ADVICE NEEDED: Being president of a fraternity: good, bad, or neither?

[mtnhawkdoc]

Hello everyone.

I am currently a sophomore and am considering taking on the role of being the president of my fraternity for my junior year. I'm looking for some more experienced perspectives on how admissions officers would view this position. I know that it would be a great deal of work but it would also provide a strong foundation for me to show off my leadership skills to med schools, a quality that I think sets me apart from other potential applicants. I would have the experience of balancing a 6 figure budget, forming close relationships with university administration, and designing/fundraising/marketing various philanthropic events on top of the social (professional?) experience of not only coexisting with but also managing 45 people and motivating them to get involved with the events we plan.


I know that this would work wonders on a business student's resume, but is this kind of experience even applicable to a medical career? I'm also worried that the negative stereotypes associated with greek life could affect how a potential med school admissions officer views the position and thus me as an applicant. As I said before, the position is a major time commitment that would be on top of the pressures of keeping up grades, MCAT studying, research, and extracurriculars. I certainly would learn a lot and would most likely become a better person because of it, but I don't want to sacrifice so much of my valuable time and energy into a position if the experience that I would gain wouldn't be well reflected on my application.

Thanks for the help!

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[Nymphicus]

Leadership position is always good assuming no drop in grades, MCAT, etc.

 

[angemon89]

I totally led the most raging parties, adcom brah

But seriously, if anything it shows leadership. As long as your grades are good, your other EC's are medically related/research, and your FB photo isn't of you doing a keg stand then you should be fine.

 

[Geebeejay]

if anything, it will show adcoms that you'll last longer at christmas parties.

 

[deleted329605]

Depends on the type of frat imo.

 

[Wipeout416]

Being president of a fraternity is a close to full time job.. let alone classes, ECs, etc. Definitely worth putting this on your app, and even maybe get a letter from you nationals if your did a good job at it.

 

[Praefectus]

It definitely looks good because of leadership. However, keep in mind that it sucks to have to deal with all of the little things every single day. I was on exec for mine, but I would never dream of running for president because I saw firsthand how stressful that job can be.

 

[Law2Doc]

Leadership is good. Being in a social fraternity does carry some stigma (Animal House) and will rub some people the wrong way. If your CV is extensive I would consider leaving this off. I did.

 

[goodkarma]

I agree, leadership positions are always great! I was president of my sorority, along with other chair positions. It ended up being one of my three most meaningful activities on my AMCAS application (you get to pick three out of fifteen to write an extra essay on). My boyfriend, who is in M1 now, was also Greek and said he connected with a lot of his interviewers because of his leadership experience in Greek Life.

Just a word of caution though, being president of a Greek organiation comes with big responsibility as you probably know. If anything bad happens (God forbid) while you're president, you could be held legally responsible for your members, which could be a problem if something ends up on your record for your school or otherwise. It's rare, but I've known it to happen, especially if you're a fraternity who hosts parties and mixers. I obviously didn't let it hold me back. Good luck!