UK international student interested in greek life?

[navane]

Originally Posted by silverraindrops

My original question is definitely massively vague, so thanks to everyone that's managed to help with my really unhelpful question haha. I'm still a couple of years off applying to uni and then I would apply for study abroad later, but the current colleges I was thinking about include; Boston College, University of California Berkeley, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia and University of Richmond.

Hi silverraindrops,

As others have mentioned, being an international student won't necessarily count against you. If nothing else, you should go through recruitment ("rush") to experience this uniquely American tradition!

A few tips:

-- Boston College is a Jesuit university and I believe it does not acknowledge/allow fraternities and sororities.

-- Many sororities are national or international in scope. Meaning, they have chapters at universities all across the U.S., Canada and some additional international locations. There are different inter/national councils for sororities. These are umbrella organizations which are a conglomerate, or a cooperative effort, of the various inter/national sororities. There is the National Panhellenic Council (NPC), the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), and the National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC). Some sororities are local or regional only and are concentrated in a small area. With that in mind, when you are researching your options, it would help to search for key words like "panhellenic", "NPHC", or "multicultural Greek" in conjunction with the name of the university. So, a search for "UCLA panhellenic" would take you to the go-to website at that university.

-- Keep in mind that some universities hold recruitment in the fall (most common) and some in the spring. If you are only in the U.S. for one year, it wouldn't make sense to go through a spring recruitment and only be a member for a few weeks before going home. Unless, of course, you just wanted to participate in recruitment for the experience. University of Pennsylvania, University of Richmond and University of Virginia have spring recruitments. You "could" join anytime of the year; but the "main" time to join is during fall or spring formal recruitment.

I hope this helps!

[naraht]

Originally Posted by navane

Hi silverraindrops,

As others have mentioned, being an international student won't necessarily count against you. If nothing else, you should go through recruitment ("rush") to experience this uniquely American tradition!

A few tips:

-- Boston College is a Jesuit university and I believe it does not acknowledge/allow fraternities and sororities.

As a note, some Jesuit Universities do have a significant Greek system (including National Social Fraternities and Sororities) including Marquette University and Creighton University.