[kddani]

As a northerner, I would really say it doesn't matter. If you were in a very traditional southern school i'd say it would be better if you grew up in it, because it's a bit of a different world at times. The rush process is a lot more pressure, needing to get recs, etc- it would help you be better prepared.

The only person in my family who's greek is a cousin who's a Phi Sigma Sigma. Heck, I didn't even know what sorority she was in until a few months ago. I rushed my sophomore year after learning what greek life was like on my campus. In general i'm the type of person who really likes to think for myself, so I was happy that it was a decision that I made on my own without any family pressures.

I guess it could be helpful to learn a bit more about greeks in general, but greek life varies so much from school to school and has changed over the years that family might not even help much.

Best thing you can do is try to educate yourself about the groups on campus and greek life in general. Greekchat is an awesome site to do that on! This place can probably tell you anything you'd ever need to know about being greek, on any campus, in any group.

Good luck!