Does pledging for a frat take up too much time as a pre-med?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
C

clutch100

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
Messages
82
Reaction score
22
I'm thinking about joining a fraternity next semester. I was wondering if the pledging process takes up enough time to have a detrimental effect on my grades?

I'm planning on taking 12 hours next semester + undergrad research + (maybe) 1-3 of volunteer work a week

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Members don't see this ad.
 
Yes. Unless it is some business/not real fraternity where you don't have to do anything.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Many premed friends joined frats. Only one is currently in med school and I graduated several years ago (from undergrad). Read into that as much as you'd like.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile
 
A ton of people in my class were in frats and sororities (I would guess maybe even half in my class of 100). Just keep your priorities straight - totally doable.
 
Yea that's pretty much what I expected. Thanks everyone for the advice.
 
I joined a fraternity in undergrad and even served as an officer for 3 years. I also know several guys who were in fraternities and are currently in medical schools. It really just depends on you. If you have self-discipline and good time management skills you should be fine.
 
I personally pledged in a fraternity, and I didn't do too badly that quarter. If you're really committed to being pre-med, and have good time management skills, you will find plenty of time for studying and for fraternity related activities.
 
I'm in a sorority (and even on the executive council)
Yes it takes up time but it will also give you leadership opportunities u wouldn't have had otherwise.
You need to be able to manage your time well but as a premed u need to learn how to do that regardless
 
It will certainly take up your time but you can still do well in your classes as long as you manage your time, which you need to learn how to do anyway. If you have a midterm or something coming up, just don't go to the events and take a break from pledging and they'll most likely understand. I found going to events and pledging in general to provide a good balance between studying and social life. I'd think most pre-meds in greek life (if they're serious about getting into medical school) have great time management skills and don't regret pledging, since the opportunities and definitely the people you meet can be very worthwhile.
 
Depends on the kind of one you pledge - if they haze, obviously it's going to be a lot harder on you than if they don't. I'm in a fraternity and it was one of my most meaningful experiences, as it genuinely did help me develop both skill-wise and in terms of character/maturity.

But it does take up a good chunk of time - think of it as a time-management puzzle to be solved. ;)
 
Seems like the overall trend here is that I should go for it if I have great time management skills. Will definitely put this into consideration.

Now all I need to figure out is if I'm willing to pay $1,200 a semester to join a frat :p.
 
I considered pledging my freshmen year but I was glad that I ended up choosing not to. My friend did and it takes up a ton of time. They needed to interview with every accepted member of the fraternity and get a signature from them. Then they had an "exam" that was about the fraternities rules and literally memorizing 80+ members 5 digit IDs (some fraternity thing).

I think that being in a fraternity is definitely a detriment to the GPA. There's no way I could pull off engineering and pre med if I was also in a fraternity.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Josh7 said:
I considered pledging my freshmen year but I was glad that I ended up choosing not to. My friend did and it takes up a ton of time. They needed to interview with every accepted member of the fraternity and get a signature from them. Then they had an "exam" that was about the fraternities rules and literally memorizing 80+ members 5 digit IDs (some fraternity thing).

I think that being in a fraternity is definitely a detriment to the GPA. There's no way I could pull off engineering and pre med if I was also in a fraternity.
Click to expand...

Would you mind sharing which fraternity your friend joined? Just curious.
 
@EndersRebutal, what frat did you join and at what college?
 
.
 
Last edited:
clutch100 said:
I'm thinking about joining a fraternity next semester. I was wondering if the pledging process takes up enough time to have a detrimental effect on my grades?

I'm planning on taking 12 hours next semester + undergrad research + (maybe) 1-3 of volunteer work a week

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Pledging major time commitment for the first (pledge) semester. It only lasts a semester, though, and I thought it was well worth it. The commitment after you're done pledging is genearlly a minimum of and hour or two a week, and they're fun hours.

Honestly I would recommend not jumping straight into the Premed deep end. Really I think that adjusting to college should be viewed as a 4 credit class, a pledging is one particular way of making that adjustment. Volunteering and reserach can wait a semester if you don't have time for them.
 
One thing I learned from joining a fraternity as a pre-med is that if you want something bad enough, you can always make time for it. That being said, the earlier you pledge in your undergrad the better. Pledging while taking something like general chemistry is arguably easier than taking organic or MCAT prep.
 
Anyone that says pledging a fraternity takes up too much time to take care of grades does not have their priorities straight yet. You should be balancing your schoolwork with many extra curricular activities. Joining a fraternity is only one. If you take advantage of joining one, it can open up a ton of leadership opportunities and community involvement. From personal experience I say go for it they're great, half my chapter is pharmacy or pre-med so there's a ton of encouragement and help.
 
It takes up a lot of time from what some of my friends tell me.

I wouldn't join a fraternity just because I don't enjoy man dating. I also feel like joining one is basically like buying friends :rolleyes:
 
Just don't pledge pike.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling
 
LOL pike was one of the ones I was looking at actually.....they seem like nice people but everyone knows about the "roofy" stories
 
Look into alpha epsilon delta, the chapter at UA is really good, I don't know about other schools however. Use greekrank.com


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling
 
Yea I'm not too sure about greek rank either. I'll be going to UGA, and the friends I have at UGA usually talk about FIJI being one of the better frats on campus. Greek rank has them somewhere in the middle of the pack.
 
Bluto385 said:
+1

It's no more "buying friends" than paying tuition is.
Click to expand...

I mean, I would conjecture that it is certainly more buying friends than paying tuition, but the idea that people join frats to buy friends is a bit silly. I'm not affiliated with Greek life in any way though. It doesn't suit my personality, although being competitive in rec sports is appealing. To each his own i suppose
 
blueshockey said:
I mean, I would conjecture that it is certainly more buying friends than paying tuition, but the idea that people join frats to buy friends is a bit silly. I'm not affiliated with Greek life in any way though. It doesn't suit my personality, although being competitive in rec sports is appealing. To each his own i suppose
Click to expand...

My point is that there is no one person in the fraternity is putting your money into their personal bank account. ALL of the money is pooled together and spent on fraternity events and house maintenance, much as tuition pays for both educational and social resources that the university provides.
 
Bluto385 said:
My point is that there is no one person in the fraternity is putting your money into their personal bank account. ALL of the money is pooled together and spent on fraternity events and house maintenance, much as tuition pays for both educational and social resources that the university provides.
Click to expand...

I would agree with that statement. If the frat wasn't using those fees to improve themselves, you're probably affiliated with a bad frat. To anyone that says people do it to buy friends is already holding an obvious prejudice in the first place.
 
Out of curiosity, for the people involved in frats on this thread, how much are you paying for dues every semester?
 
clutch100 said:
Out of curiosity, for the people involved in frats on this thread, how much are you paying for dues every semester?
Click to expand...

It varies by fraternity and by the undergraduate year. In my fraternity, the pledges would typically pay $800-1000 for their first semester and seniors could pay as low as $600. Sororities are usually about twice as expensive, but they do come with a meal plan.
 
yea Pike at UGA is around 1,000 a semester, with the more expensive frats (like Fiji) around 2,500 a semester.
 
Bluto385 said:
It varies by fraternity and by the undergraduate year. In my fraternity, the pledges would typically pay $800-1000 for their first semester and seniors could pay as low as $600. Sororities are usually about twice as expensive, but they do come with a meal plan.
Click to expand...

I pay about $550, but I don't live in the house - I just pay dues/parlor fee.
 
clutch100 said:
I'm thinking about joining a fraternity next semester. I was wondering if the pledging process takes up enough time to have a detrimental effect on my grades?

I'm planning on taking 12 hours next semester + undergrad research + (maybe) 1-3 of volunteer work a week

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

I've heard more bad stories then good when it comes to pledging/being greek in general.

Is it fun, personally rewarding and a great way to meet and connect with people? Yes.

Will it help you in medical school EC wise? Toss up and arguable both ways, but it definitely can (as long as you do more than fundraising).

Will it help you get into medical school in general? No

Does it have the possibility of harming you? Yes.

As said before, your pledging class probably won't be made up of mostly pre-med's who won't have to study as hard as you do and the time commitment is large, especially your first semester pledging (and probably the whole 4 years since you obviously want to stay committed to it). Also, hazing is a big thing and any true frat that says they don't is lying.

I know everyone here says "but time management and blah blah blah". For every one who I've seen made it, 5 others have had to change majors or consider something else due to grades (anecdotal but worth noting). I think it will make things unnecessarily difficult for you and if you do badly that semester, you're going to regret it down the road and blame the frat for it. I'm personally glad I didn't, but I can understand the appeal. I think you will have a fun time (or not, they say hazing is the best thing you'll never want to do agan) but it won't help at all when it comes to academics and may actually hinder it (Important social night before big exam, some required trip on a weekend you need to study etc etc).

Just think it through before making any commitment.
 
I think it would mostly depend on where you are going and the fraternity you pledge. I'm in a senior in a sorority at a large southern university ranked highly in terms of academics where Greek life is very big. The Greek average GPA is higher than non Greek here. Fraternities here are a big time commitment during the pledge semester, but I definitely know plenty of guys who are premed and are doing very well. I also know plenty of guys who were in fraternities here who are now in med school or top residencies in very competitive specialties. I personally found that being part of Greek life was not detrimental to my grades at all... I went to every single mixer my freshman year and ended with a 3.9 that year. It was motivation to me to get my school work done so I could go to events and kept productivity pretty high. Then again, being in a sorority here is all being showered with presents and love and no hazing. Guys in the fraternities definitely get hazed, to different degrees depending on the fraternity.

When you're going through the rush process, ask to speak to someone who is premed and ask them about advice on pledging and being premed. The experience is going to vary depending on the school and the fraternity. Keep in mind also the financial commitment and not just the time commitment since med school is $$$. I know that here, fraternities cost several thousand a year (the very top ones are probably close to $7000-8000 a year) and the amount that they publish for dues is typically less than you actually spend. Some fraternities have the guys pay extra social fees for mixers and parties. Shirts aren't included in dues either, and shirts are made for pretty much every event. There's also out of town date events that cost several hundred each. So ask what fees are extra on top of dues.
 
Wow, great advice from everyone, thanks. Seems like everyone has a different opinion haha
 
When you look at the "average GPA is higher" defense. Keep in mind that most "higher GPAs" actually equate to a 3.2 vs a 3.0 and most people in frats don't major in pre-medical biology or chemistry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

Lemon Mango
Senior year taking too much on?
Replies
6
Views
635
Lemon Mango
Lemon Mango
D
Do pre-interview updates/letters of interest matter that much?
Replies
1
Views
490
longstoryshorty
longstoryshorty
A
Requesting a deferral for mental health - how much info to give?
Replies
7
Views
476
Moko
Moko
H
How much of a disadvantage is clinical training at a regional campus?
Replies
6
Views
446
Med Ed
Med Ed
D
  • Question
I’m getting a Masters degree in an unrelated field (Finance) at the same time as my bachelors. How much does my Masters GPA matter?
Replies
5
Views
546
candbgirl
C
Top