What Colleges are really invovled in greek life?
 

hey everyone. i'm going to start applying for college's in the fall next year, (i'm only a junior) and i was wondering what schools have the biggest greek life. I know that princeton review has a list of best greeks and stuff, but they don't really seem that accurate.

I was thinking of going to Quinnipiac, but i heard their Greek life wasn't all that great. i want to go to a college where greek life isn't shunned upon, and i heard that Quinnipiac isn't really involved with Greek Life, just sports. And my parents are only allowing me a five hour radius from my house, (stupid, i know) and i live in NY.

So, is there any suggestions that you have for me?

Also, is it beneficial to live in a sorority house?

sorry there's so many questions! i apprieciate any feedback i get! :)

Depending on where you are in NY, five hours driving time gives you a lot of choice -- probably most of New England, including Boston, and as far south as Maryland or northern Virginia.

Before you start thinking about Greek life, you'll want to narrow your list by looking at other factors. First, think about the size of the school that you want to attend, and whether you want to be in an urban, suburban or rural setting. Consider the costs of private vs. public schools. Finding a good fit in terms of your grades and overall achievement level is very important (your school counselor can be very helpful in making this determination.) You will also want to find a school that has your proposed major.

After you have considered all that, then you'll want to look at the overall atmosphere, including social life and greek life of the remaining schools on your list. You should ideally have a list of at least five schools that you can visit (either with a parent, or on your own,) by this summer or next fall at the latest. Once you are at this stage, people here can advise you about the greek life at those particular schools.

Good luck to you.

thanks so much for your advice! i will definitely take that into consideration. :)

blue skies gave great advice.

summer visits to as many of the campi from the list that you are going to be working on can shed a lot of light on the general atmosphere of the college as well as greek life, in particular. if you contact the the admissions office of each school, you can make an appointment for a tour, and possibly meet with an admissions counselor. on the tour you will get to meet prospective fellow students-you can discreetly exchange information with them about what you all know about the college. after the tour, go to the college food court or the cafeteria and speak to students to get the low down on how they feel about their school-as opposed to the party-line you will hear on the tour. you can ask about greek life, too.

You won't find many within 5 hours of New York.

Come down to the bright sunny south.

Are you only looking at private colleges like Quinnipiac, or are you also considering NYS Public colleges as well? If so I could tell you a little about Greek Life in the SUNY system.

that would be awesome if you could. i'm looking at private and public colleges. :)

URI has good greek life, I heard UNH (New Hampshire) has okay greek life

oh, thanks! that's good to know. :)

I can't answer your question about colleges, but I CAN tell you that living in my sorority house has been one of the best experiences of my life. I recommend it to everybody!

i would really like to do that! it seems like a lot of fun! do you have to be an upperclassman to live there? what are the regulations for living in the house?

This is different on every campus.

And I don't recommend it to everybody - some people are just not meant to live in a communal living setting. If this is you, make sure that the sorority you join doesn't have a rule that everyone must live in at some point.

oh, okay. i'll make sure that i know all of the rules first before i join. :)

If you're looking for big in terms of numbers of NPC chapters (I have included ones that have 8 or more)...

Penn State- 20
Maryland- 14
Syracuse- 12
Cornell- 11
IUP- 11
Pitt- 11
GWU- 10
Villanova- 9
Delaware-9
URI- 9
Towson- 8 (and open for extension)
Boston U- 8
Lehigh- 8
UPenn- 8

Another school that doesn't have as many NPCs, but a very strong Greek presence is Bucknell. They have 6 NPCs, plus ADPi to colonize shortly. About half (or maybe more) of the students are Greek, but they have to wait until fall of their sophomore year to join.

It should be noted that a large number of chapters doesn't necessarily mean that a large number of students are Greek or that the chapters are large or that the administration or non-Greeks are supportive of the community. However, a large number of chapters is generally indicative of diversity and provides PNMs with more places to find a home.

I can answer any questions you have about Maryland (and there are several other Terps on GC too). Maryland is a little over 10% Greek, and chapters are about 110-120ish after spring recruitment. The sororities all have houses, with 3 of them recently renovated and 2 more about to undergo renovations. Chapters at Maryland are often among the best (award-winning, high achieving) in their National Organizations, because the Office of Fraterntiy and Sorority Life (OFSL) expects a lot from its chapters. In other words, OFSL requires things that many of our National Organizations challenge us to do in areas of programming, leadership, scholarship, recruitment, philanthropy, etc. I never felt like Maryland was particularly anti-Greek; I think the general student body is fairly neutral. There was always a small, but vocal minority that is anti-Greek, but I imagine that happens at even SEC schools.

GWU's Greek community is particularly fast-growing. They have added Alpha Phi, Pi Beta Phi, and Chi Omega within the last 7 years.

Penn State's Greeks are very spirited (as is the whole school). THON is a huge deal, and Greeks are very involved in the fundraising. "As just over 10 percent of the student population, Greeks raised roughly 40 percent of the total money donated to THON." source

wow, that was a lot of help! thanks so much! i really do appreciate it. it's so funny that you should mention Maryland, i was looking at their school last night on the internet. the only time my family and i can go there is in the summer, so we'll probably visit there! is there any chance that someone can show me around the greek row? or tour guides don't do that?