<p>1) Again about this: Intellectualism in the atmosphere does not correlate with the caliber of the student body once it is beyond a certain point (again, Vandy essentially= all top 10-15 schools including HPY statistically for the past few years. Duke has been this way for a while and still…not much change). It probably correlates more so with the academic offerings/requirements the and environment (could even stem from departmental activities). Places w/ lower incoming talent levels have more “intellectual” atmospheres than many schools w/very high stats. </p>
<p>Or curriculum structure: An example would be the person who is a math genius attending Harvard because of its freshman course offerings, such as math 55a and the level just below it. More academically oriented students will be more aware of what schools are unusually strong in their area of interest and know something about the curriculum before attending. They are looking to enhance themselves further in an area they are good at and can tell which places facilitate this goal best. It’s not “good time, good teachers, good grades, and a great degree” for these folks. Given this, there is an intense halo effect where reputations for certain depts at certain schools are really well known. You can go to dept. websites at some of these schools at look at the options and clubs that heavily involve UGs to get a feel for what I’m saying. The fact certain schools have a more “nerdy” or “brainy” environment is unsurprising once you notice this.</p>
<p>Anyway, places w/ lower incoming talent levels have more “intellectual” atmospheres than many schools w/very high stats. </p>
<p>2)I can’t see how a huge Greek presence would take away from the social lives of others. This makes no sense. For one, you can attend many Greek sponsored events w/o being a part of the org. And secondly, places like Vanderbilt are decently large and relatively diverse, so there is simply much more to be a part of. Third, it’s in the middle of a festive city with quite a bit of attractions, so there is plenty to do.<br>
3) While the Greek presence is large, I don’t think it’s a majority, so it should certainly not “dominate” the social scene. There shouldn’t be any worries about “fitting in” if you don’t join due to this simple fact.<br>
4) Agree with person who said that “fitting in” socially at HYP may be much more difficult than one would think (I know this will be almost oxymoronic, but here goes: super average joe w/very high stats and plenty of pre-college accomplishments may not be the best fit for those three, MIT, Chicago, or many LACs. Such places my feel almost too nerdy, “stuffy”, and “overly” intellectual for their tastes. These are more “I’m brilliant and I want to constantly show it” type of atmospheres).
5) At elite schools, many fraternities tend to actually be a bit less stereotypical. Sometimes they don’t seem to behave any differently from other non-Greek organizations. In addition, they usually perform solidly academically (often better than the general student body, especially sororities. I mean, it also functions as a giant support group, so that just makes sense), so they must be working hard enough to keep up with whatever their workload is.</p>