Artemis_D

I heard that Greek life is huge at WashU, but admissions try to downplay that. I'm not a fan, so i was wondering if alum/current students can give input if greek life really dominates social scene?

NUgraduate

Greek life is not huge at Wash U. It's there, it's nice, but it's only a part of the participant's life. Only fraternities have houses, none of the sororities. There is a lot of interaction between people in the Greek system and people outside of it. For instance, nearly every Freshman goes to fraternity parties, but only a subset will end up joining one.

Because the girls don't live together, cross-campus friendships are the norm, and it is common to see girls from different sororities rooming together.

A bigger factor in my opinion? Freshman floor.

gprime

It is in no way the center of social life. It is true that between them the various houses host a number of parties, probably moreso than anybody else. But there are plenty of viable alternatives like house parties thrown by friends or student group parties (yes, many do have them, lame as they may be). And of course, social life exists outside of parties, which are a relatively trivial part of it for most. The other stuff, like clubs or general socialization, is perfectly fine.