Semesterly Exchange at another College

[ComradesTrue]

One thing to be aware of:

For some chapters in the south (and perhaps many at larger state flagship schools/schools with long Greek traditions) the members only consider their fraternity brothers to be members of their own chapters, and not every member of the entire international organization.

I say that not to discourage you, but just to plant the seed that it may be that you are not welcomed with open arms. It wouldn't be a slight on you personally, but more just how those members view fraternity membership.

By all means contact the president of the chapter where you will be exchanging. That couldn't hurt at all, and best case scenario you will find another chapter of fraternity brothers and a place to live.

Best of luck.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

One thing to be aware of:

For some chapters in the south (and perhaps many at larger state flagship schools/schools with long Greek traditions) the members only consider their fraternity brothers to be members of their own chapters, and not every member of the entire international organization.

I say that not to discourage you, but just to plant the seed that it may be that you are not welcomed with open arms. It wouldn't be a slight on you personally, but more just how those members view fraternity membership.

By all means contact the president of the chapter where you will be exchanging. That couldn't hurt at all, and best case scenario you will find another chapter of fraternity brothers and a place to live.

Best of luck.

I have to agree with the first bit.
Sometimes people will be nice and polite to brothers from other chapters,
but let's get real. Fraternities hold different reputations on different campuses, and attract different type of people. Some times a chapter at a different school may well resemble one of the fraternities at your own school that you may dislike or make fun of.

My advice, get in contact with the president as soon as you can. Tell him you will be attending their school for a semester and leave it at that. maybe they'll bring it up at meeting, or they might invite you to stay with them.

Also keep in mind, that you may not end up liking them, and that could be awkward and could end up ruining your experience.

Best bet is to live in the dorms (which will most likely be close to the house anyways) and if they invite you to come out to events, then do so.

Just some other things. Remember, these guys don't know you, and their chapter may do things differently (maybe stuff they don't want you to see), and unfortunately in this day and age chapters may not want other chapters to know of their operations, especially if they think there is a chance a brother from another chapter may blow the whistle on something that for example may be borderline hazing.

I personally would love to be a part of another chapter's operations even if it was for a semester, but it's best to take things slowly I think, and let them invite you into their fold once they get to know what type of person you are.

[33girl]

Also, put aside the "will they like you" and there are more practical issues. If you're only there for a semester, housing contracts at the house may be for a year and someone only doing half of one would screw things up. Not to mention, there may be structures in place at the chapter for who gets what room due to seniority, offices etc.

If you hit it off and want to hang out with them great, but unless they come to you in some sort of bind ("dude, my big bro just eloped with Jessica Simpson and moved to Mexico and we have an empty room we need to fill") I would totally skip trying to live in the house.