I'll agree that it depends on an organization and situational basis. Once someone graduates from undergrad, the norm is pursuit of a alumni/alumnae chapter. Once you cross the stage, it's normally a done deal. I have heard of cases where people have had combined processes, but they are still initiated in separate chapters. There are always different circumstances, but that's why we tell people to, "Do their research." ;)

OK, so for the NPHCs, it's organizational, situational, case-by-case, and may have separate answers for who officially runs the line, and what chapter they will actually be joining. (And no one outside the city where the college exists is guaranteed to know what the answer is)

Gotcha!

Every group has different policies for AI so I won't make any blanket statements, but I seem to recall a cute story about a woman who didn't join a sorority in undergrad but became the house mom for Alpha Gamma Delta while in grad school at the University of Illinois and then joined them through AI while still in grad school. So I'd say that it is possible, but again networking and research is crucial. Whether a grad student could join a chapter of undergrads is an entirely different can of worms that I couldn't even begin to get into.

Yes, a grad student can generally AI; however, she would NOT be joining and participating in a collegiate chapter as an active. She would be an alumna member of an alumnae chapter - thus the term alumna initiate. I think there may only be 1-2 NPCs which "might" allow graduate students to join a collegiate chapter. That's a different situation from AI.

You missed some options. Some NPC sororities will accept graduate students as full voting collegiate members. Some will accept them as non-voting collegiate members. I don't know everyone's policies, but I would wager that this is not the norm across the NPC (it was on my campus).

There are always local fraternities, too, who can initiate whomever they want.

I'm a little late to this party, but if OP is still reading, he needs to contact the Greek Life office on his campus to find out what the situation is. Many fraternities probably do allow graduate students. If he's at an SEC school, he may have a great chance to join one of the lower tiered houses.

The OP seems to have only wanted a definitive "yes" and list of the specific fraternities.

Contacting Greek Life is too much research for the OP, as is searching Google and contacting some fraternities.

To go back to naraht's question about NPHC, a graduated student interested in the NPHC should not contact the Greek Life office of that school. Most Greek Life offices won't know. If they offer assistance at all, the most they will do is give the person the contact info for the collegiate chapter(s), NHQ(s), or possibly the alumnae/alumni/graduate chapter(s). The person can and should access that info without the Greek Life office.

Amen...because Google. :D

To the op, I am a fraternity man. Yes, some fraternities allow graduate students to pledge. Selection of new members is up to the chapter.

That being said, you can rush, we can not tell you if you will be given a bid.

Well I am back after doing some research on my own, the latest posts were very helpful but all I really asked for was people to not give me suggestions on how to live my life, just answer my question. You see, throughout my life I have had super strict helicopter parent types that have micromanaged my life and told me what I should and should not do, that has left me with some issues which have slowly been resolved through the years.

That said, I did find a few organizations to get involved in for the feelings of a brotherhood and now I will be looking into rushing some fraternities as a grad student. I don't want to do my grad studies at SEC schools because I know that this is the conference where schools are very strict about Greek Life, more so than anywhere else in the nation.

Things have been going better for me and I want to say to all of you who have PM'd me that your messages have not been ignored. I look forward to going to grad school and will continue to do research on whether grad students can rush a fraternity. Google does not have much info on this, it all leads me to discussion forums where users are practically replying saying "why would you want to do that?". So far, things aren't looking too good.

;) You can just reply to the PMs without the derivative of "I've been receiving PMs, you meanies."

Good luck to you.

I really, strongly hope you are not choosing a grad school based on Greek life.

How convenient that the troll ignores the recent thread of a grad student getting a bid. Course that poster seemed like a normal individual.

Nah, the south is just a bad fit for me overall TBH.

I checked it out and tbh it gave me hope. I can't find too much stuff on google about grad students rushing a fraternity and getting bids so the thread is more of an exception and in a good way too. So far from what I have looked into, it seems like most of the bigger fraternities at state schools like say a Florida St for example only give bids to undergrads and prefer freshmen because they know they can get more money out of them (they will pay for 4 years).

You live in SD (lucky!!!!), any ideas of how things are like at UCSD or San Diego St?

Please tell us what you know about what it costs to operate a fraternity.

He knows everything about money because he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth like we all were and his parents were too strict and STEM and blah blah blah blah blah blah.

You bitter old past her peak sorority woman, you. Lololololol.

Yeah, this old woman was up until 1 AM last night dancing her butt off and he was probably sitting in "VIP" paying $100 for a $15 bottle of vodka, so he can suck it.

And THIS old woman was partying from 4:00 pm until zero dark thirty. When you are past your peak, and all shriveled up, blah blah blah, the only recourse is this. Threw the cane away and grooved.

I am not gonna lie, it's almost a fact of nature. A lot of women who used to be very attractive but then slowly lost their looks are very bitter and sadistic.

That said, again, this whole rushing a fraternity as a grad student thing is not looking too promising....

:(

What do you call "sadistic"? Not agreeing with you because you have a penis?

Seriously, you need to stop posting on here and look into counseling. You sound really unhinged and resentful. I'm sorry you had a rough childhood, but that is not the fault of women everywhere.

This again? LOL

Good thing I was ugly to being with!

Putting me through hell on this thread rather than just keeping the discussion on topic. Look at the first argument I got into, who asked a member here to play the role of mother? Also, attacking me throughout the thread rather than just offering objective advice on how it can be done. Fortunately some people here gave me good advice (a lot of which came through PMs) but man, was all of the argument which as offtopic really even necessary?

I think this and several of your other comments reveal a fundamental misconception about GLOs. They do not exist primarily for you or anyone else simply to take what you need from them, be it "brotherhood", other relationships, business contacts, social status, etc. They have existed for 150+ years because they provide a symbiotic and highly valued relationship between the group and the individual.
I think I can speak for most people here on GC when I say we joined because we wanted to be part of something larger than ourselves, and in that process of joining and contributing over time we gained more than we put in, which is why we continue to be actively involved today.
GLOs don't focus on recruiting freshmen to make more money. Especially on the IFC side, where quotas are not a factor, it would be in a fraternity chapter's best financial interest to take as many new members as they could get -- regardless of freshman/upperclassman/graduate student status, collect the initiation fees, and immediately kick them to the curb. The fact that none do that proves the point. They focus on freshmen because that is the logical path to start the development process, transitioning from high school, that results in the kind of lifelong members we want.
Until you wrap your mind around this concept of giving instead of taking, I sincerely hope you abandon this idea of pursuing GLO membership. Neither you nor the group you would join would be happy with the outcome.

does not matter, all research I have done has practically confirmed that grad students cannot join IFC fraternities

well.

Might have to play around with the idea of getting a 2nd degree.

There is no guarantee that doing this would afford you membership in a fraternity - NONE. And to think that you'd put yourself further in debt (I say this because I *assume* mommy and daddy won't pay for a 2nd degree) for this reason is absurd. There are greater priorities in life than being Greek. Lack of fraternity membership won't define you, but your desperation to join a GLO just might if you keep up this line of thinking.

And the GIF above perfectly expresses my feelings as well.

We have letters. You have delusions.

Maybe you should play around with the idea of making friends.

GDI - if you’re still checking-in I wanted to chime in with my thoughts as a long-time lurker, first-time poster.

First, I absolutely empathize with you. I pledged a fraternity in college, was initiated and spent two years as an active live-in. I then moved into an off-campus apartment with a pledge brother. Due to an intense schedule with other activities I essentially had no more contact with my fraternity after becoming a townee. It's very easy to drift apart if you don't make an effort and, to my regret, I did not. I was also punched into a class society and decided not to accept it and regret that too. So I can, of course, understand your regret in having not pledged a fraternity at all.

THAT SAID, a few things to keep in mind ...

(a) the vast majority (80%+) of American college students are exactly like you and have also never pledged a fraternity, so though you may feel you are missing out on a certain experience, keep in mind you are not missing out on the "typical” American college experience,

(b) in professional life your fraternity affiliation, or lack thereof, will probably never come up despite popular fiction that says people will constantly be trading stories (it's been 10 years since I've graduated and my fraternity affiliation has come up exactly 2 times with clients and co-workers and both times it was because I mentioned it; maybe that's just the field or geography in which I work [advertising / NYC]),

(c) I know this isn't going to sound like logical advice from where you're sitting, however, if you are very active in your school's alumni association, the connection you will come to realize you have with fellow alumni of your school - even if you didn't know them as an undergrad - will be almost as enduring as the fraternal bond (though of a necessarily different type). The essence of the fraternity experience is the connection with a group of people who went through the same thing you did and it’s why fraternity brothers can feel a bond with a frater who is 50 years older. But the same thing is true, to an extent, with alumni of the same university.

(d) As others have said, you should investigate Freemasonry (this is, IMO, *inferior* to the bond created by a fraternity experience, but it is not worthless – you should focus your efforts , if you decide to go this route, on a Traditional Observance Lodge),

(e) You will absolutely create greater friendships and better life connections serving in the U.S. military, which is essentially its own fraternity, than you would in any fraternity. (Plus you will get even more and cooler stuff to hang on your walls than a pledge paddle and composite photo.) Consider joining the National Guard. If you don't want to spend 4 months in basic training, the Coast Guard Reserve has an accelerated training option for those with college degrees who aren't interested in becoming officers and you can complete it in (IIRC) 4 weeks plus some supplementary weekends.

Now, to your specific question:

REALISTICALLY, no one is going to pledge you as a graduate student and certainly no ‘top tier’ fraternity at your campus.

HOWEVER, having said that (I'm going to be extremely frank in what follows, and I apologize in advance as I know it will offend a number of people here, but I want to cut to the case) - at my particular university there were probably 2-3 houses in the "bottom tier" of fraternities (in terms of social standing), and I would not be surprised if they would have been willing to pledge a young graduate student (assuming their policies allowed it). If you are absolutely intent on doing this you should try to find a few houses on your campus that have low membership numbers and a low social standing (look for colonies perhaps) and make a soft email inquiry to their rush chairs explaining the situation. A non-residential fraternity could also be a clue - at my campus where all fraternities had been residential for the last century, an unhoused fraternity was essentially socially "untouchable" within the Greek system and would be anxious to take anyone. Again, I know this isn't exactly what you want to hear (and I’m sure I’m going to get flack from this off the regulars here), but I don't want to mislead you with platitudes.
Now, to the other scenario you proposed (a second undergraduate degree) - if you are going to get a second degree you could most probably find a lower tier house (or colony) willing to pledge you. I emphasize it would be lower tier.

Having said all this, if I were in your position I would not pursue pledging a fraternity. I would,
(a) become very active in your alumni association, (b) petition your local Masonic lodge for admission [I strongly recommend you look for a Traditionally Observant Lodge], (c) join a military reserve component. If you do those three things you will find yourself with more fraternalism than you could ever have achieved through a GLO.

You seem like a fine young man, so I wish you the very best of luck. Please feel free to PM me if you would like to discuss this more or have additional questions.

Dude, weren't you just banned? (No one else uses the word "townee")

Really, dude?

I guess that means I'm Jay Campbell from Sigma Nu. Or Trevor Johnson, also from Sigma Nu. Or Jake Pinnochio from Sigma Nu. Etc., etc. I also post under username docetboy, a SAE, here at GC sometimes, as well as Terminus1909, a ?. One time I wrote the Delta Upsilon bylaws. I also wrote the SigEp bylaws. (And all that's just from page 1 of Google!)

So, yes - I am a Sigma Nu who was initiated into two different chapters (one of them, twice), but I pretend to be a SAE online, and, in my spare time, I secretly control DU and SigEp. Caught me!

P.S. I'm also the second gunman from the grassy knoll and I helped NASA fake the moon landing.

:rolleyes: PTITY?

I have to say that this is the first time I've ever heard/ seen anyone suggest joining the military because they didn't go Greek in college. You don't know the OP's physical or mental abilities so, you really shouldn't suggest that. That was just plain weird.

dial it back a little

thanks

Dial it back a little? No, I won't. As someone who served in the military, I find it offensive that you just offer that up like anyone and everyone can serve if they didn't get the chance to go Greek in college. You need to "dial it back a little" yourself. You don't know if this person has the physical capability or what skills he may possess to make him suitable for military service. You also had the audacity to refer to the Free Masons as being inferior. I'm sure their many members who have belonged to the Masons, an organization that has been around for many years (longer than any GLO), would disagree with you. Also, as someone who is incredibly involved in various alumni associations, I'm here to tell you that it is nothing like Greek membership. While my alumni association membership has been a blessing, it does not mirror my Greek membership. If anyone needs to dial it back, it's you with your horrible advice.