Note: If you are not affiliated with a fraternity or sorority and wish to respond negatively, please don't. Spare me the annoyance because I've heard the stereotypes millions of times.
Thanks.
Greek Life
Greek Life
Those of you who are members of fraternities and sororities please share your experiences. I am rushing in a month and there are two sororities I want to be in, Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma. Just wanted to see how your experience was.
Note: If you are not affiliated with a fraternity or sorority and wish to respond negatively, please don't. Spare me the annoyance because I've heard the stereotypes millions of times.
Thanks.
Note: If you are not affiliated with a fraternity or sorority and wish to respond negatively, please don't. Spare me the annoyance because I've heard the stereotypes millions of times.
Thanks.
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Nismo_Freak
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rico05 wrote:My mom is advisor for Delta Gamma here at Texas A&M. The girls are real sweet and are a lot of fun to hang with. Myself, I *think* I may rush Pi Kappa Phi. They have the best GPR on campus and are the least disciplined frat here. I don't wanna pay for drinking buddies like everyone else does.
I think my cousin is a Delta Gamma, cant remember.
Hands off buddy!
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Nismo_Freak
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Ubernoober
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Such useful comments. Glad she wasn't asking for advice on open heart surgery.
Having been (and I suppose still am) in a fraternity, I can tell you what they generally do and do not offer.
Do:Usually a like minded group of people. Particularly if you pledge a specialist frat (like my chem frat).Support for both your scholastic and social life. They may offer study groups that are actually effective and at the same time provide you with consistent parties as a way of meeting new people. Not only that, but you have a huge group of people to draw on for small things... going to the store, a ride into the city, someone to watch your crap while you are away. Joining and being accepted means that those in the frat/sorority automatically feel you are "one of them" and as such, favors are traded back and forth between members very easily. There is a certain amount of trust that is automatically extended to a member and even a pledge.If they have a house on campus, they also offer living quarters outside of the crappy dorms..... for a price.A group of people who will put you through the wringer for acceptance. It is simply part of the ordeal of pledging and proving your dedication and ability to help the frat/sor.Communication with proffessors and school professionals. Many frat/sors have alums that actually teach at the school, so there is that automatic comradeship. Additionally, many good ones will keep contact with a large number of faculty simply for scholastic reasons, giving you the ability to make a call on a proffessor you wouldn't normally know how to get a hold of.
Do not:Automatically help with your homework.Make you smarter.Make you more popular. You have to be part of the genial group to be included. Few will go out of their way to try and help you socialize. The events will be there, but attendance and activity is up to you.Condone bad behavior. As fun as Animal House was, frats/sors are there for education and prestige (if you choose a good one). The idea is these groups is to provide you a leg up in your education so that you may go on to be successful and then of course become a wealthy donating member.Brush off poor performance. Many frats/sors have a certain expectation from their members and that includes a minimum GPA and community service/events.Give you a car, go on road trips or initiate weekly binge parties. All these things can happen, but 99.999% of the time, only in the movies. Though the occasional binge party is guaranteed. Just not weekly.
Once you are near graduation, the frat/sor should also have a professional branch that can aid in getting you a job or at the very least make contact with professionals in your field of choice (for gods sake let it not be Philosophy or Liberal Arts. You are paying a lot, get a damn EDUCATION while you are there). Choose your frat/sor wisely. Picking a fun one is fine, but if they cannot offer you more than monthly parties, you need to ask yourself why you are pledging. You can go to those parties without being a member.
Having been (and I suppose still am) in a fraternity, I can tell you what they generally do and do not offer.
Do:Usually a like minded group of people. Particularly if you pledge a specialist frat (like my chem frat).Support for both your scholastic and social life. They may offer study groups that are actually effective and at the same time provide you with consistent parties as a way of meeting new people. Not only that, but you have a huge group of people to draw on for small things... going to the store, a ride into the city, someone to watch your crap while you are away. Joining and being accepted means that those in the frat/sorority automatically feel you are "one of them" and as such, favors are traded back and forth between members very easily. There is a certain amount of trust that is automatically extended to a member and even a pledge.If they have a house on campus, they also offer living quarters outside of the crappy dorms..... for a price.A group of people who will put you through the wringer for acceptance. It is simply part of the ordeal of pledging and proving your dedication and ability to help the frat/sor.Communication with proffessors and school professionals. Many frat/sors have alums that actually teach at the school, so there is that automatic comradeship. Additionally, many good ones will keep contact with a large number of faculty simply for scholastic reasons, giving you the ability to make a call on a proffessor you wouldn't normally know how to get a hold of.
Do not:Automatically help with your homework.Make you smarter.Make you more popular. You have to be part of the genial group to be included. Few will go out of their way to try and help you socialize. The events will be there, but attendance and activity is up to you.Condone bad behavior. As fun as Animal House was, frats/sors are there for education and prestige (if you choose a good one). The idea is these groups is to provide you a leg up in your education so that you may go on to be successful and then of course become a wealthy donating member.Brush off poor performance. Many frats/sors have a certain expectation from their members and that includes a minimum GPA and community service/events.Give you a car, go on road trips or initiate weekly binge parties. All these things can happen, but 99.999% of the time, only in the movies. Though the occasional binge party is guaranteed. Just not weekly.
Once you are near graduation, the frat/sor should also have a professional branch that can aid in getting you a job or at the very least make contact with professionals in your field of choice (for gods sake let it not be Philosophy or Liberal Arts. You are paying a lot, get a damn EDUCATION while you are there). Choose your frat/sor wisely. Picking a fun one is fine, but if they cannot offer you more than monthly parties, you need to ask yourself why you are pledging. You can go to those parties without being a member.
Thank you Ubernoober. I've thought a lot about all the things you've mentioned. Definitely one of the pluses is the networking, available help and resources, and friendship. I'm not a needy person at all and I've never depended on anyone for anything so I am not worried abotu using the sorority to become more popular/smarter, etc. I just figure it'd look good to be in an organization and the networking is there. A lot of my friends have gotten jobs from friends or family of their "sisters and brothers"
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Ubernoober
- Posts: 539
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Ubernoober wrote:Usually a like minded group of people.
Or you could just have friends.
Ubernoober wrote:Not only that, but you have a huge group of people to draw on for small things... going to the store, a ride into the city, someone to watch your crap while you are away.
Or you could just have friends.
Ubernoober wrote:Support for both your scholastic and social life.
Or you could just have friends.
Ubernoober wrote:They may offer study groups that are actually effective
I thought every school offered that anyway.
Ubernoober wrote:Joining and being accepted means that those in the frat/sorority automatically feel you are "one of them" and as such, favors are traded back and forth between members very easily. There is a certain amount of trust that is automatically extended to a member and even a pledge.
Or you could just have friends.
Ubernoober wrote:If they have a house on campus, they also offer living quarters outside of the crappy dorms..... for a price.
Thats not a bad deal.
Ubernoober wrote:A group of people who will put you through the wringer for acceptance.
Or you could just have friends. And they dont run tests on you.
Ubernoober wrote:Communication with proffessors and school professionals. Many frat/sors have alums that actually teach at the school, so there is that automatic comradeship.
That sounds beneficial.
Ubernoober wrote:Additionally, many good ones will keep contact with a large number of faculty simply for scholastic reasons, giving you the ability to make a call on a proffessor you wouldn't normally know how to get a hold of.
Yikes, never met a professor that didnt make themselves constantly available. Well, one exception... but that was back at a state university.
Ubernoober wrote:Once you are near graduation, the frat/sor should also have a professional branch that can aid in getting you a job or at the very least make contact with professionals in your field of choice
That sounds beneficial too.
-Jesda
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Rockenreno
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Rockenreno
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Onizuka
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89 Nissan S14 hatch SR20DE
One of my friends is in a party frat, From what i have heard, it goes like this:-Semester of biznitch work and hazing-lots of beer-the ability to become a man-whore-Connections for stuff through some stuff only if your frat is national
My friends frat is no longer national, and he admitts is all about partying and not much else.
Most of the people in party frats I know in the year above me are "taking a semester off" because of poor academics.
Some frats are really for academics, others are for getting wasted and being with "cool" people. I've learned all about the frats, my school has 56 of 'em...
My friends frat is no longer national, and he admitts is all about partying and not much else.
Most of the people in party frats I know in the year above me are "taking a semester off" because of poor academics.
Some frats are really for academics, others are for getting wasted and being with "cool" people. I've learned all about the frats, my school has 56 of 'em...
In response to Jesda:There are PLENTY of places to meet friends. I met friends in the dorm. Becaue I paid $1800 a semester to live there or otherwise I never would have met them. I met friends in freshman orientation camp where I was a counselor (where we had to apply, be interviewed, and pay a fee to be a part of the group). I met plenty of friends in classes. Where I had to pay $2500 a semester to be in the classes, otherwise I never would have met them. A lot of folks focus on the cost, but that is not all that a frat/sorority is. Any group in college will charge you something, and for all the positive that a frat offers, you get a lot for your money. ll friendstesyou. I don't trust someone with my car 10 minutes after meeting them. In a frat, there is a common bond: you all had too through the same ordeal: pledging. So off the bat, you have a common bond. And not all of us can be rich kids like you so we have to go to a state school where profs may need some encouraging to get ahold of and the sheer number of students makes meeting new people hard for some (there are 45,000 students at my campus).