To Frat, or Not to Frat...?

[GreenNYC]

i was always told to never call the fraternity a frat....because you wouldn't call your country a c___.

 

[NaTionS]

Originally Posted by GreenNYC

i was always told to never call the fraternity a frat....because you wouldn't call your country a c___.

A coun?

 

[b1os]

****?

 

[unjung]

Originally Posted by GreenNYC

i was always told to never call the fraternity a frat....because you wouldn't call your country a c___.

This stupid saying still irks me. I'll call it my frat if I please.

 

[Jokerman]

I would never join a frat if given the chance no matter how great the connections might be. I would not be able deal with all the idiotic dicks. After meeting some frat guys it was apparent the only way they got into college let alone the frat was because mommy and daddy paid their way in. I mean I live 1 block from the frats here at UNC and 2-3 of them have been burned down at least once each. The parties are extremely sad bumping hip-hop while playing corn hole. The whole hazing this is also extremely sad. Just my opinion. I do know of one or 2 co-ed frats that are pretty cool and are unlike the above description but they are rare.

 

[pebblegrain]

when I was in college I was thoroughly disdainful of frats. There was no way I would have joined at the time.

looking back, they don't seem so bad, I wouldn't have a problem if my son wanted to join one.

I don't do ****-erotic hazing though, so 20 shots of tequila sure, but bukkake milkshake, go *************. most frats do plenty of **** hazing these days (closeted **** frat factor)

 

[munchausen]

If you find a frat you really like, then I would say join. But don't join one because you think you need to. Some schools, like the one I went to, have a very diverse frat culture and there is likely to be one for every taste. At others the frats are only for the meatheads or preppies and all others are likely to feel out of place.

I would advise you not to join one that does a lot of hazing or one that expects you to hang out with the fraternity 5 nights a week. And don't live in the frat house, even if you're in a subdued frat. It's a good place to crash if you've had too much to drink but it's bound to interfere with your studies if you spend too much time there.

 

[Vampire weekend]

I'm taking all of your advice into consideration. Basically my options are to join a more renowned frat that one of my friends is going to be pledging(b/c his brother is in it, "Beta Theta Pi&quot, or to join a frat that just started a new chapter at my Uni called "Kappa Sigma." I have at least 5 friends in Kappa Sigma, but it's just starting up so i'm not sure if the experience will be the same, This could either be a good thing or bad thing. Not to mention, 3 of my friends in it are founders. But Beta has more grounded roots. I guess it is all a matter of attending the events at the beginning of school?

 

[Krish the Fish]

Do rush/recruitment for all the fraternities. See which ones you're the most interested in, and pursue getting a bid there. Pledging is not nearly as difficult as it is perceived, and will be remembered by you as a nostalgic period of time that got you close to your pledge brothers and the house (or at least, that's how ours was). I personally joined my fraternity uninformed (all of my friends were GDIs, and I didn't really know much about greek life), but I made a fantastic decision because: we're top tier (so the best sororities want to hang out with us), we are growing in numbers (from 60 guys when I pledged to 100+ now), we're one of the few "social" fraternities left, and we're the longest continuously running greek organization on campus (and second longest continuously running student organization).

I had one strict rule during pledging: if any homoerotic **** starts happening, I'm out that second... and I made it through pledgeship/"hell week"/everything. So do it. Being in a fraternity is probably one of the best decisions I've ever made.

 

[Renton]

Originally Posted by Vampire weekend

I'm taking all of your advice into consideration. Basically my options are to join a more renowned frat that one of my friends is going to be pledging(b/c his brother is in it, "Beta Theta Pi"), or to join a frat that just started a new chapter at my Uni called "Kappa Sigma." I have at least 5 friends in Kappa Sigma, but it's just starting up so i'm not sure if the experience will be the same, This could either be a good thing or bad thing. Not to mention, 3 of my friends in it are founders. But Beta has more grounded roots. I guess it is all a matter of attending the events at the beginning of school?

Which Beta chapter is this? Just curious because I'm a Beta.

 

[Benzito]

Originally Posted by Jokerman

I would never join a frat if given the chance no matter how great the connections might be. I would not be able deal with all the idiotic dicks. After meeting some frat guys it was apparent the only way they got into college let alone the frat was because mommy and daddy paid their way in. I mean I live 1 block from the frats here at UNC and 2-3 of them have been burned down at least once each. The parties are extremely sad bumping hip-hop while playing corn hole. The whole hazing this is also extremely sad. Just my opinion. I do know of one or 2 co-ed frats that are pretty cool and are unlike the above description but they are rare.

College is full of idiotic dicks. You can't avoid them by simply staying away from a fraternity.

It seems that the old school hazing is less frequent because of lawsuits and so forth, but the subtle demeaning and insulting and semi-**** pledge activities are still around.

 

[Another New Yorker]

Frat is a verb

Fraternity is a noun and usually an adjective.

I'll offer a more neutral perspective. If Greek life is prominent at your school, and you enjoy the culture, hazing, drinking, connections, and lifestyle, go for it. It is an incredible experience and the people I met will be my friends forever. My faculty advisor still eats lunch with his pledge brothers weekly.

If you aren't interested in the style, attitude, etc. and disdain it, don't bother. Don't half ass it joining a lame low tier organization. Go your own way, there's other clubs that cater to you.

 

[AlarmGuy79]

Loved every moment and am still active as an alum. As many others have said, most of my closest friends 10 years after graduation are Brothers from my Fraternity, spanning different time periods due to a shared experience.

Regarding your major, we had several Ocean Engineering majors that did EXTREMELY well. We had others who let the experience become their life and did quite poorly. Focus on your grades, find a balance but be sure to be active for the experience.

Most of my best memories from college are directly from what I did with my Fraternity Brothers.

 

[Jdeansmith11]

Isn't frat synonymous with douche?

 

[Willie5566]

What is your school like? Some universities have larger greek population than others. On those campuses it is hard(er) to make freinds than other campuses that do not have a lot of fraternity/sororities.

I joined because most of my freinds from my freshmen year were joining and I knew I would not be hanging out with them much if I did not join. I also joined because I went to a large commuter school and on weekends most people were not on or around campus so the fraternity gave me an opportunity to maintain a good social life.

Those that say fraternities are for d-bags are just being ignorant. There are d-bags that are not in fraternities just as well. It is all about how you handle it. I never treated any one different because they were not in a frat/sorority. I maintained friendships with many people who never joined a greek organization. In fact I met my wife in college and she was never in a sorority.