Anonymous wrote:OP here. He really does not want to go to a small school.We managed to fit in some college visits before the pandemic hit and he felt like a small student body would not be a good fit for him. He would prefer urban or suburban but he is not opposed to rural.

The schools he’s been interested so far based on intended major, his stats, preferred size, also seem to show up on the lists where Greek life is prevalent. He is definitely not using that as main criteria, but it’s a factor for him and he’s disappointed that it is a big part of the social life at the schools he thought he would like.

He’s not shy, and wants a social life. He just thinks Greek life is toxic and doesn’t want a school where it’s very prevalent. Again, it doesn’t have to be zero Greek life, like Rice, etc.

He’s in his room now researching, but thought I’d check here to see if anyone just happens to know off the top of their heads of any he should check out.

Rice grad here. He should check it out. Sounds like he would be a good fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He really does not want to go to a small school.We managed to fit in some college visits before the pandemic hit and he felt like a small student body would not be a good fit for him. He would prefer urban or suburban but he is not opposed to rural.

The schools he’s been interested so far based on intended major, his stats, preferred size, also seem to show up on the lists where Greek life is prevalent. He is definitely not using that as main criteria, but it’s a factor for him and he’s disappointed that it is a big part of the social life at the schools he thought he would like.

He’s not shy, and wants a social life. He just thinks Greek life is toxic and doesn’t want a school where it’s very prevalent. Again, it doesn’t have to be zero Greek life, like Rice, etc.

He’s in his room now researching, but thought I’d check here to see if anyone just happens to know off the top of their heads of any he should check out.

What are the schools he liked?

Wake Forest, Vandy, Lehigh, U GA

Lehigh has a very active Greek scene. Some students report it's overbearing. Reddit, according to DS, also a rising senior and considering Lehigh says Reddit is the holy grail for real time, student input.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Lehigh/comments/b9zmwl/tired_of_greek_life_and_party_culture_here/?utm_source=xpromo&utm_medium=amp&utm_name=amp_comment_iterations&utm_term=control_1&utm_content=comments_view_all

I am a graduate of Lehigh and would not recommend it to the Greek life-averse.

Boston College

Good advice on here from PP. Northwestern, Notre Dame, Rice, Carnagie Mellon, Northeastern, Georgetown. I'd avoid any SEC schools or any south of the Mason Dixon line. Whole different lifestyle and culture.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: By STEM do you mean engineering? That's an important distinction. If he needs a school w/ engineering, that may limit choices.

OP again: STEM for him means chemistry, biochemistry, or math. Not engineering.

He is surprised, as am I, that is isn’t a filter on the college search sites. If there is such a filter on a site, neither of us have managed to discover it.

Is there one we are missing that just lists the % of student population involved? He knows he can look up each college separately, but seems like there should be one that allows you to filter out, say, schools with over 20% involvement.

If he’s not looking for engineering, Georgetown could go on the list. Right size, no Greek life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: By STEM do you mean engineering? That's an important distinction. If he needs a school w/ engineering, that may limit choices.

OP again: STEM for him means chemistry, biochemistry, or math. Not engineering.

He is surprised, as am I, that is isn’t a filter on the college search sites. If there is such a filter on a site, neither of us have managed to discover it.

Is there one we are missing that just lists the % of student population involved? He knows he can look up each college separately, but seems like there should be one that allows you to filter out, say, schools with over 20% involvement.

We have the same kid. Mine is a bio major at Northwestern with a 30% Greek life (according the the list the PP posted) and not in a fraternity. Happy, healthy and loves it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: By STEM do you mean engineering? That's an important distinction. If he needs a school w/ engineering, that may limit choices.

OP again: STEM for him means chemistry, biochemistry, or math. Not engineering.

He is surprised, as am I, that is isn’t a filter on the college search sites. If there is such a filter on a site, neither of us have managed to discover it.

Is there one we are missing that just lists the % of student population involved? He knows he can look up each college separately, but seems like there should be one that allows you to filter out, say, schools with over 20% involvement.

Here's a list of the schools with the highest greek%: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-frats

Anonymous wrote:OP: By STEM do you mean engineering? That's an important distinction. If he needs a school w/ engineering, that may limit choices.

OP again: STEM for him means chemistry, biochemistry, or math. Not engineering.

He is surprised, as am I, that is isn’t a filter on the college search sites. If there is such a filter on a site, neither of us have managed to discover it.

Is there one we are missing that just lists the % of student population involved? He knows he can look up each college separately, but seems like there should be one that allows you to filter out, say, schools with over 20% involvement.

OP: By STEM do you mean engineering? That's an important distinction. If he needs a school w/ engineering, that may limit choices.

The thing is (as a Big10 alum personally with kid(s) at a different Big10 school....the number of undergrads at places like UM or Wisconsin or OSU is the addition of Ag students. Someone in Engineering or CS simply will never really cross paths with them, so you can almost half the number of undergrads.

OP: Sorry, that was me answering about which schools he liked. Lehigh, Wake, Vandy etc. were some of the schools he thought would be good for him—but then read that Greek life is an important part of the social scene and that is a major turn off.

I did talk to him about how if he applies to a place like UMich, even though it has a fairly large Greek presence, the % of people not involved far outnumber those who are. He said he knows, and what worries him is that he is much more interested in the medium-sized schools like 5,000-15,000 than he is the huge Universities (this is something new he just shared).

I’m happy he is giving this so much though and really trying to narrow down. I also did some checking online and he’s right, the lists are either schools that have no Greek life or the best Greek life. Again, he doesn’t mind some but he doesn’t want it to be a highlight or center point of social life.

He will have an appointment with his counselor when school starts but he was hoping to have a solid list when he met with him. I see now how it is a major turn off for him. Even 30% involvement makes him uncomfortable, he said. He thinks it’s toxic and gross.

PP ^ again forgot to add Vanderbilt and UGA have huge Greek presence.

Over 20% could be a red flag. Over 25% definitely means Greek Life dominates.

It dominates because there will always be groups of students who do their own thing, or keep to themselves: studying abroard, less than traditional students.

At 20% or greater, that is a tipping point and Greek Life becomes the predictable way to forge a social life.

Fraternity life could be toxic, I suppose, but I know a lot of people who loved it.

My high school friend's daughter pledged a sorority last year. So she'll be living at the sorority house, podded in with her sorority sisters. And a sorority house at a SEC school is pretty danged magnificent. So she'll have comfortable digs, and friends galore, unlike so many at college now under house arrest during a pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make a list of schools for other reasons and use Greek life as a factor in culling that list. It makes no sense as a primary search tool.

+1 I'll also add that if a school is big enough the Greek life may have no impact on him at all. I went to a state flagship with a huge Greek presence (something like 30% of students) and I only had 4-5 friends in sororities or frats. If a school is tiny and very Greek he may feel like an outsider but even at my heavily Greek school 70% of the student body was non afilliated.

+1, just go to a big school and he’ll find “his people“ easily. Maybe avoid the big SEC schools where Greek life is a really big thing, but he’d have no problem finding a social scene and friends at a school like Ohio State or Pitt.