How preppy are these colleges and what is their Greek life like?
University of Connecticut
Miami University Ohio
University of Washington
Syracuse University
Penn State University
Indiana University
University of Wisconsin
Lehigh University
Wake Forest University
I want a preppy school with good Greek life, so feel free to leave suggestions!
Miami Ohio, Lehigh, and Wake Forest all definitely fit that description. I don’t know about the other ones.
Some others like that are Colgate, University of Richmond, Trinity, and Sewanee.
Lehigh for sure!
Bucknell, Washington & Lee and Gettysburg.
Apart from UVA, I have trouble classifying any large, public university as “preppy.” By definition, they are designed for students from diverse backgrounds. Saying that, however, I’ve heard that Miami of Ohio attracts a white-bread, suburban, frat-bro student body. Penn State does not meet my definition of “preppy,” but I actually went to prep school and so my definition was not shaped by TV sit-coms. Greek life is huge there, as it is at many large universities, but I think of the environment as typifying large, suburban, public high schools more than any private schools. If you define “preppy” as mostly white, mostly suburban kids who dress and behave conventionally, and are label-conscious, then I’m sure you’ll find them at all the universities above. The only one I would consider especially “preppy” is Wake Forest. It happens that most of the students I know at Lehigh are more techie-nerdy, but I know there’s a very big Greek presence there.
You could explore this further by Googling the name of each college along with “Panhellenic”, which should get you to a listing of the sororities available on each campus. You can further look at their chapter websites and Facebook photos.
Preppy?
University of Washington <- No…oh goodness, no. Greek, a little.
Lehigh, Bucknell, Gettysburg, Franklin & Marshall, Elon and the University of Virginia come to mind…
Yes, add Bucknell and F&M to your list, definitely.
Sewanee is a different kind of preppy. Due in part to its rural location, there is a strong vibe of inclusion on campus. Also, the Greek houses aren’t residential, and the sororities are locals.
Syracuse is the #1 party school in the nation. I wouldn’t call it preppy, just a party school.
Washington and Lee has a student body that is around 80% Greek, if that is what you are looking for. It’s in the foothills of western VA and is located on a ridge above the picturesque little town of Lexington, VA. In other words, small LAC, tiny southern town, selective admissions, and LOTS of Greeks.
To someone who went to boarding school, the colleges on your list would not be considered preppy, at least considered as a group.
UW is not preppy or Greek overall, but there is a strong subset which is – my kid is in Greek life at UW, and, while it is 10% or less of the student body, that means there are about 3-5000 kids in Greek life. It is not a dominant culture of the entire university, but large enough that there are plenty of folks involved.
I didn’t even know what Vineyard Vines was until he joined his fraternity, and I am from east coast prep school background. But that is an age thing – it didn’t exist when I was growing up, only Lily Pulitzer, Papagallo, Fair Isle sweaters and wide whale corduroys and, of course, docksiders.
Ole Miss?
DePauw is very Greek but I don’t know how preppy.
Birmingham Southern would fit.
while this particular book is probably outdated, you should try and find the modern equivalent of it: http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Birnbachs-Improved-College-Book/dp/067179289X