to join... or no?

[chscrew144]

I will repost this is one of the other forums.. I use my aim screenname out of habit. Anyway I am joining a frat next year and am torn between joining Fiji and joining Beta. The reasons are as follows:

Beta: larger so more room for the possibility of conflict to arise (i shall see what happens at the beta beach bash) however they charge 485/month rent (CND) and you get high speed internet, utilities, cable and 2 meals a day 5 times a week. It is wet which is good and bad. I like to drink but must cut down.

fiji: single room is 350/month but no food. Smaller which means less possibility of conflict and is dry which means less oppurtunity for me to be drunk.

I have checked out both frats however met more betas than fijis and I like both frats, both housewse and from what i can see from the members (grads and undergrads) at both frats.

I am a frosh at University of Toronto (0T5) and need to decide by the end of may due to family stuff. Please pass along all advice that you have. Email me, IM me or send me a private message.

[Betarulz!]

Well it seems that you have done a good deal of research. Obviously I'm going to tell you to lean toward Beta, but it really has to be YOUR decision.

Somethings you may want to consider. What are their house GPA's like? Do they require a certain number of study hours for pledges? How much importance do you place on academics? A house can be wet but still have different priorties and be strong in a number of areas, but it's also possible for the house to be focused only on parties and not respectful to those who wish to study. If you get an idea of what their house GPA is, that can be a window to what the house is really focused on.

Are you really involved on campus or want to be? Some houses place an emphasis on getting members involved (Beta GF has a chapter award for it, so I assume other GLO's do too). If a house does really want people to get involved, can you handle the extra time commitment? Or if you are really involved and the rest of the house isn't, are they going to be respectful of your commitments?

Are intramurals important? I know many houses that are really big on IM sports, and have people who will sign only that fact alone, or that the house will only sign people who were HS varsity athletes in more than one sport. If youre not really into sports are you going to be happy giving up your time to play badminton just so the house can be IM champs?

Finally, you say you get along with both houses, but really examine how they are goign about rushing you. Are you meeting with everyone in the house or just a few people over and over? In my own personal rush experience (between Beta and ATO) I kept talking to the same ATO's over and over again, but no one else, while in contrast I usually met nearly every single Beta present at a rush event, and they made the effort to get to know me.

One last thing, I wouldn't place too much importance in size. Don't immediatly assume that more people = more conflict. It's very possible to find a whole lot more conflict in a small house if it is not the place really meant for you.


I hope that this provides some helpful things to consider, and I wish you the best of luck as you go through rush. Let us know how things go. The Beta chapter at Toronto has actually an interesting history, including one instance that has been called one of Beta's finest moments.

Anyway, hope you find your place!

[chscrew144]

I think Beta might require a certain amount of study hours a week, which certainly would be good in reinstilling the work ethic towards academics which most of us need after 3, 4 months off.

When I say wet, I'm not trying to be disrespectful or say that they arent strong, it's just it's so easy to get tempted into pitchng in for a 2-4 or what have you which I;d probably do..

You;re right tho, about the GPA's because from that one does get to see a lot about how one studies or how well one does in his studies. I myself am hoping to be able to use the fraternity I end up joining in the end as a place where I can raise my grades and keep them strong as I have law school aspirations but my floor this year was along the lines of "Animal House" so my grades didnt reflect that this year. I think part of it is the first year transition but a lot was not focusing enough on the books as I hope that any frat will help me do that just as I would try to help any brother I have in any course they take that I can.

With regards to conflict, I was only saying that the possibility in a much larger environment of conflict is much greaterthan that in a smaller house.

In terms of involvement, i wrestled this year (wreslted in hs my senior year and rowed all 4 years, got a letter in both) and am thinking of redshirting next year. Hopefully the time commitment to wrestling won't interfere with my fraternal obligations. I'd be active as much as possible. Fraternities are a place to live and it's up to you to make them the best u possibly can ( 2nd quote in sig) and just as I did in hs, i would be as active as I could.

You are very generous, thank you for the reply and I very much appreciate it. I'm glad that i have been able to read your questions which do help. I hadn't thought much about the sports angle of it all, whether it be varsity or IM. It's nice that i can come on here and people are friendly and offer advice to help someone out as best they can. Those not in the greek system don't know what they're missing. Please excuse any typos... it's 620 am, heh, and philosophy has fried my brain:)

[Oh2bDG]

In all honesty... I would say if your having trouble deciding where to go on a local level. Look at the accomplishments of each house on a national, and historic level.

I came down to Kappa Delta and Delta Gamma. I bet you can guess which I chose.... But all of the people I met were so wonderful and the houses were beautiful - It was so very hard to decide.

So I took a step back and thought about how If you choose to you can be associated with your house for life. I wanted to be a part of something that people would recognize, and respect.

I still have MANY Kappa Delta friends, But I have thousanda of Delta Gamma sisters. Delta Gamma is bigger nationally and has acomplished more during her lifespan. I think she is older too.

Just trying to give you a new way too look at everything!

Oh2bDG:D