<p>Also agreeing that TotalFratMove is a hilarious satirical site.</p>
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<p>I completely agree that being shut out is horribly hurtful. No doubt about it. Many colleges and Panhellenics are working to make this not happen by adding more houses, but ususally it is the colleges themselves that prohibit them from adding more.</p>
<p>Anyone who goes thru rush/recruitment MUST be prepared to end up with nothing, if that is the way their Greek system works.</p>
<p>“One college is obsessed with putting the other down. The other could care less (Harvard-Yale)”</p>
<p>Mm hm. The one with more power is the one that doesn’t care. I don’t think the privilege differential explains every human interaction, but this one fits right into the pattern.</p>
<p>^I think you are right about that one.</p>
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<p>It actually goes both ways and So Cal folks can be just as fierce in putting down No Cal folks. </p>
<p>Got to see this firsthand from visiting California relatives who play out this rivalry when all the California relatives gather together for a family gathering. Split seems to be LA area burbs vs Bay Area burbs and has some correlation with political leanings, hobbies, etc.</p>
<p>This only got amped up during the last few presidential year elections. </p>
<p>LOL.
It is strictly culture, lifestyle and history purposes.
The same answers for why we still have night clubs/bars and in some cases churches etc.
One is never enough…</p>
<p>@Pizzagirl, the exclusivity that I was referring to is the exclusivity of the club itself; the fact that not everyone is allowed in…as members.</p>
<p>Based on a couple of the responses here, it sounds like there may be some colleges where the Greek system is set up in a way that keeps people from being excluded. Is that true, or did I misread that? How would that work? </p>
<p>Tufts is the only school I know of with national organizations where everyone who wants to join must be accepted somewhere. There are lots of schools where virtually everyone with a decent academic record can get in if they want, but it’s not guaranteed.</p>
<p>There are also some religious schools where everyone is required to enroll in a Greek system with local groups, but these are a little different. Bob Jones and Pensacola Christian College do this.</p>
<p>^Yes, there are several posters on this site (not me) who are pretty expert on the topic, but at some colleges, if a woman follows all of the rules of recruitment until the end, she is guaranteed membership in a house. Maybe not her first choice house, but she will recieve an invitation from a house that wants her.</p>
<p>Bay is referring to a system where everyone <em>who is invited to final parties</em> and follows the rules is guaranteed a spot. But not everyone gets invited to final parties.</p>
<p>This is interesting. Right now my D is researching colleges, getting ready to apply in the Fall. When she tours or is information gathering, and she wants to know if the sororities are mostly exclusive/selective, or if it is a situation where everyone finds a spot…how would she best phrase that question? It seems there is a lot of room for interpretation.</p>
<p>@Hanna, I am curious, you do seem to know a great deal about the systems at a variety of colleges. Was this the subject of some research you have done? </p>
<p>My understanding is that the Princeton eating clubs (similar to a Greek system in a lot of ways) are currently set up so that everybody who wants to can get into one of them–but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t significant social stratification between the different clubs, and I have to suspect the same can be true with Greek systems where everybody must get a bid somewhere. Personally, I don’t like this kind of institutionalized social stratification on a college campus–to the extent this isn’t how some Greek systems are, that’s great. I think to research this, you have to ask a lot of questions, both to people who are in the Greek systems and to people who aren’t.</p>
<p>@shoboemom, yes. Greek organizations are the single most popular extracurricular activity in American university life. Getting into a house you love, or not, or feeling like that’s the point of the college and you’re not interested, are big reasons why people are happy or unhappy with the schools they chose. So I made it my business to spend several years learning the ins and outs, and when I visit a school or talk to reps/alumni, this is always part of what I ask about.</p>
<p>My D. did not have the plan to be in sorority initially. Then, she realized that she wants to widen her social horizon beyond intense crowd of pre-meds / Honors. She joined, participated heavily (there were only 2 pre-meds there, D. and her friend), was on board and went to National convention, heavily assisted in converting colony to chapter. We never questioned though why sorority was still there, it was irrelevant in D’s case. Her sorority participation was one of her best and very positive experiences (she had many others though) during UG. Still in touch with her sisters and even with those in her sorority that were at different UG. She has been happy with her decision to be in sorority, great opportunity to further develop leadership and communication skills that are so important for her right now (4th year Med. Student)
For D. diversity never meant skin color or socioeconomic stand, these have been always irrelevant, non-existant, any race, rich or poor, as long as person is fun to be with. Diversity for her (and in fact for my grandD. who is in extrememly intense and rigorous HS - 33 applicants to one spot of freshman class), for these 2 diversity means people outside from intense, very focused, “strong elbow” people in their respective programs. They want to be with some who they can talk and have fun outside of academics, people with the wide interests, but still very good students like themselves. It has not been easy for either of them. Sorority was the place for my D. to have some diversity adding people who are un-like most pre-meds. GrandD. said that she is in her HS gymnastics basically to the same social reason. </p>
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<p>More popular than paid work?</p>
<p>I consider that a third category rather than an “activity,” but tomato, tomahto.</p>