<p>Hey Guys!
I recently saw that I was accepted to Wash U! Congrats to everyone else who did too.</p>
<p>One aspect I am looking for in a school is a strong Greek community. Could anyone discuss what Greek life is like at Wash U, specifically the fraternities?
Obviously, I'm not looking to hear who the cool kids are and who the nerds are, because that's so high school. But if you could give a general description of each of the Fraternities are like and what greek life in general (rush, pledge, relationship with non-greeks) is like at Wash U, that would be awesome.
Go Bears
Thanks!!</p>
<p>Hi- Congrats on acceptance. I can talk a little about Greek Life here since I’m a part of it this year. I can’t really go through and give descriptions without stereotyping, unfortunately. I don’t think it’s fair to describe them in generalizations on the internet anyway. You have all of fall semester to meet people and find out about them.</p>
<p>Freshmen may rush in January if they have a high enough GPA and credits (basically, have completed a semester). I think the GPA requirement is 2.5. The fraternities handle recruitment much differently from the sororities in the spring, as Panhel has formal recruitment. Basically the fraternities hold open events at their houses and doing fun stuff in the area to get to know potential new members. If you go to them and they like you, you get invited to smaller closed events that basically are more fun outings with the brothers (Skyzone, bowling, etc.) On a certain day the bids are distributed. I’m in a sorority so that’s my basic knowledge of the process.</p>
<p>About 30% of students are in Greek life, which is a decent chunk of the population. You don’t have to be Greek to have a social life or go out, especially after a semester free to get to know people outside of the community, but there’s a strong and growing group of students. Just for an example, there is a new sorority on campus as of last year. </p>
<p>There isn’t a separation between non-Greeks and Greeks here. I’m living with a friend in a different sorority and a friend who isn’t Greek- that’s pretty common. You can be really involved in your fraternity and still have close relationships with people outside the group. That said, some fraternities are more like that than others. Most non-Greeks don’t have a clear idea of which fraternities are which beyond if they go to parties in the houses.</p>
<p>Feel free to ask any more questions.</p>
<p>hey thanks for the response! Greek parties are open to everyone right? It looks like Wash U is where I will be attending.</p>
<p>^Depends on the fraternity. There are a handful that thrive on having open parties for everyone, but a few fraternities operate on an invite-only basis. Additionally, even the “open” ones will have invite-only gatherings every once in a while.
The tl;dr is that there’s always something going on every Friday and Saturday night (and often other days) at the frats if you’re interested.</p>
<p>So WashU’s social scene isn’t dead? That’s my main concern right now. </p>
<p>^Lol no, not in the slightest. I entered Fall '08, for the reference. Even if you don’t want to go to greek parties, theres still plenty of things to do. I think I went out at least twice a week my freshman-junior years. I also dated a guy in a frat for two years (I myself was not in a sorority), so that adds to that… Senior year was a bit quelled because I did a more house-party scene since most people I knew lived off campus (if that makes any sense), and grad school (my fifth year) was calmer, but that had nothing to do with WashU. More of a “get off my lawn, ya damn freshmen” sentiment.</p>
<p>For the record, I was an engineer, and a bme my first three years at that. </p>
<p>Edit:</p>
<p>tl;dr: if you want to have an active social life, it’s more than possible at washu. Being a wet campus was something I was a huge fan of (the number of times I’ve drank on campus in school buildings is a bit absurd…).</p>
<p>Also worth noting - if you don’t want to party/drink, there’s plenty of people to meet on campus who feel the same way. It boils down to “if you can think of it, there’s a club for it” kind of thing.</p>
<p>There are plenty of open frat parties, especially in the first semester when no freshmen can pledge anyway. People definitely go out Thursday through Sunday easily- it’s obviously not a state school in size or party insanity but most people wouldn’t want it that way. </p>
<p>If you aren’t into the fraternities after checking it out, tons of organizations on campus throw parties, both casual and formal. Older students tend to go to bars or house parties more.</p>
<p>I don’t know anyone dissatisfied with the social scene. It’s easy to go out, especially in the beginning when everyone’s pumped about being all “independent” and “wild” for the first time. As long as you are involved in something other than the library you don’t have anything to worry about.</p>