I've searched and searched, still looking for some help...
 

I am currently in the process of getting some information on which fraternity I would like to rush/pledge this upcoming semester (I will be a 2nd semester Freshman)..

I was wondering if anybody had any input on any GLO from Rutgers New Brunswick?

Right now I am looking into Theta Chi, Sigma Chi, and Theta Delta Chi... so if anybody has any feedback from any of them or any other fraternity, positive or negative, the help would be greatly appreciated.


BTW

Looking through some of these threads makes me realize how crappy some of the houses are Rutgers! Some of the houses (mainly in SEC schools) are MASSIVE!

Why are they crappy? Why would you compare Rutgers groups to SEC groups?

Haha I didn't mean I went around comparing, its just that I have looked through some pictures on the forum of some outrageous Greek Houses, and just compared to them Rutgers only has a few houses that would even be in that category (the physical houses themselves, not the brothers of the fraternities).

Yeah, that's understandable. Does anybody have any input about the fraternities here at Rutgers though? When I went to most rushes this fall they seemed to all be pretty cool guys, but I am not totally sure yet and would really appreciate any advice!

I know of just one person who posts here who went to Rutgers.

The rest of us are less qualified to comment than you are. Aside from that, who the hell cares what strangers on the Internet think? What's important is what you think.

yeah, I get that too. I just figured if anybody had visited or had gone to any of the chapter events who might be able to comment and give me an opinion from a more educated (older member, compared to a similar chapter at a different university, etc) person.

Again, what the hell do we know? We are not you. The chapter that is the best on paper might not be the chapter you'd do best in. If you even did get advice here, it probably wouldn't actually be useful.

Yes, every chapter is different, just like every person is different. Also we do not discuss reputations on this site. Third I have been to Rutgers many times and every time I was really jealous of the houses, because they were far nicer then anything the chapters at my school had.

Snaps to that. Stop worrying about it and go into rush with an open mind

alright, i will do that then.

I do have one more question, if you guys can answer it on a general basis (if possible)

I plan on going to grad school, and i was wondering if a chapter of the fraternity i pledge/become a brother of would be welcoming to me as a grad student from another chapter? I understand that this varies from chapter to chapter I am sure, but it would be nice to have the fraternity life to lean on in grad school, but i most definitely wouldnt go through pledging again at the graduate level (not that i think i would even get a bid being that old).


thanks for the replies.

It varies from chapter to chapter.

No one is going to make you pledge again if you're already an initiated brother. (If they do, that's your cue to head for the exit.)

Grad school is going to be a super busy time and you most likely won't have a lot of time for fraternity events if you want to do well. Don't choose a fraternity based on whether they're at your grad school to be.

By the time you get to grad school, you are not going to give a sh*t about your fraternity. You may be able to work with them in an alum adviser capacity or something, but you're not going to be 22 years old and jumping to go to a mixer with freshman girls.

haha man that is true.. i never really though of it like that

I wouldn't go that far.

w o w .........

I'm hoping you're trying to say that he won't want to be an undergraduate member at that point...otherwise I can't figure out your deal.

It always boggles my mind that people ask so much about being an active member while in grad school I'm on the verge of graduation/grad school and I am SO ready to begin involvement as an alumnus and not as an undergraduate (and my fraternity is one that allows graduate students to be active members).

DeltaBetaBaby's point was poorly expressed and I'm glad that people across councils and conferences disagree with that part of the post. :)

If DeltaBetaBaby indeed meant that he won't want to attend mixers with 22 year olds (which isn't a given because across councils and conferences there are alum who attend certain events with younger members) but would instead want an alum capacity, that may be the case. But, it is completely up to the fraternity, the chapter, and the individuals to figure that much out. The opinion of randoms on Greekchat and elsewhere doesn't matter.

Well, people did a really nice job of quoting only the first part of what I posted, and we are talking about IFC, here. If you are an alum, and you are going to the sorority mixers, you are officially "that guy", at least as the women view it.

Besides, he is asking this question w/r/t choosing a chapter. Does anyone really think that the chapter at the school where he might do grad school four years down the line should influence his decision of where to pledge his freshman year?

We just responded to what you actually said. "You don't want to be 'that guy'" or "you don't choose a fraternity based on what the chapter at your hypothetical future grad school might be like" is a far, far cry from "By the time you get to grad school, you are not going to give a sh*t about your fraternity."

The first part of the post was extreme and based on how only some IFCers feel. Not wanting to go to sorority mixers like the undergraduates do is not prefaced with not giving a shit about your fraternity once you graduate/are in graduate school.

Not only that...at a lot of schools, the upperclassmen actually stay active and go to mixers...so a grad student there would only be a year or two older. Mixers are for socializing and seeing people, not just for hooking up.

I agree. I was going to say that but didn't know if that would be interpreted as "NPHC stuff." :p We discussed that in another thread.

http://9001chan.org/b/616/bfo-rlmente.jpg

Ok, I just wanted to use that pic. I admit it.

Really? I'm a little shocked by this. By senior year attendance for seniors at mixers was hit or miss (both on the fraternity and sorority). It was mostly the the freshmen/sophomores who went.

That's lame. Period. No wonder we have an issue with lifetime membership, if people aren't even doing the most fun parts of being in a GLO while they're still in school.

Also, I'm curious if most orgs even allow alums at events like mixers. It is a no-no for Phi Mu to have alums and collegians at an event with alcohol, so I have to think others have similar restrictions.

I know, right?

I think it really depends on the school... and maybe the size of the chapters?

I know that at my school, there were a lot of alumni who came to hang out at the fraternity houses for mixers... and sometimes general parties. And it wasn't always the younger alumni, either. It was never weird or awkward, and I never felt like they shouldn't be there. I actually loved talking to the older alumni when they came around, and the brothers always welcomed them, so who was I to say anything, anyway?

It's not like they were there every week, but if they're in town, I say why not stop by? And if they're recent alumni, that doesn't seem "weird" or "creepy" to me that they'd be there to hang out and have a good time.

But maybe that's just me...

Mixers are not necessarily the most fun part of being in a GLO in the first place...

I know, they have to go a loooong way to be as fun as membership selection meetings and rush practice, right?

And I said "most fun partS." There are of course, other fun things too - but as I said, a mixer isn't just a time to hook up. It's also to have fun hanging out with your sisters and other Greeks. It's just sort of sad that people get into a fraternity or a sorority partly for the purpose of widening their social horizons, and then refuse to partake of the social events.

Find me a social event that doesn't involve loud music, dancing and alcohol. I broadened my social horizons fine without them.

I just object to the idea that if you're not going to the mixers you're ignoring the fun part(s) and the rest is a wash. My chapter had a similar dropoff as engineers, teachers, nurses and pre-med students all started doing much harder work/clinicals/student teaching/etc. Once 40 hours of your week minimum is gone to school stuff, Wednesday night doesn't sound like such a fun time to go out and party. Semi-/formals were all on weekends so those were nearly universally attended.

How very swell for you. If you didn't mind wasting your money, whatever turns you on.

(I'm also trying to recall our mixers that had loud music or dancing - that was the bar, not the mixer.)

Hmm. On my campus mixers (or what we called desserts) always had loud music and dancing. No one danced at the bars.

It's interesting to find out how different campus cultures vary.

Mixers were fun, but when you're 21/22 and in a big city, they're not as fun as they once were when you're underage. Though if you had quite a few friends in a certain sorority/fraternity, you never missed those mixers ever.

Attendance got more hit-or-miss at mixers as upperclassmen, but it had more to do with work than not wanting to go. The main thing I noticed was that as we got older, our cotumes got more elaborate and less slutty.

NB: This was in a tiny college town with 1.5 bars (there were two bars but one was AWFUL) so without Greek Life, there wasn't a lot to do.

You have quite the perspective problem if parties are why you think I spent my money on dues. I didn't waste a dime. And way to avoid the part of my comment that was the most relevant.

Our switches/date dashes/crush parties were always at bars - rented out space with wristbands and cash bar- and had a DJ and dancing.

Indeed
It's a combination of these two, some people just wanted to do other things, but most had coursework and clinical/practicum/lab requirements that took up a lot of their time.

I'm more familiar with a swap, mixer, or social having no alcohol, and after the official ending there was alcohol. That was often a result of alcohol policies of sororities, and of some fraternities. Let's say there's a pumpkin carving party, booze free, then people either go to the bar or to an off campus member house so underage people can drink. I think if there was alcohol at an event it was in a house that wasn't dry, or was held off campus with a 3rd party vendor, and was labeled a dance.

We have a decent bar scene so the underage people usually drank in a house or at an out of house, and of age people might be there briefly but peaced out to the bar and show up for late night. I heart late nights in a house because there were always amazing left overs, mmm tater tot casserole or everything for nachos after a night of 32 oz tubs of beer. I can't think of any men's chapter house that didn't have 24 hour kitchen access, ladies, we are mostly denied the kitchen and had to take chances with leftovers and the microwave. Lots of great memories happened after 2 am with board games, karaoke, and pranking.

When I was in law school, the law school library pretty much emptied around 8:30 on Wednesday nights because everyone went to a particular bar in town. Wednesday night there was "Law School Night."

Most productive night of the week, as far as I was concerned.

Ha! I think it was Thursdays that were Penny Pitchers nights at the bar across the street from campus. But even going to the bar with friends (and sisters/brothers) isn't the same as getting dressed up for a switch and then since they were off campus, being stuck there until the buses started going back around midnight.

Campus/city culture varies a lot, but it does seem like seniors being less involved in the partying is fairly common.

*headdesk*

I think that ANYONE who does not participate in ALL the facets of Greek membership is wasting their money. That goes for mixers, meetings, philanthropies, ritual, everything.

And as far as the "relevant" part of your post - I guess that was the part about studying? - sorry, but I also think that's a lame excuse. What happened to Greek life teaching us time management?