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Joining a Frat at OSU?

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NextBuck

NextBuck

All-American
I'm about to start OSU this Winter. I'm transferring in and it's great to be a Buckeye! I've been talking to my cousins who go to the school and one is in a frat and the other isnt.

My frat cousin says that I should join a frat. My other cousin says that I should just go to the parties and not join one (but shes a girl). I thought it would be good to join one not only for the parties, but also the connections after my time at OSU.

Does anyone have any suggestions on this? Is it worth it or no? Also how crazy is the hazing. I'm down for a lot of things, but I aint branding myself or doing some stupid shit.

Also if anyone else has some good tips or words of wisedom for a new student at the school I would appreciate it. Just anything you think a new Buckeye should know.

Thanks guys
 
I was a Sigma Chi at OSU. I did not rush until my 2nd year. It was one of the best decisions of my life thus far. I made very good friends and some of my closest to this day our fellow sigs. I still stay in touch with many of the guys in my house. I met my wife because I was a Sigma Chi. I probably would not be a bond trader if it were not for one of my friends who is a Sigma Chi.

The parties were amazing, just awesome. Yes anyone can throw a house party. When in a fraternity you also get to pair up with different sororities for football block, greek week and homecoming. Lots of craziness during each of those weeks.

You also give back to the community. Most fraternities are matched up with some type of philanthropy event. We were with the Childrens Miracle Network. We threw parties and raised cash for one week out of every year. During my time we also volunteered at various events or places. A couple of us would go over to the Indianola elementary school and spend an hour reading or helping the kids complete random projects. Some people would help out at local soup kitchens.

You may think that your grades would suffer being in a house with about 30-50 guys who love to get drunk and play video games. Think again. You are surrounded with individuals who may have already taken your class, be in your major and or class. We had a huge file cabinet filled with old quizzes, tests, notes from every class imaginable. Many people would go to the library and study together. We also had a study room with desks and 3 computers for common use.

Cost may be a factor. I believe to live at the Sigma Chi house it was about 1850 per quarter. Expensive? Break it down. You get a room with heat, electricity, cable and internet. Then you have a cook who prepares all your meals for you during the week. We had breakfast/lunch Monday-Thursday. Friday we served a brunch, then for dinner the steward would order pizzas, wings, don pablos(when it was still around), etc.. Social dues were about 110 a quarter which paid for all your booze during fraternity sponsored events.

Career wise, recruiters always want to see that you are involved as a student. Most fraternities have yearly leadership weekends during the summer. This looks very good on a resume. Also you are joining a huge network of individuals with which you will share a common bond. You may not get a job, but I bet you get an interview.

Hopefully this helps, any other questions feel free to ask.
 
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Due to the large size of the student body at Ohio State, greek life is a relatively small segment of the student population. Because of this, it is entirely unnecessary to join a frat in order to 'fit in' which seems to be the case at many schools in the south as well as some of the smaller schools in Ohio.

I would hold off on joining a frat at first, see who you meet, see how things go. Maybe joining a frat is something that you will ultimately want to do, but it definitely isn't necessary to fit in socially at Ohio State.
 
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Thanks to both the posters above! Great pieces of advice from both.

@TheWood-
Thanks for giving me a inside look into what frat life is all about because some of the things you mentioned I would have never thought of. Definitely got me interested.

@Buckeye86-
What you said is pretty right on to.

I think overall I'm going to join one because thats what I'm leaning towards, but I'm gonna take my time with a choice and first see where OSU takes me as a normal student.
'
EDIT: @TheWood- What is hazing like nowadays? Is it like something from 'Animal House' and 'Old School' or something a little bit more tamed?
 
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NextBuck;1625746; said:
. My other cousin says that I should just go to the parties and not join one (but shes a girl).
Click to expand...

Yea easy for a girl to say good luck getting into the parties being a dude and all. Unless you have people you know that can get you in you aren't going to sniff many of them. It's common sense that they'd want more girls there

That being said, theres plenty of parties and what not outside of frats. I wouldn't feel obligated to rush right into it Winter quarter. I didn't personally join one but sometimes wish I had considered it more, but then again I had 2 roommates from my freshmen year join frats and go through the entire process only to basically not do anything with them after a year.

As far as the hazing, it's definately real and they'll definately beat you up (not literally, but just with the stuff they'll have you do). With the bigger frats you'll tend to get the more serious hazing (but of course the better social events, parties as a result, since the bigger frats match up with the bigger sororities that tend to have the better looking girls). I remember when my one roommate came back from his hell week having not showered and barely slept for a week, he wouldn't talk a whole lot about what went on but judging by the state of him it was pretty brutal.

Again I don't claim to be an expert on all frat's practices but I had another roommate I had backed out on TKE during hell week and his entire experience pledging there was filled with some of the most ridiculous crap I've ever heard, it's generally thought from the people I know at least that they are the worst in that regard.

Going back to Thewood on the price thing, I don't know how current his numbers are but i'd say thats a pretty good deal. Even without the meals you're probably spending less then you would for an apartment considering you have to rent the apartment and pay for the full year (I probably spend about 6000 a year on my apartment throwing in utilities and what not), obviously I don't know what sigma chi's policy would be if u want to stay over the summer. Then you throw on the cook on top of that and you're definately in pretty good shape (although you probably don't get our room to yourself, which might be a turn off to some people). Also consider that a place like the Sigma Chi house is a lot fucking nicer then any apartment your going to find in the campus area. Of course you wouldn't HAVE to live in the frat house but you might as well if you want to have the experience.
 
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Step one... being a fraternity brother previously... most do not like it when you call it a frat... So if you are thinking of joining one... I wouldn't say it that way. the response we would get as pledges is that you wouldn't call your country a cunt... trivial but anyway you can make entry easier, I would advise it. And no you, as a guy without friends in the fraternity, would not get into many of their parties. Hazing(from a white fraternity) was more of a mind game. Not too much physical violence. But they do want to make sure you want in and will treat you like a little brother that is trying to tag along. I enjoyed my experience in my fraternity overall.
 
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I was a Phi Delt waaaaaaay back when. I had pledged as a freshman -- flunked out -- there was no correlation to the two. Girlfriend issues and lackawanna.

Spent a year working (mostly second and third shift) in a GM factory and saving up money to return to school. I moved into a two bedroom apartment with a serious student and my grades improved dramatically. I think the year in the factory had an amazing maturing aspect to it.

I rejoined the Phi Delts in the spring, but only lived in the house one quarter. I liked fraternity life -- from the safety of my own apartment. You don't have to be a genius to figure out how to cook, make salad, bake potatoes, spaghetti, roasts, steam veggies.

Socially, aside from meeting women and parties, the house was a real handicap. But I'm speaking from an era when there was a full time house mother on the premises. Sex and drinking were not 'in-house' activities. I'd rather do my hooking up in the relative privacy of an apartment.

Jokes and conventional wisdom aside, a house won't make you or break you academically -- lack of desire and discipline will. The drinking was sometimes frightening. Euchre and bridge games (I sense replaced by video games) were easy to get sucked into. What is seldom acknowledged was the responsibility of keeping 100 young bucks out of harms way. The treasurer will be responsible for something like 100K a month -- as a college student. The president will held accountable for all the good and bad that happens. The social chairman has a fair amount of work to pull off all those parties. All of that takes work and can give you a level of responsibility you are not apt to find in most part time jobs.

I'm still in touch with some of my brothers and I value my time as a Phi. But bang for the buck, if you can find an apartment to share with ONE other student -- someone who intends to stay at OSU -- you're much better off.
 
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The hazing like NateG stated is mostly mind games. I rushed back in Spring 2001. I never saw anyone get hit or physically assaulted. I did get screamed at for stupid shit. I did have to be at the house at 6am on saturday or sundays to clean. I did have to spend about 3-4 hours during each school week at the house doing random tasks. But you should want to be there, hell you are joining the fraternity.

Hell week is a little more intense. I had the luck of not only going through my hell week but I had the honor of running a hell week. Yes you get very little sleep, but I as a "director" slept just as little. Yes you dont shower, but hell neither did I until Thursday night. You only leave the house if you have a class. And most of the time an active brother would be walking you to and from. I was lucky when I pledged. The girl I was dating at the time would bring me food during my classes. You will be starving. You get very little to eat, but they do give you vitamins. I never saw anyone being forced to drink. There was a night that we were "able" to drink. Most only had one beer, believe me you would not have wanted another. But one of my pledge brothers drank 4, set the record. He puked all over the place. Hilarious.

Hell week is not all about the cleaning and mind fucking. You learn a lot about the fraternity and some sacred stuff that only takes place during hell week. You will or should become very close with your pledge brothers because they are all you have that week. One of the common thoughts after hell week is that it will be one of the most fun weeks you have ever had that you never ever want to do again.



Real quick on staying in the house during the summer. During my time at Sigma Chi, they allowed us to stay in house for about 300 bucks. Dirt cheap. I do believe that changed shortly after I graduated because the house had a bad habit of getting trashed during the summer. I am not sure if they now currently allow people to stay.
 
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@JBaney45-

Yeah, I posted that she was a girl for that reason. Attractive girls can get in anywhere, but guys its a whole other story. I tried explaining it to my cousin, but she couldnt understand it.

@NateG-

So should I call it Greek Life?

@CinciBuck-

Thanks for the advice and the story.

@TheWood-

Thanks for responding again. Yeah, like I'm up for a lot of things and the stuff you mentioned just seems like work and not some crazy bullshit. Obviously you gotta prove that you want to be there, but I didnt want to do anything over the top. Thanks for the insight
 
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NextBuck;1625879; said:
@NateG-

So should I call it Greek Life?
Click to expand...


No fraternity was always fine, but anytime I heard someone say to one of my brothers that they thought "frats" were stupid or heard a pledge say "frat" they got on them to the max to not say that. So just advice to say fraternity because it is a safe way to say it. I know it is dumb and immature but so was being in one to a degree, and it was a blast.
 
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I would highly suggest joining a fraternity. I did at ASU and it was awesome. Still hang out with lots of the guys. Lots of them got jobs from alumni or were helped by fellow "Brothers" to get into a certain industry.

Hazing will vary from fraternity to fraternity, but most is pretty easy assuming you respect the people bossing you around and don't mouth off. The more likeable you are, the less shit they usually give you - especially if you are helping to bring chicks around.

Most important thing is joining the right fraternity. Do your due dilligence and find out which group of guys you get along with the best. Find out which fraternities are liked by sororities to help your poon chances.

Easily the most entertaining period of my life.

PDT Spring 97 ASU
 
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