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I hope you won't mind if I add a comment from a guy's point of view, but, as I read through this thread I couldn't help noticing a recurring theme which ran along the line of "do you want to be in Greek Life or not?" While I think some very good advice has been offered I was wondering if Greek Life for the sake of Greek Life is a good argument. When I went through the system several years back I checked out all of the fraternities, did my research by talking with lots of people about each group, visited each house and made a point of meeting as many actives as I could. Right from the start I knew where I wanted to be and I knew that if I did not make it I would try for open bidding. However, I realized that if there was no way I would get a bid from my first choice there were a couple of houses that I might fit with pretty well. On the other hand, there were several houses that I did not feel comfortable with at all, and a couple that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot barge pole. If I got a bid from one of these I would politely decline. By the end of senior year, and in the years since, I found that my instincts were right on the money and I would have been far better off avoiding certain houses as there was no way I could committ to lifelong brotherhood with these guys. Since to me Greek Life is all about brotherhood and living up to the ideals, aims, and purposes of your org joining a house you don't feel you can really identify with only for the sake of being in Greek Life makes no sense to me.
I was lucky, I got the bid I wanted and it has been great ever since, but as I look back I truly believe that it is better to decline bids from houses that do not balance the equasion for you. Somehow the thought of going XYZ just to be in a fraternity strikes me as a really bad choice. Better to be GDI and get involved in all sorts of other activities. A lifetime committment should be a happy and satisfactory committment.
Anyway, those are my thoughts from a guy,s point of view. Thanks for the opportunity to add an opinion.
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