Greek Life

[vexvelour]

Because they want to be able to call all the normal people that can make friends on their own GDI's.

At least thats how it was at my University.

Some small schools are Greek-dominated despite their relatively small populations, which might compel many students to rush.

I attended a small college in Illinois with a student body of 1800. The percentage of students in frats or sororities was more than 1/3. I had no intentions of joining a house and didn't rush in the fall of my freshman year, but when most of my dorm friends joined one, I followed suit in the spring. I don't really regret doing so, although my GPA might have been higher if I hadn't had so many social options.

10 years following graduation, I don't remember my fraternity pledge, and barely remember the secret handshake, but those weekend keggers and mid-week sorority mixers sure were fun.

[nebben]

I think you guys are misunderstanding the idea of social dues and initiation fees. social dues are there so you can have parties, initiation fees are there so that you can pay for the overhead of the organization that manages everything about your house, from insurance to contracts.

[ltb]

[ QUOTE ]
With a 25,000 undergraduate population at university of illinois you quickly knew the guys you were hanging out with in the dorms were not connected socially to the majority of the social/bar scene.

[/ QUOTE ]

wait, you joined a frat to get "connected" to the "bar scene?"

that certainly sounds dumb, especially considering you can build your own group of friends (that you don't pay for) and go out to the bars and such...

[DCWildcat]

I'm in a fraternity at a liberal arts school (1700 students).
It's fun, it's actually cheaper than a meal plan, the parties are great, and we do some good service.

[DCWildcat]

My dad, a psych PhD (what I'm going after), was greek as well.

[KeysrSoze]

A need for stupid tribal ritual ingrained by evolution from 100,000 years of living in caves, chucking spears, injesting psychotropic substances, and dragging women by the hair?

[Scotch78]

[ QUOTE ]
or maybe their only option was to buy their friends which is kind of what they are doing. but hey, i'm no expert.

[/ QUOTE ]

Gotta love that stereotype. What most non-Greeks fail to realize is that dues go to three places: rent, nationals, and the chapter budget. Rent is rent, and the chapter budget is basically a bunch of money that you decide how to spend on yourselves. National dues do disappear to some old guys halfway across the country, but they are typically less than $50/person/year. The concept of paying for friends is simply a myth.

In my opinion, the biggest reason to go Greek is for convenience. With enough effort you can build a tight-knit group of friends, organize large social gatherings on a regular basis, participate in philanthropy activities, play intramural sports, accept a position of responsibility in a student organization, schedule your electives with a bunch of friends, network for life after college, and so many other things. The catch is that you will have to search out, and often create, each specific opportunity on your own. A Greek organization pulls all of those things together and provides them for you.

Scott

[einbert]

[ QUOTE ]
A need for stupid tribal ritual ingrained by evolution from 100,000 years of living in caves, chucking spears, injesting psychotropic substances, and dragging women by the hair?

[/ QUOTE ]

This answer seems to have some truth to it.

[KaneKungFu123]

my greek membership card allows me to buy coke at a discount...