[quote]Ripsaw3689 wrote:
I joined a small frat that had minimal events (a lot of us were engineers). I also played a big part in the leadership part of the frat. After a while, it ended up being a hassle to show up to the activities because I could be doing better things.
I think talking about my leadership experience in the fraternity was the reason I was not accepted into an engineering internship program through the school. I have never mentioned that experience or that I was even in a frat from that point on. It is very detrimental to have that on your resume/talk about that in interviews, contrary to what the Greeks tell you.
Also, 99% of frat boys are huge douche bags. [/quote]
A company I used to work for had a frat guy in a young leadership position. He was in a different office than the one I worked in, but I travelled there a couple times. He had his frat paddle mountain on the wall in his office.
He was a nice guy, but everytime I saw the paddle, I couldn’t help but think “douchebag”.
[/quote]
I would leave. I would refuse to work for someone who did that.
I mean, I get college was a big part of life, but mounting the paddle… Jesus fucking Christ, grow up.
Frats are douchey and i’d say a majority of the people in them are in fact big douches.
However, if you go to smaller school it’s very hard to “party” without dealing with the greeks. I understand doing what you need to do for a social life, but at a larger school; you’re just a douchebag buying friends.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
Frats are douchey and i’d say a majority of the people in them are in fact big douches.
However, if you go to smaller school it’s very hard to “party” without dealing with the greeks. I understand doing what you need to do for a social life, but at a larger school; you’re just a douchebag buying friends. [/quote]
Seems like it’s either a love it or hate it thing. Guess I’ll just have to see how it looks when I get there and decide. I don’t have the money to buy friends lol…I’m going to be living the classic poor college student dream.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
Frats are douchey and i’d say a majority of the people in them are in fact big douches.
However, if you go to smaller school it’s very hard to “party” without dealing with the greeks. I understand doing what you need to do for a social life, but at a larger school; you’re just a douchebag buying friends. [/quote]
Seems like it’s either a love it or hate it thing. Guess I’ll just have to see how it looks when I get there and decide. I don’t have the money to buy friends lol…I’m going to be living the classic poor college student dream.[/quote]
frats are not free, and remember your time is money…
It really depends on the school. I did my freshman year at U of Toledo which is a smaller school, and it was either frat parties or thank god i had a fake id at the time…
Then i transfered to Ohio U, which is a much larger school and there was no need for anything greek.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
Frats are douchey and i’d say a majority of the people in them are in fact big douches.
However, if you go to smaller school it’s very hard to “party” without dealing with the greeks. I understand doing what you need to do for a social life, but at a larger school; you’re just a douchebag buying friends. [/quote]
Seems like it’s either a love it or hate it thing. Guess I’ll just have to see how it looks when I get there and decide. I don’t have the money to buy friends lol…I’m going to be living the classic poor college student dream.[/quote]
Membership dues are typically $250-$500 per term. Something else to consider.
[quote]sandyr9 wrote:
I am friends with some people a part of the Greek community and when I first met them I did not really think much about it. Just drinking and parties all the time and strange weird rituals. [/quote]
I pledged 20 years ago and hated it. 95% of the guys in my house were total douche bags. They were arrogant, hateful, entitled, racist assholes. To be fair, I may have just pledged the wrong house. I was at a large big 12 school which was VERY greek. I may have just pledged the wrong house, as I know other folks I went to high school with that had enjoyed their fraternities. The one thing that they all had in common was overt racism, but I would imagine that may have changed some.
I would recommend getting on campus and feeling things out without rushing right off the bat, get a feel for campus life and try to get to know people both greek and independent before deciding to pledge a house. Also, I second what was already said, they will sell you on the brotherhood being a network for business when you graduate, I have NEVER seen this in my professional life, not once.
[quote]Kayrob wrote:
I pledged 20 years ago and hated it. 95% of the guys in my house were total douche bags. They were arrogant, hateful, entitled, racist assholes. To be fair, I may have just pledged the wrong house. I was at a large big 12 school which was VERY greek. I may have just pledged the wrong house, as I know other folks I went to high school with that had enjoyed their fraternities. The one thing that they all had in common was overt racism, but I would imagine that may have changed some.
I would recommend getting on campus and feeling things out without rushing right off the bat, get a feel for campus life and try to get to know people both greek and independent before deciding to pledge a house. Also, I second what was already said, they will sell you on the brotherhood being a network for business when you graduate, I have NEVER seen this in my professional life, not once.
Good luck. [/quote]
The only reason I was considering it was because I guess it’s a big thing at SDSU. Like I said I guess I’ll just have to wait and find out.
I was in a fraternity. I see some negative posts towards fraternities, but I tell you… It was a fucking blast!
I went to a large SEC school. Greek life in the South is huge, since a lot of the schools at are not in large cities.
Why did I join? Once you see the Greek ladies… you’ll know why. And you can forget about talking to one unless you are an athlete. And typically in the big houses, the members are all students who “come from money”. So, they typically are loaded with rich kids from prep schools. They land the chicks who pledge straight from the catholic schools (the cream of the crop). This the “Old South” way. Now, in our fraternity, these kids eventually graduated and go work for dad or go to law school etc. That is about 75% of our membership did. The “hard-partiers” were washed out and hazed so they didn’t bring down the houses’ GPA (shit, should I have said that?). It always kept the chapter off of probation.
Oh well. I was the “poor kid”. I got hazed pretty bad. I was the only dude in my pledge class that had to work 10 hours a weeks and had student loans. They talked so much shit about those student loans. They were just from a different class than I was. They didn’t know any better, I guess. BUT, I had fun!! I had to move out of the house after the second year because it was too much. But those first two years were insane.
And if the chapter is a good one, they are going to have a great network once you graduate to assist with interviews and job placement.
Because it should be more than just a social thing, you should look at it as another resource for your future career.
My perspective: Never in a frat, BUT… lived in a frat house (guess they didn’t have enough to fill it out), next to a sorority, had a roommate that was in a sorority, and my fiance was in a coed frat. On top of that, I attended a Big 10 school known for partying as well as a small private school known for smart people.
Here’s my observations:
-The sorority girls were probably sluttier than normal girls… and generally kind of chubby after freshman year (though, I’m sure SD is a lot different than the midwest).
-Coincidentally, frat guys probably do have more partners than the avg joe.
-A lot of the dudes were “douches,” as folks put it, but there is a range… and there were plenty of douches outside of the greek system. Some frats were known for having amazing drugs, but not much else, some were known for their doucheness (they seemed proud of this), some were kind of normal, and some were complete nerds (those damn tri-lambs)
-At neither of the schools I attended were they required for a social life… At the smaller school, they were something for asians and jewish people (tbf, my school was mostly asians and jewish people)… at the Big 10 school, they were something for people interested in greek life, and I can’t recall ever partying with a frat guy outside of a frat party
-People in the nerdier frats seemed pretty happy… these would be engineering or service type frats that essentially have none of the traditional hazing stuff and not much focus on drinking
-if you like rich girls, greek is probably the way to go
-Joining may impress international students, as their perception of frats is that they’re exclusive and elitest (if any non-US folks want to argue otherwise, that’s fine)
I was in a fraternity. I see some negative posts towards fraternities, but I tell you… It was a fucking blast!
I went to a large SEC school. Greek life in the South is huge, since a lot of the schools at are not in large cities.
Why did I join? Once you see the Greek ladies… you’ll know why. And you can forget about talking to one unless you are an athlete. And typically in the big houses, the members are all students who “come from money”. So, they typically are loaded with rich kids from prep schools. They land the chicks who pledge straight from the catholic schools (the cream of the crop). This the “Old South” way. Now, in our fraternity, these kids eventually graduated and go work for dad or go to law school etc. That is about 75% of our membership did. The “hard-partiers” were washed out and hazed so they didn’t bring down the houses’ GPA (shit, should I have said that?). It always kept the chapter off of probation.
Oh well. I was the “poor kid”. I got hazed pretty bad. I was the only dude in my pledge class that had to work 10 hours a weeks and had student loans. They talked so much shit about those student loans. They were just from a different class than I was. They didn’t know any better, I guess. BUT, I had fun!! I had to move out of the house after the second year because it was too much. But those first two years were insane.
And if the chapter is a good one, they are going to have a great network once you graduate to assist with interviews and job placement.
Because it should be more than just a social thing, you should look at it as another resource for your future career.
Do it.[/quote]
That sounds like an awful experience and fits right in with the douche stereotype.
Hind sight being 20/20, I probably wouldn’t join a fraternity - hard to say. However, I did.
I came from a small town, with a small high school. I went to Indiana University which was massive to me and is extremely Greek. I was very overwhelmed when I got to school and it helped me get oriented and make friends. Call me a douche bag who couldn’t make friends, but I may not have made it the first couple years. You pretty quickly bond with your pledge class, and meet guys who are in your classes or major that you can study with. Older guys who can show you the ropes, that kind of thing.
The greek parties at IU where insane when I was there - I mean, totally insane (I can’t do it justice - big name bands, thousands of people in the house, Little 500, hot chicks everywhere). The sorority chicks at IU are hot for the most part and would pack these insane parties… I was really only into it my freshman and sophomore year and then kind of moved on. The bar scene is equally as awesome, and by the time you turn 21 or have an ID to play 21, frats kinds of become pointless IMO.
I think they have their place for some people, but there are a lot of downsides as others have described. Some at IU were full of dorks, tools, douche bags, stuck up dicks. I found one that was kind of middle of the road - eclectic I guess I would say. Had a health mix of nerds, cool guys, pot heads, gamers, athletes, etc.
OP, you seem like a thoughtful young man, judging from the posts I have read from you. I don’t have any specific advise on frats. I would simply advise you to seek out people who will lift you up.
Contrary to what you may or may not be learning as a young man, judging others is perfectly fine and a vital skill for success in life. I don’t know you personally, but my judgement of you (which, admittedly, is based on limited information) is that you demonstrate a level of self-reflection and thoughtfulness that will not be present in the majority of people your age. Don’t be afraid to judge your peers and place yourself above them, insomuch as you avoid associating with people who will drag you down.
Associate yourself with winners and positive people. In short, if you find such a collection of people in a frat and want to join, great. If not, don’t join a frat just to join a frat.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
That sounds like an awful experience and fits right in with the douche stereotype. [/quote]
I hope you had fun in college and wasn’t jealous of others who did. I’m fairly outgoing, so I ended up hooking up with sorority girls constantly. I don’t know if that qualifies as being a “douche”. It was just one avenue (of many) to meet new people and to have fun on campus. Again, I would only suggest it for a year or two (like most). For every bad Fraternity experience, there are 3-4 horrible dorm ones.
I imagine it beats sitting in your dorm room playing Xbox or reading MotorTrend, but who am I to judge?
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
OP, you seem like a thoughtful young man, judging from the posts I have read from you. I don’t have any specific advise on frats. I would simply advise you to seek out people who will lift you up.
Contrary to what you may or may not be learning as a young man, judging others is perfectly fine and a vital skill for success in life. I don’t know you personally, but my judgement of you (which, admittedly, is based on limited information) is that you demonstrate a level of self-reflection and thoughtfulness that will not be present in the majority of people your age. Don’t be afraid to judge your peers and place yourself above them, insomuch as you avoid associating with people who will drag you down.
Associate yourself with winners and positive people. In short, if you find such a collection of people in a frat and want to join, great. If not, don’t join a frat just to join a frat.
I’m sure you’ll do just fine.[/quote]
Thank you very much. Also, great way to put it and great advice. I get what you’re saying about judging others in order to find the type of people I would like to associate with. If I feel like the frats aren’t my type of people I won’t join.
