 credits:</p>
<p>Math 241 - Calc III
ECE 110
Chem 103 -Lab only
AAS 100 - Intro to Asian American studies</p>
<p>I want A’s, and I want to rush a good/top frat. How many hours a week are generally spent pledging?</p>
<p>Generally? Except an average of a few (2-3) hours a day. Some are a LOT more though.</p>
<p>Pledging is as much work as you make it. Eventually it becomes nothing more than hanging out with the older guys, which is basically what my houses’ pledgeship was all about - getting the new guys to come over and hang out with current members. It can usually involve bringing them some food from the Ike, picking up some trash around their room, or some other meaningless task. In the end, it’s all about introducing you new guys, showing you how great the house is, and hanging out with the older guys that you otherwise wouldn’t have met. </p>
<p>You will probably have one day per week that you will be…uh, required to be at the house…for anywhere between 4 to upwards of 9 hours. It’s not a big deal if you plan your time ahead and get your work done before you have to show up. The other days of the week you’re expected to put in maybe a half hour/hour or a little more of actual pledgeship, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll get out of class and go straight to the house. You’ll do your homework there and then chillax until the last bus to the dorm comes at 2am. You don’t want to be stuck at your dorm with a bunch of rando’s, you wanna hang out at the house you’re pledging, with the guys that’ll soon be your bros4life, man!</p>
<p>Pledging starts about 2-3 weeks into the Fall semester and concludes at the end of Initiation(Read: Hell week). I want to restate that everyone before you has done the exact same thing - and…it will probably be just as bad as you think it will be. To put it one way: It’s the best time of your life that you never want to do again. Don’t drop out. Finish strong.</p>
<p>Keep the questions coming</p>
<p>After how many weeks of school does hell week start?</p>
<p>D3,</p>
<p>Hell week starts at the beginning of the semester following your pledge semester. So, if you pledge this coming fall, Hell week will be in January 2013 (usually the week before class starts). </p>
<p>Also, not every fraternity on campus hazes. During my pledgeship, I never once had a brother ask me to clean up his room or anything like that. Also, I was never called in the middle of the night to come over to the house for lineups or anything like that.</p>
<p>Pastorek,</p>
<p>Here are the GPA statistics for the various fraternity houses. </p>
<p>[Office</a> of the Dean of Students :: University of Illinois](<a href=“http://www.odos.uiuc.edu/greek/scholarship/ifcGrades.asp]Office”>http://www.odos.uiuc.edu/greek/scholarship/ifcGrades.asp)</p>
<p>If you look at the new member average column, you can tell pretty quickly which fraternities require you to spend a lot of time at their houses during your pledge semester. In particular, Sigma Chi and Pi Kappa Alpha have new member average GPAs around 2.5, which is well below the overall campus average for men. </p>
<p>Yes, those fraternities are very popular on campus, but the stats show that you likely won’t make it through their pledgeships without seeing your grades suffer to an extent.</p>