In my country (Netherlands) it’s very common. It slightly depends on the university/city you go to, but most people I met are in one. I’d personally estimate that 50-65% of students have joined one. In Europe, it differs a lot country-to-country. In Germany it is not popular at all, while in the UK it’s mostly clubs specialised in a specific interest/hobby.
How is this in the US? Do most students join a fraternity, or is it seen as something extra (and unneeded)?
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It depends a lot on the university. Some have small Greek Life populations (around 10 percent or even less) and others have very large Greek Life populations where it is 60 percent or more of the students.
About 10% of students are involved in Greek life nationwide.
How prevalent it is perceptually really depends on the school. At some they may as well not exist at all, and at others the frats and sororities are front and center.
> Nationally, only about 10 percent of college students become sorority or fraternity members, according to the National Interfraternity Conference.
Although our “Greek life” (awful name) is probably not what you are thinking of.
Depends on the school, some are very “fratty”, some it’s not so common, some schools don’t permit fraternities or sororities altogether.
I’d estimate that less than 25% of Americans take part in Greek life, that is probably still a bit generous.
My University was around 15%. I was in one, and while it was a lot of fun and I met a lot of people, you could argue that it was unnecessary.
In my small teachers college the sororities had maybe 150 members and our one gray had maybe 30 members. So not common but they were around. The parties were more popular than the actual groups.
Common enough that it’s not surprising or rare, but, in my experience, it’s a smaller minority of students. I’m sure it varies widely from University to University, but the school I went to (University of Maryland) most people did not join frats/sororities. There was a very active Greek life culture on campus, but it was always a small subset of students and I was never a part of it.
Depends on the school. Some of my friends went to schools where fraternities dominated the social scene, and even if you weren’t in one, you ended up going to their parties a lot. I went to school where fraternities were kind of sidelined, and honestly I think at that time, at that school, joining a frat would limit your social opportunities more than expand them. In fact a few friends of mine dropped out of their frats halfway through. We also had a somewhat unusually friendly and open campus culture, where you could just walk around various apartment complexes and yell up at the people hanging out on balconies, “Yo, is that an open party?” And more than half of them would say yes, meaning just walk in and introduce yourself.
My University didn’t have fraternities or sororities. I think that was a good call.
I mean if you’re in uni, you’ll definitely see people in frats/sororities and people wearing their gear. But it isn’t a large percentage. Most people see it as unnecessary and extra. You have to pay a lot to be in one, and there’s not too many upsides that I know of.
It is going to vary, but I would bet well under 10% at most major universities. There are different types, and they will vary from one university to the next.
Not that common. Most universities will have Greek organizations but I doubt even 10% of a schools population will be part of Greek life. Which is kinda the point, they want to be exclusive and limited.
“There are an estimated 750,000 fraternity and sorority members in college and more than nine million alumni in the United States. Membership ranges from less than 5 percent on some campuses to more than 50 percent on others. Greek life is especially popular in the South.”
[https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-new-poll-points-to-college-and-career-benefits-of-greek-life-despite-criticism/](https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-new-poll-points-to-college-and-career-benefits-of-greek-life-despite-criticism/)
“About **19.4 million** students attended colleges and universities in fall 2020”
[https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372](https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372)
Doesn’t like like many college students are part of Greek life.
Depends on the school. In some schools you need to join to have a social life. In some schools it’s a separate thing. In some schools it’s a tiny niche. In some schools it doesn’t exist at all.
Generally speaking, only a minority of students at any given campus are members of a fraternity or sorority. There are no doubt exceptions, of course.
Greek life wasn’t a big deal at my school, maybe like 1 in 20 if that? Almost everyone was in some sort of club or another, most of them just weren’t organized as frats/sororities.
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There are a few schools where they’re a big deal but they’re generally unnecessary even at schools where it’s more popular. Life does tend to be better in college if you join something, though and I’ve always encouraged younger folks who ask to try out several clubs/orgs and find a match for them.
i joined a professional engineering fraternity when i was in school. most of the greek organizations at my alma mater were social, but we also had a good number of academic focused groups as well.
it was a minority of students who participated (10-15% maybe?), but there were enough that it was nothing uncommon to know a member. since we had to participate in numerous school related activities, greek life members were very visible on campus.
It’s common enough that it’s not remotely unusual to meet someone in a fraternity or sorority.
I was in one during college and had a great time. I’d highly recommend it for most people.
I went to a small university where it wasn’t a thing at all. There were only a couple of Greek organizations. In some schools it’s a much bigger deal.
As with most questions in this sub, it really depends on the [x]; in this case the college or university.
A lot of schools explicitly don’t recognize any Greek organizations on their campus, some are over 50% Greek (usually small, rural liberal arts colleges), some are maybe 25-40% Greek and the Greek system is a major component of campus life but not the only social outlet, and some have 3-4 fraternities and sororities each that aren’t super-prominent.
There’s examples in between the ones I gave too.
For what it’s worth I went to one of the aforementioned small, isolated, fairly prestigious liberal arts colleges with a majority of students in Greek life, and while it was our only real social outlet, it ended up being pretty inclusive because everyone knew everyone and parties were usually open to the entire campus, and it didn’t necessarily define who you were as a student. Some of my close friends were in my fraternity, some weren’t.
It’s common. I had people trying to get me to join when I was in college. I ended up not joining. You have to go through a week called rush. It just wasn’t worth it to me