Hi! I have always wanted to be in a sorority, but I got my undergraduate degree at a school that did not allow them. Now, I am about to be a master's degree student at State, and I was wondering if any of the sororities on campus allow grad students to pledge. Thanks!

5/16/2012 10:56:27 AM

Im sure they do.

5/16/2012 11:01:08 AM

I'm sure you can find a professional fraternity/sorority in your field, and if anything else, be a big brother/sister or an adviser to them.

I''ve never heard of grad students joining Greek orgs though,unless they were alumni of the organization in undergrad already. Then again, I've never heard of stipulations being placed that Greek is just for undergrads.

Thoughts from someone who's Greek?

5/16/2012 11:11:22 AM

We never had any grad students in our fraternity. I agree with Anti, there are professional Fraternities you can join in regards to your discipline. My fiancee is in a Dental Fraternity at her dental school. It's not the same as a social fraternity, obviously, but its also because they are professional students whose years of being absurd are mostly behind them.

-Then again, we did initiate our contractor who renovated our chapter house as an honorary brother....best bet is to go to Rush events and ask.

5/16/2012 11:27:13 AM

pretty sure it's restricted to undergrads

5/16/2012 11:27:54 AM

I can't imagine someone at the age of a grad student wanting to be in a sorority, they are so full of bullshit and drama and even if you did join you would most likely be joining with a bunch of freshmen. Sounds pretty miserable to me.

5/16/2012 11:40:13 AM

Are you at all interested in actually finishing that Master's?

5/16/2012 11:42:12 AM

Sorority Cougar

5/16/2012 11:46:27 AM

lol. It's actually my second one! I am pretty young though. I started undergrad at just-turned 17, finished at 21! Then got an MAT and am now 22.

5/16/2012 12:06:44 PM

your age on your profile here says 25. At any rate, go for it.

5/16/2012 12:09:49 PM

I'm not sure why it says that, but thanks! I'm going to at least try and see what happens. I was hoping there was one full of grad students.

5/16/2012 12:19:23 PM

Quote :

"I was hoping there was one full of grad students."

Yeah...it's just called class and instead of sorority sisters they're called classmates.

[Edited on May 16, 2012 at 12:23 PM. Reason : .]

5/16/2012 12:23:18 PM

you can join, you just may feel out of place. I felt out of place going to college-y bars as a grad student, but that's just me. I would join something like Meet and Compete or some sort of social group, but if you really want to rush, don't let anyone's opinion stop you. but do you really want to be around a bunch of catty 18 year olds?

5/16/2012 1:11:58 PM

Quote :

"Yeah...it's just called class and instead of sorority sisters they're called classmates."

ROFL

5/16/2012 1:25:58 PM

I can't imagine any Greek organizations would turn down a paycheck just because the paycheck was a little old. Check out a few rush events in the fall, see which group is the best, and go for it. You have nothing to lose. If rush sucks and none of the sororities seem like a fit, it's not like it cost you anything. If you get a bid, decide to pledge and then you realize it sucks, you can always quit. I see no reason to not at least check it out.

In the meantime, you should probably post some pics.

5/16/2012 4:00:14 PM

yeah, knowing what you look like will better help us tell you which sorority you would fit in.

5/16/2012 4:02:20 PM

surely you can get an answer much sooner than August

probably ask one of these people:

http://www.ncsu.edu/greeklife/staff.html

5/16/2012 4:37:17 PM

I forgot to add, I rushed the chemistry fraternity on campus as an undergrad and quit because of all the unnecessary drama going on between brothers (it was co-ed). I quit right before initiation. It was fun, but I knew I couldn't handle their hot messes.

5/16/2012 4:46:11 PM

there are two ways through college. the way of gdi...and the way of frat. you'll have to choose which one you follow

5/16/2012 7:21:59 PM

ibt what's a GDI

5/16/2012 7:40:57 PM

How does it feel to be an asshole, Niedermeyer?

5/16/2012 7:41:51 PM

Sounds like the plot to an Anna Faris movie.

[Edited on May 16, 2012 at 7:57 PM. Reason : One R]

5/16/2012 7:56:23 PM

education...social life...always you wrestle inside me...always you will

5/16/2012 9:21:35 PM

If your grad program is anything like the one I work for, you're not going to have time for a frat or friends or sleeping or eating

5/16/2012 9:28:06 PM

Well you can buy the beer.

5/16/2012 11:01:02 PM

^^this.

sororities don't haze but it's you have a ton of responsibilities as a first year, and many require you live in the house. just from dating girls in soros it's extremely frustrating trying to find time because of all the crafts, and event planning, and all sorts of little shit like that that take up your time. Not sure about your particular program, but grad school courses are typically 6-9PM, which is prime sorority shit time. you have class plus ta/work/internship and then add on studying and projects. having serious time constraints is going to be difficult.

5/17/2012 12:25:59 AM

Quote :

"sororities don't haze..."

I laughed out loud.

5/17/2012 1:07:50 AM

I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think you're allowed to go through recruitment if you're a grad student. Some sororities may let you initiate as an alum or grad student, but not all of them.

Also, I went to grad school and was in a sorority as undergrad - you will NOT have time to do both.

5/17/2012 7:05:45 AM

Quote :

"sororities don't haze"

yeah, that's an idiotic statement.

They do it differently than men, and some might argue it's worse.


it's like the great philosopher, Louis CK said:

5/17/2012 10:34:52 AM

5/17/2012 1:05:29 PM

abandon all hope of greek life

embrace the geek life

remain a GDI (God-Damned Independent)

5/18/2012 5:22:48 AM

I've seen grad students get into a service fraternity at a new school (with mostly undergrads) because they pledged at a different school and wanted a social scene.

For what it's worth, that seems to not last. Eventually they'll stop being active. This all doesn't mean that there aren't school related social groups to get involved with in grad school - there certainly are. I would suggest the UGSA if you wanted that activity/social combination.

Seriously, this is probably your best advice. A large fraction of grad students simply don't get active in any school organization aside from the strictly professional, but that means only the fun people are active in the first place, so it works. Also, the most common social things grad students do are probably more like intramural sports, bars, fantasy football. It's not the same as undergrad.

The difficult thing about interacting with undergrads is that you're on the other side. I know a lot of older students who came back to do an undergrad degree and integrated into the undergrad scene. It's a completely different story for grad school because your role is a different place in the university. You're the undergrad's TA and infrequently their classmates.

5/18/2012 11:35:01 AM

Quote :

"Yeah...it's just called class and instead of sorority sisters they're called classmates."

5/21/2012 10:18:35 PM

You do not want to pledge a social sorority as a grad student. That would make your life miserable.

Why don't you just get a beer with the people in your department after class? Or go to church.

5/22/2012 11:23:22 AM

I had a roommate that didn't even go to NCSU and pledged/joined a fraternity (Sigma Nu for those of you wondering). If you are willing to pay the dues, they will find a way to get you in.

That being said, this was circa 1998, so things may have changed.

[Edited on May 23, 2012 at 4:41 PM. Reason : a]

5/23/2012 4:40:43 PM

this sounds so sad

I think I had way more fun and made way more friends in grad school than I ever did in undergrad. You do realize that you will have nothing in common with undergrads and you'll have nothing to talk to them about right?

5/23/2012 5:10:05 PM

But look at the upside, she will get to bang tons of drunk 18 year old dudes

5/23/2012 5:11:52 PM

check with your advisor first, even if I wanted to I know my advisor would not have permitted that. Takes up too much time, I am doing something for grad school 12 hours 5X a week and writing my thesis on the weekends.

5/23/2012 5:17:28 PM

i don't think it's allowed by panhellenic to let grad students to go through recruitment. i went to a different university but i think it's a panhellenic thing and not a specific sorority thing.

i know some nationally recognized sororities do allow women to be initiated automatically as "alumnae." they're usually women who are out of undergrad and want to be involved but never got the chance when they were in school. then you would be able to participate in alum outings and get-togethers without having to pay $2000 a year in dues. (i think it's like $50 a year or something as an alum). most sororities have local alum chapters here in the Triangle and get together monthly. that probably would fit better with what you are looking for.

5/23/2012 6:20:42 PM

Quick answer is no.


-Former IFC officer.

5/23/2012 8:36:33 PM

Quick answer is it depends on the organization

- Former two-term IFC Officer (including IFC VP of Recruitment)

[Edited on May 23, 2012 at 8:46 PM. Reason : m]

5/23/2012 8:46:04 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/HS_Fratstar

5/23/2012 8:55:52 PM

^^ & ^^^
FRAT FIGHT!!!!!

5/23/2012 9:59:53 PM

Greek Life is overrated. The participation numbers speak for themselves, and the low numbers are not a result of the Greek life being selective...

5/24/2012 12:43:21 AM

Seeing as the IFC VPR has historically done jack shit...

5/24/2012 1:26:29 AM

Quote :

"check with your advisor first, even if I wanted to I know my advisor would not have permitted that"

Your advisor doesn't get a say in your social life and if they insist on having one, find a new advisor. Grad school is a job, not the army. Your time is just that.

5/24/2012 1:53:22 AM

Who the fuck wants to party with undergrads?? Grad students are much more fun and they know where to get all the good drugs and not screw shit up.

5/24/2012 7:53:55 AM

^ Agree with this. Undergrads are annoying to be around. No life experience.

5/24/2012 9:32:03 PM

grad students typically smell like the Wolfline

5/24/2012 9:38:03 PM

^ Also true.

The weird thing is my undergrad program was predominantly white while the grad program was predominately indian. I guess they didn't recruit undergrads very well.

5/24/2012 9:41:32 PM