[edtf]

In response to the thread about going to frat parties when you're 30+ years old, it gave me an idea about rushing a frat. I'm 21 and in medical school, so I'm a year or two older than most people in the frat.

There are some issues with grad/professional students joining undergrad frats though, because its so rare it seems to be a case-by-case basis.

Another issue is the time commitment. Medical school is super time-consuming, and so is the pledge process. If anyone could shed some light about pledging and how many hours I would have to set aside that would be great.

Money and dues isn't that big an issue because I'm on scholarship and have a pretty generous living stipend.

Any thoughts on ROI for gaming, especially if I were to join the top-tier frats?

[Brosemite]

I know for athletes at least...greek life organizations will normally revolve the pledging process around their schedule so long as their commitments, etc are met.

Depends on what school you are in...and it depends on how much perceived value you can bring to the organization. 20-21 and in med school though? That's an anomaly type situation. Your studies are also most important.

A serious judgement call..would only get involved if an organization(s) you like are willing to bend the rules (they should if legit) for a special case medical student such as yourself.

[polymath]

My thoughts:

I wouldn't do it. Focus on your life's work. Don't be so thirsty for women that you're willing to jeopardize the career that you are creating for yourself.

Also, fraternities are looking for freshmen and sophomores. I would never have wanted a med/grad student to join mine.

[Fighting888]

I agree. School first. Don't jeopardize what you're doing. There will be no time whatsoever for a med school student to pledge and party.

Also, from what I've seen, joining a frat is only worth it if you join a really popular house. Join an average house and you get average women. Join a below average frat and you spend your weekend nights playing Xbox with a bunch of dudes. Unfortunately for you, frats are pretty strict about only taking undergrads, so only the desperate less popular frats would take you. Which definitely would suck.

Sorry man, but that's realistic advice.

[dads]

delete

[Onto]

The age difference matters not. I pledged an undergrad fraternity when I was 21 and rushed in the Fall. My grades might have suffered a little bit, but I was a little irresponsible to begin with back then and quite frankly a heavy partier also. Actually my grades suffered more as a brother, but I did eventually get my act together and there were people who pledged and did very well academically (Deans List and all the rest), so it all depends on you.

Most fraternities are very dedicated to their pledges doing well academically. As far as time commitment goes, it depends on the fraternity. You can expect there will be a 1-2 nights during the week you may have to devote some late night hours (11pm-1am) to pledging. Weekends you will be busy pledging (setting up/cleaning up for house parties/mixers along with other tasks). Occasionally there may be a mixer during the week. It really depends on the Fraternity.

Don't pledge for access to women. Sure that will certainly happen, but the biggest benefit is the close bond of brotherhood you will form, and that lasts a lifetime.

Well worth it in my opinion for a slightly lower semester GPA, and that's only if you aren't a good academic already and it sounds like you are.

Pick a fraternity where you like the guys, but be mindful of when they are graduating. The ones you will be hanging out with the most are not the ones who will be graduating next year. They will be the younger ones and most importantly the other guys rushing. They will become some of your closest friends whether you like it or not.

Ask brothers about the pledge program. Truthfully, you want a hard program where there is a good amount of hazing because people bond closely through common suffering. You will be bound to your pledge brothers through it, and to those before you who went through it and those who come after you. Especially the ones you haze personally. It's a special kind of bond, that's hard to describe.

If you end up becoming a brother you will learn there are guys who are pro-hazing and those who are anti-hazing and there will always be a kind of tug-of-war within the fraternity over it. I am pro-hazing.

Personally, I may not join a Fraternity where excessive alcohol drinking is part of the "hazing", or where they hit their pledges. I don't see anything masculine about striking a defenseless person who can't hit back, or forcing someone to drown their awareness and risk their health.

We never did that and believe me there are soooo many better ways to motivate pledges.

Fraternities should be quick to tell you if they don't force drinking and they don't hit. Those are selling points, or at least they should be. Those that don't, you can probably assume they do.

Finally, when your rushing, never refer to a fraternity as a frat. You don't call your country a cunt, right? That's the first thing you'll be taught, and the brothers will notice when you say that word.

Good luck with it, and if you pledge, embrace it and have fun with it. It's something you will never be able to do again.

[Seth_Rose]

The guys above hit the nail on he head already, but Ill add my $.02

Based on my experience and your case I would not join a fraternity. The reason is that you get out of a fraternity what you put into it. If you don't have the time to show up to the house several days a week, let alone pledgng it won't be worth it. There's a ton of BS events greeks are forced to go to by the University. Couple that with weekly meetings, rush events, philatnthrophy events a lot of your time will be infringed upon, and that doesn't even take into account the social life.

It would be ideal to just have a cool group of guys to hang out with and a place to a party every weekend, but being in a fraternity is about more than that and it wouldn't be feasible to do that imo. While most frats wouldn't be opposed to you being a grad student, they may doubt your commitment to the organization.

It's unfortunate because greek life is awesome and I think you'd really enjoy it, but med school ain't easy. I would save your money and take a trip abroad every year or something fun like that.

Find a cool group of guys and girls and take charge of your social circle and you will still have a good social life. Also, if you make friends with guys in a frat, a lot of them time if they're not d-bags they will invite you to their parties.

Ultimately the choice is yours though.

[HawkWrites]

I rushed an engineering fraternity when I was 20 (hard to believe that was five years ago). I've found that intelligent women are particularly easy once you game them accordingly. If I were you, though, I'd go for a social fraternity as opposed to an academic one since that opens you up more to the social sororities. It's all about game at that point.

[quino_16]

Before I begin telling about my experience of rushing and pledging a frat as an upperclassman, I am going to tell about your chances of getting a bid from a frat.

(08-10-2014 02:46 AM)edtf Wrote:  

There are some issues with grad/professional students joining undergrad frats though, because its so rare it seems to be a case-by-case basis.

I agree with your statement that it is a case-by-case basis when you're rushing as an upperclassman.

Are you already good friends with any of the brothers? Are you transfer student? Is the frat just starting out?

These are situations that increase the likelihood of getting a bid from frat as an upperclassman rushee. Nonetheless, your odds are still stack against you since frats are primarily trying to recruit freshman.

Furthermore, since you are a grad student/med student, I find it really hard that you will get a bid.

Since you asked how the process is, here is my experience of rushing and pledging:

I rushed as 22 year old. There were a couple of reasons why I was rushed so late. The first reason was that I was going to stay an extra year and the majority of my friends were going to graduate. As a result, my social circle for the next year was going to be very small and insignificant in regards to meeting new girls. Thus, I wanted to quickly build a new social circle for the next year that would enable me to meet a lot of girls. Secondly, I was tired of the bar and club scene since the ROI for getting girls was low. So, I wanted to try something new and decided to join the frat scene believing that the ROI for getting girls was going to be significantly higher.

I just finished pledging for my frat last spring. Overall, I didn't like the pledge process and I don't see myself being in the frat for very long. I see it as a mistake and I'm probably going to quit in the fall.

Here is some advice for you or for anyone else that is considering joining a frat:
1. Know who you are and be honest with yourself. In other words, ask yourself if you would truly fit the frat social life. I thought I did, but, in reality, I didn't fit in, unless I was drunk. Not everyone is meant to be in a frat.

2. Don't think with your dick. Do not only think about the pussy. For example, I was so fixated on joining a frat in order to get girls that I never really considered the possibility of not liking the frat. I always thought that having the access of getting cute girls would outweigh any of the negatives of being frat. In my case, it was not true.

3. Unless you are a transfer student or you already have friends within the frat, I do not recommend rushing as upperclass man. Join a club at school. Hit up the bars and clubs, or daygame instead.

[MdWanderer]

I joined a fraternity and it helped me in ways I didn't expect. I almost quit from being picked on so much but once I started getting a backbone I got more praise and respect. It took me from a omega bitch boy to a man. I didn't become alpha right away but it gave me direction I sorely needed. It helped me improve with girls and I'm just starting to see the dividends now (I'm praised by many at work as a good wingman). I have eternal ties to my school thanks to the fraternity.

I would rush but at the same time let them know your med school schedule is busy (school comes first) and they may work with you around that. Joining at 22 isn't all that bad, fraternity is with you for life, it's not just for undergrads.