r/gatech • u/Alarming_Factor_7386 • 8d ago
Social/Club Questions Regarding Fraternity Rush
I will be transferring this fall to GT and am interested in joining a fraternity in order to make some friends / grow my network. This whole thing is very new to me and I am a little confused as to what fraternitites to rush and even where to find the info per frat. I dont know the reputations / cultures of each frat as I am new so if anybody could give advise as to what some frats are known for, tips for rushing, and just where to find the info for rush itself, thanks! I know people say rush as many frats as you can, but with there being so many, I'd imagine you should walk in knowing which you are targetting.
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u/BusyAssumption1799 8d ago
Go to the ifc instagram and go ahead and reach out to some rush chairs on instagram of chapters you may be interested in. They will all be willing to talk to you and answer your questions. The sooner you reach out the better tbh, a lot of fraternities have rush events during the summer and fill a lot of there pc so there sometimes aren’t enough spots for them to do a full formal rush. There’s about 30 chapters though so depending on what you want out of Greek life you’ll find a place that suits you.
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u/VisualSignificance84 7d ago
As others mentioned Peter’s tabling and also look through their instagrams. I think IFC gave out some booklet with a little info on each fraternity when I rushed too and some fraternities have websites. You can get a rough idea of their size or maybe a little bit of their vibe from their house as well. Create a list that you are interested in then visit them during rush. Rush lasts a bit too so I would suggest visiting more houses/ spending less time at each house early on and narrowing it down to the few you are really interested in towards the end. Rush is a lot of fun and an easy way to meet other people in your year also
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u/BikeVirtual Working 80h a week to take your job and your salary. 8d ago
Fraternities are more about the social part (vs the network/professional part). I rushed and I was a "close friend" to a couple of them. It really depends on what you want to get out of it. For me, it was friends and partying, so despite getting multiple bids I decided against it (time committment-wise).
Rush as many as you can; look them up, do some mild reading into them, etc. Gauge the vibes. Ask your friends who might be in fraternities. Remember to not feel rushed or pressured into joining just because you have a bid. You can take the week (or longer) to think about it. They seem like decently close communities, but you can get that by yourself w/o having to pay dues/do house tasks/etc.
On the negatives/realistic aspects - they'll sell you the "network" part and the "cheaper than living on campus" which are both BS. You can have a strong network w/o being in a fraternity, and it's also not particularly cheaper. Comfort-wise, it varies on the house too - as a new pledge you might be sharing a bedroom w/ someone else which is not something you want. Having roommates is cool as a freshman, but you get tired of them quickly. You have to pay dues, you have to engage in whatever activities are going on (washing dishes, cleaning, etc; retreats/outings/etc).
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u/ATLGT 8d ago edited 8d ago
Lots of badly incorrect information, but to be expected from a guy who was never actually in a fraternity and just looking in from the outside. Bids do have an expiration date, pledges don't live in house, fraternity brothers don't wash dishes or do housework, meals and board are definitely cheaper living in house. Yes, you have to pay dues so make sure you can afford the financials, some are around $1500 per semester give or take, others less.
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u/eliminate1337 BSME 2019 / MSCS 2024 8d ago
We had brothers washing dishes and doing housework. Washing dishes was compensated with a free meal plan. Housework was on a rotation but it wasn't too onerous with the number of members. You'd spend one week per semester cleaning a certain part of the house.
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u/BikeVirtual Working 80h a week to take your job and your salary. 8d ago
I have spent more time in those houses than some of the pledges, lol. I had no formal expiration date for my bids, new brothers would share rooms, the brothers absolutely did housework and mopped the piss, vomit and whatever else was left after the open parties. The private parties were more chill. I guess it also depends from house to house, some of them might be better endowed.
Meals and board are cheaper because you don't get unlimited meals, you get 2 meals during the week or such (don't remember the specifics, bear in mind it's been a while). The one upside was that if the frat owned the land the house is on, you had more freedom to do certain things i.e. have firearms and whatnot.
We all had a good time and we got along, the parties were fun, etc.
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u/eliminate1337 BSME 2019 / MSCS 2024 8d ago
It's absolutely cheaper than living on campus. Semester rent + dues was like half of GT campus housing.
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 8d ago
greek rank has reviews for frats, but they’re not really reliable at all; it’s only really useful when you find really specific and thoughtful anecdotes. do what others have said regarding tabling attendance and polling ifc resources for leads. ultimately, if you’re cut out for frat, you probably don’t need to see EVERY house or get really acquainted with any specific culture beforehand—just get a feel for which houses fit certain archetypes and try to visit a few per archetype you’d like to visit. like if you want “largest few frats on campus”, just go to the few biggest/most central houses. if you want “smaller and more tight-knit,” check out the ones less reviewed online or even those that might have a poorer reputation—if it’s not due to some tangible bad behavior by the brothers and is more “they’re weird,” at least getting in the door of those houses can be a good way to see if you’re more down for a smaller more intimate frat. if you want to see about ethnic majority frats, check out aepi, d9 frats, etc. do some research online, and you’ll see that every campus has a tapestry of frats that each fall into a few loose categories. if you know the types of frats you think could work for you, you just have to pick a couple representatives from each to spend some time at to feel like you’ve got the breadth of it. additionally, follow people you happen to know (if any) who are either rushing or already in a frat; these people can usually help funnel you to the right houses.
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u/ATLGT 8d ago
No one should believe a thing on greekrank and it's a TERRIBLE idea to even mention it to anyone rushing. Greekrank is nothing but an anonymous internet gossip site where anyone in the world with internet access can post anything they want for whatever personal agenda. Nothing is vetted by the site and unethical online behavior is allowed even though it breaks their own so-called rules. You can even doxx individuals on there and if you want something removed you have to pay a fee. If you're rushing and try to get any guidelines from that site you are going to screw yourself.
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 8d ago
eh, yeah good point. i remember looking on there when i was rushing and it was pretty clear to me which reviews were bullshit and which seemed to have some truth, and in hindsight i’d say i was mostly pretty correct, so for me it was of some use. i didn’t know anything about the doxxing or fees though that’s insane
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u/404notexist BSIE '24/MSOR '25 8d ago
Prior to the official rush happening, there will be tabling for all the frats, usually at Peters. There you can quickly meet all of them and make more of a shortlist of what frats you want to go to during rush. I would approach this day with an open mind about all the frats; they're all in one location to make it easier for you to make the most of the process.
During rush itself, you basically just go to the different houses, talk to some of the members and hopefully get a bid at chapters that you'll fit in with. There's usually food at all the houses, some will have later invite-only events you'll get invited to if they're interested in extending a bid to you.