Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
Which Texas "society" is that?
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Hi DrPhil- I mean society in general among those who have the money to send their children to UT and pay the bills for their children to be in a "top tier" fraternity.
Miriverite is quite correct that Austin is about as close as you get here to full integration- all the way down to high end neighborhoods having a more diverse mix of residents than one might experience elsewhere. Houston and Dallas are nowhere near that phase of enlightenment.
However, compared to the rest of the South, Texas is fairly open. It may make Texas more progressive, but I would be hard pressed to argue we have achieved an ideal state of existence.
I attribute it to a strong respect for entrepreneurship. If you make a success of yourself financially here- then assuming you are not a wholly disagreeable person, you will find your background far less of an obstacle to overcome when tackling those things in life that confer "respectability"- and this includes your children going Greek at UT.
There is a lot of money in Texas. In fact, it was not until I started my career with 2 years of travel around the US in public accounting that I fully realized just how much wealth there is here compared to other states. Even in small towns you will find families possessing staggering amounts of money with staggering frequency.
The real money here in Texas comes from oil- and the oil families here did not migrate with fortunes. They were poor farmers and wildcatters who worked hard and got lucky. Even today with all the natural gas finds in Teague- there are farmers once below the poverty line who are suddenly millionaires.
I think this is why here race takes second place to financial success when it comes to how people are judged- although it still only confers status on a very select few.
To the OP- what I have said above should paint the picture for you.
Here is the deal with Texas. It is an enormous school. There are a LOT of GLOs or groups with the same characteristics of traditional Greek groups. The latter outnumber the former.
If you are an eager and well-presented individual, you will find a group there that you can be proud to be a part of and that will give you an opportunity to contribute and be better prepared for the real world in the process.
However, if you set your sights on "top tier" chapters only- you might be setting your goal a bit wrong. I am especially concerned because- as I and others have noted- you have not exactly posted a roster of "top tier" chapters in your inquiries.
Let me pose a question to you- and to be fair this question could be posed to a lot of people, not just you. I am not singling you out since the questions you are asking are things many potential rushees think about but don't ever vocalize.
What do you want out of your fraternity membership?
Seriously. What do you want it to do for you? From your posts so far, you give the impression- rightly or wrongly- that you want to join a top tier chapter in the hopes it will confer a certain status on you.
This is not how it works. The demand is such that going into 10th grade, most future successful rushees for the most in-demand fraternities already have a very clear idea of the social pecking order at UT. And by the time of graduation, most have already made several visits and either know where they will end up, or at least are assured they will have a bid at one of those houses.
At other schools this is not necessarily the case, but here it is. And demand is such that the "top tier" chapters can be very selective and expect of their membership quite a financial obligation.
Let me give you an idea how that works because Texas is the MOST expensive school in the country to go Greek.
Dues- plan on anywhere from $4,000-6,000 per year just for the basic dues if you live in the house. OU weekend- plan on dropping $1,000 for doing your part to get there, have fun, and pay your date's way too. Plan on buying a very good tuxedo for all the formals, and having it cleaned or replaced frequently. Be prepared as well for all sorts of other miscellaneous expenses incidental to that life.
Good finger in the wind test- if you want to be in a "top tier" chapter at UT, plan on having $10,000 a year to spend on every single thing that you will
need that you would not need otherwise. If you want to do all the side trips and such- double that figure. And plan on that coming from your parents. There are rare cases where guys work to put themselves through school and try to go Greek too- but it seldom works out. Fair? Maybe not. But it is reality.
The "lesser" chapters that have large houses and good parties are not that much cheaper. You are still looking at $5K+ to achieve the above.
My suggestion to you is to consider what you want from Greek Life at UT, and then also the cost. This will at least tell you what you could possibly manage and want to do.
Noone is going to discuss specific chapter reputations on this site. That you need to find out on your own- in no small part because your perception of reputation will determine that answer for you.
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