Pac-10 Greek Life

[hsutton11]

Aside from ASU what is the greek life like in the Pac-10 and schools in that general area?

[Psi U MC Vito]

If you are looking for reputations of individual chapters, you aren't getting that here.

[hsutton11]

I'm not asking for that, I know the Pac-10 schools aren't like the SEC and I want to know how different they are?

[ellebud]

It very much depends of the school. USC is very much like the SEC. UCLA is more laid back. Beyond that, research.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by hsutton11

I'm not asking for that, I know the Pac-10 schools aren't like the SEC and I want to know how different they are?

Different how? Still not getting what you're asking.

[hsutton11]

USC for example is about a 16,000 student campus, while University of Florida is about 35,000, the difference in geography and size alone has to account for some difference.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by hsutton11

Aside from ASU what is the greek life like in the Pac-10 and schools in that general area?

Originally Posted by hsutton11

I'm not asking for that, I know the Pac-10 schools aren't like the SEC and I want to know how different they are?

Originally Posted by hsutton11

USC for example is about a 16,000 student campus, while University of Florida is about 35,000, the difference in geography and size alone has to account for some difference.

Exactly what are you getting at here?

ETA: Arizona is hot, and California is not, not really.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Honestly it really depends on the schools. You can take 2 schools with almost identical demographics and have a very very different Greek system.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Schools in the Pac-10:

Stanford - private
Cal - public, oldest greek system on the west coast
Washington - public, biggest greek system on the west coast
WSU - public
UCLA - public
USC - private
Oregon - public
OSU - public
Arizona - public
ASU - public

Two of the schools in the Pac-10 are private, including USC, which you mention as having a smaller enrollment than Florida...but I don't see what that has to do with anything. The public schools of the Pac-10 are similar in size to the schools of the SEC. Many of the schools in the Pac-10 have a reputation for academic excellence and are on USNWR's list of top 50 national universities - they have extremely competitive admissions requirements and attract students from all over the world. In general most of these schools also have very diverse student bodies. I'll leave it to you to decide what the goals and aspirations might be of all the students who attend these universities, but as you can imagine, it varies greatly from school to school.

[excelblue]

I'm from Cal, and personally, I feel that the main difference is that while Greek life is strong on the west coast, the attitudes towards it are very different from SEC.

One of the main differences is that in PAC-10 schools, Greek life simply has a strong presence without being "the thing to be." You can be cool, you can be Greek, you can be either or both. It simply doesn't matter. Meanwhile, at SEC schools, Greek and "cool" tend to go hand-in-hand.

This leads to the next thing, and that is: because of how Greek life is sort of its own thing at PAC-10 schools, public perception is really negative. This is because if you're not Greek or know someone who's Greek, your only views of the system come from news headlines and movies. You know how that goes . Greeks on the west coast are rare enough that most people don't know anyone Greek.

[kaeb]

I'm biased, being a part of it, but it seems like Greek life is a pretty big deal here at USC. It's definitely not the end-all be-all, but there are a fair amount of Greeks on campus and we wear our letters pretty often. USC is such a big school though that I think plenty of people are able to find their niches, in or out of the Greek system. I know many non-Greeks who are happy that way and won't even consider going Greek.

[sdtennisgal]

Hsutton11: Not sure if this is a general question, or if you are contemplating transferring (more on that later).
I can give a little insight. I attended UC Berkeley as a grad student (I went to a large Big-10 school undergrad, as a sophomore transfer from a small private univeristy).
The Greek system at CAL is big, but not in proportion to the student body size, but most Greeks do not "make a show" of being Greek (as I heard, "they keep to themselves"). Because of the political nature of the Berkeley community area (not necessarily the student body) there is negative light on anything with an appearance of "elitism." The undergraduate academics are also extremely unforgiving, which probably causes some students to avoid distractions. Given the proximity to San Francisco, Oakland, etc., there are also plenty of other social outlets.
My much younger half-brother went to University of Washington, where he was in a fraternity. There, the Greek system is extremely strong, but is not the center of social life as happens at large Big-10 (and from what I hear) SEC schools.
From friends who went to USC, I understand the Greek system is extremely dominate on campus, possibily due to the way the campus is somewhat isolated from the community (i.e., not many students live immediately off-campus) which has a very high crime rate. The Greek system is extremely high-profile on the campus.
Friends who went to UCLA indicate it is much more laid back, and a smaller percentage of students are Greek that an SC.
University of Oregon: I heard it is somewhat like UC Berkeley, but less community hostility.
Oregon State: From friends/co-workers who went there, I know the Greek system is EXTREMELY strong and high profile. This is probably due to the fact that there are not many other social outlets in Corvallis.
I know a number of Stanford grads, but I only know one who was in a sorority. She indicated the school was hostile to the Greek system, particularly the fraternities. She also had girls on her dorm floor openly criticize her for joining a sorority.

Hope that helps. Also, if you are thinking about transferring, understand the transfer process to the UC schools is complicated (and depending on your major) can be brutal.