Which colleges/universities have little or no Greek life?

[Anonymous]

Eating club members can't be drinking that much less than frat boys given the school has a nude snowball fight, right?

I assume the snowball fight still happens or am I dating myself?

[Anonymous]

Ah, the nude Olympics! Not related to the eating clubs. It existed back in my day but I think they ended it when it got out of hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. There are a few fraternities and sororities, but no one cares.

Yup. Harvard, too. And Princeton has eating clubs, no fraternities, does that count? Also MIT and Chicago - periphery frats, no one cares.

Actually, looking st my list, it occurs to me, probably none of the top 10 or so schools have a big fraternity presence.

Where did you read MIT does not fraternity presence? About 40% of the student body is in a fraternity or sorority. Of course, students in the Greek system at MIT academically outperform the rest of the school...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. thanks for the insights. To the one poster who asked why, it is because he doesn't 't want to go to a school where the dominating aspect of the social scene are exclusive clubs that select members based on appearance, social class, rave, ethnicity, etc. He prefers a school where students aren't categorized in this way, but rather are encouraged to befriend others who are superficially different, but may have things in common based on intellectual interests. Generally he believes that diversity adds to the intellectual environment.

Not all fraternities or sororities aim to attract a certain type of member. Not all Greek systems detract from the university's intellectualism. He doesn't have to join and he doesn't have to exclude colleges with people who believe otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Greek life turns people into sheep. If Greek life was open to all, was sign in, got rid of pledging and hazing and was just another club that anyone could join then it would be ok. Otherwise students are better off going to a school where the social opportunities are open to all. Greek life has too many negatives.

[Anonymous]

All those sororities where girls start prepping for pledging before going to college is just crazy. There was an article somewhere(NYT or WSJ?)about how you can hire someone to help you start prepping to make sure you get into the right sorority. Yuck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. There are a few fraternities and sororities, but no one cares.

Yup. Harvard, too. And Princeton has eating clubs, no fraternities, does that count? Also MIT and Chicago - periphery frats, no one cares.

Actually, looking st my list, it occurs to me, probably none of the top 10 or so schools have a big fraternity presence.

Actually, eating clubs at Princeton operate just like frats in terms of their impact on social life.

No, the eating clubs are not just like frats. However, they still are significant in upperclass social life, particularly as they are the main dining option for juniors and seniors there. (My own view is they are too significant, but unfortunately that ship sailed about 25 years ago when some all-male, selective clubs went co-ed, thereby strengthening and perpetuating the selective "bicker" (or rush) aspect of the club scene.). At the same time, the clubs don't have quite the drinking (or the hazing) culture of many frats at other schools. There are also more viable options to the eating clubs than once existed, but alas, they remain pretty central.

My DH went to Princeton and my nephew is currently a student there. Both were/are members of an eating club. The eating clubs operate like frats in that bicker is an exclusive process in which students make judgments of others based on physical appearance and social capital. And the drinking scene is just as bad as that at other schools, including Dartmouth, where said nephew's brother is a student.

That sounds horrendous. I can't see the appeal at all.

Half the clubs are bicker and the other are open sign in/lottery. Whether one likes or opposes bicker is like the classic red-blue ideological divide -- most people have very strong opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. There are a few fraternities and sororities, but no one cares.

Yup. Harvard, too. And Princeton has eating clubs, no fraternities, does that count? Also MIT and Chicago - periphery frats, no one cares.

Actually, looking st my list, it occurs to me, probably none of the top 10 or so schools have a big fraternity presence.

Actually, eating clubs at Princeton operate just like frats in terms of their impact on social life.

No, the eating clubs are not just like frats. However, they still are significant in upperclass social life, particularly as they are the main dining option for juniors and seniors there. (My own view is they are too significant, but unfortunately that ship sailed about 25 years ago when some all-male, selective clubs went co-ed, thereby strengthening and perpetuating the selective "bicker" (or rush) aspect of the club scene.). At the same time, the clubs don't have quite the drinking (or the hazing) culture of many frats at other schools. There are also more viable options to the eating clubs than once existed, but alas, they remain pretty central.

My DH went to Princeton and my nephew is currently a student there. Both were/are members of an eating club. The eating clubs operate like frats in that bicker is an exclusive process in which students make judgments of others based on physical appearance and social capital. And the drinking scene is just as bad as that at other schools, including Dartmouth, where said nephew's brother is a student.

That sounds horrendous. I can't see the appeal at all.

Half the clubs are bicker and the other are open sign in/lottery. Whether one likes or opposes bicker is like the classic red-blue ideological divide -- most people have very strong opinions.

My partner did bicker and it sounded disgusting-involving some gross sexual games, and getting locked in a room with a small group of people and a keg and told they wouldn't be let out until they finished the keg. She was at one of the harder drinking eating clubs and describes every party ending up with several inches of beer on the floor. I realize that that kind of things happen at schools all over the country and I wouldn't try to argue that eating clubs are worst than frats. That said, I would encourage my own kid to choose one of the many excellent schools where the social scene isn't based around exclusive groups/heavy drinking.

(I think I posted this comment earlier with my comment embedded in a pp's comment-sorry about that.)

[Anonymous]

Bicker/Pledging sounds so stupid. Who let's other people treat them like that to gain entrance to a group. Use your brain people!