Greek life

10mwil · 09-23-2009, 06:08 PM

I am very interested in W&L but I am kind of turned off by the 80% involved in greek life. I am not very interested in joining a sorority mostly because I view it as very time-consuming and not worth the trouble unless you want to party..which I don't. Is this the nature of greek life on campus? Are W&L sororities/frats as bad as the stereotypical ones are?

ubetteraccept_me · 09-24-2009, 07:15 PM

everyone at w&l joins sororities and fraternities. some are your stereotypical ones (partying, etc.) but others are less wild. if you don't want to party though, keep in mind that w&l is one of the top party schools in the country.

dwhite · 09-24-2009, 07:23 PM

^^Very true. Don't they consume an inordinate amount of alcohol considering the size of the school? At least that is what they (alums, current students, etc) claim!

10mwil · 09-24-2009, 07:33 PM

Thanks! I guess I will look into it more but it sounds like my suspicions are correct haha

HighlandMom · 09-24-2009, 10:35 PM

Not *everybody* is Greek. In fact, of the half dozen or so students that I personally know, only one is in a Greek organization. It's true the percentage is quite high. But I understand the independents "find" each other during rush week (they're the only ones going to the cafeteria for dinner

) and they form their own "bond" of sorts.

beautyistruth · 09-24-2009, 11:05 PM

Not only that, but while Greek life does involve a certain amount of socializing, socializing does not equal drinking. I know girls in EVERY sorority who do not drink, or did not drink before they were 21. I know independents who drank heavily from day 1. W&L is a school where the drinking culture is prevalent, yes. But I have friends who were sober at every party who had just as much fun as those who were black out (sometimes more, as sober people rarely end the night puking in the bushes and/or spending the night in jail).

Will you be around drinkers? Yes. You will be around them whether you join a sorority or not. THIS IS TRUE AT EVERY COLLEGE. Even the dry ones.

Sorority life can be extremely rewarding. You will make new friends outside of your major, religion, race, and extra curricular activities. Within the sorority, you can become a leader, involve yourself in philanthropy, help promote high scholarship. Traditionally, Greek life GPA is higher than the non-Greek GPA.

Greek life is not for everyone. But W&L is not as divided between Greeks and Independents as people would have you believe. I had friends in lots of different houses as well as independents. If you WANT to perceive the Greek system as snotty, drunken, stupid, lewd, frat boys and sorostitutes, go ahead. But it won't be a fun four years at ANY school if you automatically decide to discount some of the population on hearsay alone.

//////soap box.

10mwil · 09-27-2009, 03:40 PM

Okay. I've have never heard anything positive said about modern fraternities and sororities and the only people I know who have joined are heavy drinkers. I don't have any particular desire to perceive the greek system as snotty, drunken etc. however it's difficult not to given the fact that I've never heard anything else said about it.

beautyistruth · 09-27-2009, 06:19 PM

Well, the nice thing about W&L is that rush isn't until January, so you get a couple of months to actually meet sorority women, so you can make a decision based on people you know rather than hearsay. You will probably get asked on rush dates (basically brunch/breakfast/coffee etc with one or two sorority women and a few of your friends). Go on them. It's a great way to meet girls outside of a party scene. Even if you decide Greek Life isn't for you, it's still a great way to meet upperclassmen. I'm still friends with the girls I rushed during fall term, even the ones who didn't join my house or didn't go through rush.

And if you decide it's not for you, then hey. That's fine, it's not for everyone. But it's not all about drinking, and since you'll have a few months (at W&L) to decide, try to keep an open mind. I went into W&L thinking I wouldn't rush, but I found a group of girls I loved and that really changed my mind (I'm also still friends with some of the older girls from other sororities that rushed me).

FLVADAD · 09-30-2009, 01:19 AM

D entered college very much opposed to the idea of going Greek. She never liked the notion of it based on what she understood it to be. She heard all the same stories about Greek culture and formed a negative opinion. However, like beautyistruth suggests, once she had a chance to see it up close and meet some of the people her thinking on the eventually changed. Turned out not to be what she imagined.

She still doesn't drink, still studies hard, and basically, is the same as always. The parties aren't new for her as she was going to them anyway. The only difference now is that she seems to have three times as many "great" friends, and a more active social calendar. I'm sure the experience varies from person to person, but it's worked out very well for D it seems. Hence, I'm guessing she'd also advise others not to be too quick to pass judgement.

Last time I was there dropping her off I had a chance to meet and talk with several of her sorority friends and their parents. I don't know, maybe they have me completely hoodwinked, but I came away thinking they were some of the nicest girls I've ever met.

dke · 10-12-2009, 07:05 PM

I"ve asked friends how their kids liked W and L and hear the same thing, "they miss the parties". No one talks about academics?

beautyistruth · 10-12-2009, 08:19 PM

Well, few people "miss" academics. There are lots of discussions on this board about the academics/diversity/campus atmosphere is at W&L, you can find them pretty easily. It is a VERY strong school academically -- even the "easy" classes that I took made me work.

klio33 · 10-20-2009, 12:45 AM

I am a senior here and I joined a sorority my freshman year. I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted to do at first, but I also found a group of intelligent, nice, and down to earth girls. Sure there were a few wild ones in the bunch, but most were as far from the stereotypical sorority girl as you could get. I enjoyed my time in the sorority. I ended up deactivating my junior year mostly due to financial reasons. The only other reason I decided to quit was because I felt like I didn't need it. I could still be just as involved in parties and other activities without it and I already had good friends from the group that I continued to hang out with after I quit. I am enjoying life as an independent, but I certainly don't hate sororities or the girls in them. It is fun to eat at the house and do homework in the living room. IM sports with your sorority were always enjoyable and so were the formals that we had. But my biggest piece of advice is go with your heart. If you really don't feel comfortable with it, don't do it. I know many girls who joined or stayed in sororities because they felt pressured or thought they wouldn't have a social like if they quit. Trust me, if you are a reasonably friendly, nice, and intelligent person then you will not have trouble finding a social life without a Greek organization. But if you think it is for you then by all means try it out. I do think there is more of a stigma attached to being an independent guy than a girl so I may not be the best one to answer in regards to a boy's experience.

klio33 · 10-20-2009, 12:49 AM

Also, just an observation. W&L does have a reputation as a party school and to some extent its deserved but when I was studying abroad I noticed that people from all the other colleges on the trip with me were just as big of partiers and drinkers as W&L kids (if not more). It just gets played up because we tend to have large parties that everyone goes to. In other colleges, kids drink just as much but usually in smaller groups or out in bars (which we don't really have).