<p>STICK - you are just so wrong and completely uninformed regarding what you THINK you KNOW about the greek system at W&L and it’s members - the who and what they really are - that is really a shame - you just have NO clue - and your inability to respectfully ‘discuss’ any other possible opinions - other than yours of course makes it very difficult - actually impossible - to respect your attitude. </p>
<p>I guess to each their own - but your closed minded input and how you would apply it to a W&L grad who just happened to be a frat brother really disturbs me.</p>
<p>So go be bored - and offer your insights to other discussions - I am sure you don’t belong to any organization - professional or personal - that gives you instant security blah blah blah… or that could be considered to be cliquey or insulates you from challanges…</p>
<p>You don’t know these people involved or who they are - so your judgement is a bit clouded - IMHO. Would be pretty funny if y/u work with a W&L grad who happened to be a frat brother and don’t even know it - interesting thought…</p>
<p>I firmly believe that each and every applicant to W&L - or any college for that matter - needs to consider all the pieces of every school - and make an informed - intelligent decision - that is right for them - and not for anyone else - which includes looking at Greek life - or not. It is a personal decision. I have both sides of the spectrum in my family - 1 frat bro and 1 not interested at all - and respect both for their individual choice - as I would for any student.</p>
<p>Greek life at W&L is just one piece of the pie there - not the whole pie. Look closely at what this school offers to it’s applicants and one will truly see what makes it special and unique - tho again - not the right ‘fit’ for everyone. For those who feel the ‘fit’ is a good one - you will not be disappointed.</p>
<p>“For those who feel the ‘fit’ is a good one - you will not be disappointed.”</p>
<p>Thanks, JeepMOM, for sharing your experiences and perspectives on W&L. My son heads to W&L in two weeks, but he’s already “gone.” Much to our joy, he has found the right fit. </p>
<p>He talks every day to W&L friends he’s made while on campus and off. His friends going to other schools are amazed at the level of connection/conversation that already exists among W&L 2010’ers. The Speaking Tradition lives on – in cyberspace!</p>
<p>He’s starting his college career with a week of volunteering/education focusing on urban poverty issues, through the Shepherd Poverty Program. Staying in low income housing for seniors, but he still cannot wait! He’ll be doing some hard day labor, working with seniors/kids, listening to a diff W&L prof on poverty issues every night, being welcomed by the local W&L alum chapter for dinner one night. </p>
<p>Along with the much debated Greek scene, this too is quintessentially W&L :)</p>
<p>I’m with StickerSHock on this whole Greek business. Think of the people you met in college those first few weeks. Were they your best friends by senior year? Not in my experience. The four years of college to me are supposed to be a broadening experience and a long process of new friend making all along, not just globbing onto the first people you meet the first couple of weeks. H went to Harvard and was invited to join a club. His attitude was, “Why on earth would I join a club with people who are just like me? The whole point of college was to broaden my horizons, not have them close in on me.”</p>
<p>IMHO being a member of a frat/sor is not a door closing experience at all - it can by all means be a very broadening experience - guess it depends on the school one attends as to how that experience happens and works.</p>
<p>Again - greek life is just one piece of the pie - there are a whole lot more pieces that are important to make it a luscious and appetizing pie - greek life could just be the whip cream on the top for many. But - it may not be the right flavor for all - some like their pie just plain - no whip cream. Coffee on the side anyone??</p>
<p>I was talking to a neighbor the other day who attended a large, private, southern U. in the 70’s. She said, “My sorority had the most beautiful girls from the finest families” When I asked her about some other women in town who went there, she identified them by their sororities and bashed them. It was the most bizarre conversation. Now her daughter’s going there and she says she’ll die if she doesn’t get into one of the 'very best" ones. Does not compute!</p>
<p>dke, I assume you know that one woman from a different school from a different era means nothing, so I won’t go into that but I would like to correct somethhing you said that makes me think you have been at best skimming what has been said in this thread. W&L has winter rush, which means you do not join a fraternity right away with the first people you find but have to develop friendships with them over quite a long time. No one actually becomes a member of any fraternity or sorority until March - 6 months after they started college, by that time you’ve had a chance to meet and get to know everyone (hey its a small school, thats all it really takes)</p>
<p>“Think of the people you met in college those first few weeks. Were they your best friends by senior year? Not in my experience.” </p>
<p>LOL - the first people I met in college my first weeks – my freshman roommate and hallmates of course. And they turned out to be my best friends throughout college – and life. Time, distance, different lives, religions, husbands, residences, kids - nothing stands in the way of picking up with any one of them on a level of unconditional intimacy I have in only a few other relationships. (And I am a social person.) </p>
<p>These are women who were randomly assigned to a room and a hall as 18 year olds, but who have chosen to be friends for life. Sure, we pledged the same local sorority in the second semester and/or second year, but we made many many other friends before and after. I do not view their friendships as having limited me in any way. To the contrary, these women have enriched my life beyond anything I could hope to measure. </p>
<p>Please respect that lifelong and lifechanging friendships like mine can be the byproduct of freshman and Greek experiences, just as we respect your reasons for choosing another course during your college days.</p>
<p>I live 3,000 miles away from my freshman year roomie but just finished emailing her to catch up. So yes, the friends that I made during the first few weeks are still my friends.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I also made a lot of friends later on. Mostly, they were the people I lived with, had classes with (i.e. ALL engineers or classicists), or did ECs with. I fail to see how that is somehow better than making friends through joining an organisation. I loved all of the people I met at my alma mater, but simply lacked the time to get to know the 1,200 students in my graduating class.</p>
<p>ARIES point well taken - we meet people all thru out lives - in many different circumstances and venues - some will be acquaintances and some will become friends. I don’t think it really matters where we meet the important people in our lives - or thru what activities or organizations - no one place or situation is better than any other - True friendship is hard to find. :)</p>
<p>Esquette – yes, I’m here (I was ‘down the shore’ for a few days). I just finished reading the new posts. I’m still undecided about whether Greek life is for me but I haven’t had much first hand experience with it so I guess I’ll just have to wait until I start my overnight college visits.<br>
I did have an interesting experience the other day when I met a boy that is a student at another school I’m looking at and we talked and I asked him what activities he was involved with at his school and he told me about his frat and told me the name (and I of course know very little about Greek life) so I just gave him a sort of blank look and was like “oh… cool.” I think I was supposed to be impressed, lol… </p>
<p>Unfortunately after hearing the negative perceptions of W&L from several people she holds in high regard, my mother is not too keen on it (and she was horrified when she heard that girls wear sundresses to football games haha).<br>
My father on the other hand… his new favorite person is Robert E Lee and he’s been buying books about him ever since he learned I was really interested in W&L haha but he still thinks I’d be better off going to a school in the North that people around here will be familiar with (and not have really negative perceptions of)</p>
<p>Thanks for your opinions and input everyone, I guess I’ll just see what happens on the overnight visits and where I get in (if anywhere) haha.</p>
<p>UNWRITTEN - outside the general area of VA - W&L is very well and highly regarded (in VA too LOL) - it is not an unknown entity - even up here in the Nor’east. </p>
<p>I had to chuckle at going to our first W&L football game - the suit coats/ties - dresses and skirts - and the cowbells!!! LOL But the tailgaiting was quite different from what I have ever seen also… but was great fun and great folks.</p>
<p>I’m in PA and in my experience W&L is NOT well known in the mid- atlantic/NE. We mentioned our campus visit to many friends and most have never heard of the school. We had lunch with a business professor at Lehigh and he asked what other business programs my son had looked at. Wake Forest - yes- UVA- yes - W&L - hmmm where it THAT? Not that that should make a difference in the college decision. Most outside of the Philly area have never heard of other top LACs including Haverford (Harvard?) and Swarthmore.</p>
<p>pirt - sorry, I have to disagree. The basketball program at WF has greatly increased it’s visibility. I do agree the the schools are of comparable quality - in fact W&L has the edge. It’s just not as well known.</p>
<p>you are right in that wake’s basketball team has given the school more prominence-“put it on the map” so to speak. i think it’s a real shame that the only reason most people have heard of duke, wake forest, northwestern, notre dame, stanford, etc. (where I live in Louisiana, one of the most uneducated areas of the nation)is through their athletic programs. here, i feel like florida state, miami, ole miss, and alabama are more well known/ prestigious to the average ESPN watching blue-collar man than brown or dartmouth. in fact, when i told many people here i was going on a college trip to visit dartmouth, brown, middlebury, bowdoin, etc., i got more raised eyebrows than anything else; i was stunned at what most people don’t know about higher education in america (or at least in new orleans).</p>
<p>Just to put this in perspective- when we visit N.C., mention “Villanova” and many will give you a blank stare. Around here (N.J.), half my son’s school applied. It is all relative, folks. Except for the Ivy league schools, it all depends on where you are in the country. My son is going to Wake because it offers everything he wants in a smaller package. He does not care who in our “all-knowing” area of N.J knows of it, as a matter of fact, he relishes going somewhere different. Maybe he is a “little rebel”! The fit was right. (And he LOVES their basketball team! :)) GO DEMON DEACONS!!</p>
<p>Unless you have a kid entering college in a few years (or are a kid entering college in a few years) or have done extensive college research, then it’s pretty unlikely that you would have heard of many of the LACs, top-notch or otherwise.</p>
<p>Your average person (not ignorant, blue collar or anything else) is probably going to be most familiar with the NCAA Div 1 teams (the larger public U’s and the football and basketball regulars), and of course, the Ivy-League schools. Just the way it is.</p>
<p>I’d never heard of W&L, did a bit of research on it, and pretty much came to the conclusion that being from a family who was pretty anti-Greek, it probably wouldn’t be a good match for my kids. However, not to detract from the school at all; it looks like a very top notch school, just not a good fit for us. And DH thinks that area is among the most beautiful in the country.</p>
<p>Frankly, I’m grateful that everyone and their dog hasn’t heard of some of the smaller, less-known LACs. I tell people some of the schools my D is looking at, and they say, “huh?” Suits me just fine if everyone wants to stick to the heard ofs, except those of us who actually know better.</p>
<p>Of course I cant answer for all minorities, but sending D to a school named after General Lee would not be a deterrent for me. But sending her to a school that allows the public display of the confederate flag would be very difficult. Interestingly, W&L has sent D more recruitment literature than any other school.</p>