Are You In or Did You Join A Frat?

I was rushed by two fraternities during my college years. I declined to join either because of the overt racism both demonstrated. Perhaps, more than 20 years later, this is no longer an issue.

Fraternities are worth it, I think.

The connections you mention are great, career wise but socially too. Just in terms of finding a group of guys on a weekday afternoon who want to start up a ball game, or play a round of golf, or whatever.

They also expand your options to get laid greatly, with parties, sorority mixers, and stealing your brothers' fuckbuddies.

I think the less outgoing you are, the more you get out of a fraternity. Ive never been one to bond with dude outside of some kind of organization- be it sports, frat, or clubs- YMMV.

i'm in sigma alpha epsilon agreed on everything everything pennglock above ( i go to penn btw haha). if nothing else, it gives you another group of friends to hang out with. in terms of the rush process, i ended up meeting people and becoming friends with them even though i didnt join the fraternities/societies that they joined. i didn't end up joining a black fraternity because their system at my school sucks, but those are GREAT to join in terms of connections.

Yah, am frat boy. Alpha Delt.

Mine had wimmenz and all sexualities of people in it. This was in a private college on the East Coast.

Later I transferred for a bit and lived in an all-male chapter at a state school in the Midwest.

It was different.

I didn't join a frat because it's just not my thing. But I have nothing against frats; in fact, the most admirable classmate I ever had was a fraternity member.

+100. Beta Theta Pi To this day, my closest friends. We still take trips to Vegas, and the occasional long weekend of bar hoping on the Jersey Shore.

Delta Chi. Probably one of the better decisions I have made in college. -I already had a social network but it vastly enhanced it, and I have never had a boring weekend on the other hand. -It leaves something tangible when I leave college that I can come back to and be proud of and say I did something. -All but one of my 4 internships were through fraternity networking, and I've been exposed to a lot. -Contrary to naysayers it does not take away from your college experience but definitely adds a lot more to your time in undergrad.

I was in one. It was a great time during college, and like others mentioned, it gives me something to come back to after I've graduated. It is a life long network. The parties were unreal and the social network was great.

However, for me, my frat has not lead to any business or job contacts. Most of the guys in my house had poor grades and got mediocre jobs as a result.

I'm a brother of Alpha Kappa Psi. Besides the great network, my fraternity -- a business professional fraternity (not social) has provided me with excellent networking contacts. It is a lifelong commitment and in my opinion, one that brings great benefits.

I wan to join that frat that's only at historically black colleges where they brand a giant fucking omega on your bicep.

Other frats are pussies compared to whatever's going on there.

GDI, motherfucker. Not that I had anything against fraternities at the time. I can't say that it helped people get laid, because if you had any social ability at all you could at least get some.

I was in a fraternity at a school where fraternities were not a big deal, not part of the culture, and in fact not technically allowed on campus, so we were really low-key. There was not much of a pledge period and virtually no hazing. Today, I am embarrassed about admitting to having been in one, although we had a pretty good time and a lot of the guys are guys I still communicate and am friendly with. All the "brotherhood" crap is really cringe-worthy in hindsight, and I shudder to think how much more intense and retrospectively shameful it would have been at a "real" fraternity. Today, I know a few guys who are staunch defenders of fraternities and brotherhood and the hazing period and building character blah blah blah and they are, to a man, douchebags. I'd imagine it's more of a necessary evil at a big school where everyone does it and it's the way to socialize. I also imagine that the black fraternity experience has cultural elements baked in to it that make it very different, and potentially more worthwhile, than the traditional fraternity experience. In general, I find that any sort of all-male club or gathering (e.g. bachelor party) tends to bring out the worst in men and there is a general race to the bottom, with puerile penis jokes, lame misogyny, and pathetic displays of "manliness" carrying the day. EDIT: My fraternity could conceivably be a good networking tool, as it was a Jewish fraternity at an Ivy-League school, but I think it's more of an exception than the rule. Besides, the dungeons and dragons club is probably a good networking tool at an Ivy League.

I don't think Frats are as beneficial for networking any more, at least not from what I see at Ohio State. They do get a lot of women, but that comes at the expense of living in a constantly dirty messy shit hole with 50 other guys. It really surprises me, because these kids are painfully retarded (socially and academically).

I had a good time. Connections? I guess the connections were useful in college (getting into bars before I was 21, getting booze, etc..) and meeting new people, but no one in my house has ever been a good business connection. If that's your goal, then I'd at least try and rush a house with some smart people in it.