Being in fraternity and applying to medschool

[341873]

Currently pledging a social fraternity here at my school, My concern isn't that of grades dropping, I understand all that. My main concern is how will med schools look at it. Will they actually look at all the positives (leadership, responsibility, philanthropy) that being in a fraternity gives or will they just consider it for all its negatives; "Oh you must have been involved with a lot of partying and underage drinking". Before anyone says stop now your grades will drop, I've already taken that into account, I'm currently a 2nd year and my grades haven't dropped, if anything they are going up even through the pledge process (for now). I've talked to a lot of other premeds, none of them seem to be involved in greek life so I can't really get a clear answer.

I'm mainly doing this to get involved with my school and network. I figured I'm going to be stressed out as it is with all the studying, I should be able to have something I can enjoy. My main goal in college is to go to med school, I just wanna know if I become initiated in a fraternity will I have this attached stigma when applying to medschool that will actually hurt my chances on getting in. If that's the case I'm willing to drop immediately.

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[akinetopsia]

I think adcoms mainly look at it as a plus, like "Wow, for all the drinking you did, you sure did well in your classes!"

Just kidding of course. I think fraternities are pretty much just another EC on your application, and they could potentially hurt you if the people reading the application have very negative associations with fraternity members. On the other hand, it could help you if by some stroke of luck, your application is read by a gung-ho brother of yours. It could also help you if you had positions of leadership within your chapter, like president, vice president, recruitment chair, etc. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it CAN be a polarizing EC, but at the same time, I think it's still worthwhile to include it.

(I am a Sigma Chi.)

 

[Perrotfish]

Anything more controversial than a soup kitchen will have a stigma for someone, but in general the positive impression that others have of greek life balance it out. There are a lot of fraternity men on ADCOMs. Also even if you decide you don't want it on your resume you don't need to drop the fraternity, you just need to leave it off your application. ECs aren't like grades: you're allowed not to mention some of them.

If you want the leadership to stand out your resume, though, you do actually need to take leadership positions. If you just use the house as a place to party and socialize that's fine but I'd probably leave it off the application.

I am a PKT.

 

[searun]

I was a frat boy but I did not mention it on my med school application. I figured that talking about parties, beer, and sorority girls would not enhance my chances of admission. I had a good time in college but I kept it to myself when I applied to med school. And, no, I was not interested in fraternity leadership, I joined for the parties, beer, and girls like any self respecting frat boy.

 

[akinetopsia]

I was a frat boy but I did not mention it on my med school application. I figured that talking about parties, beer, and sorority girls would not enhance my chances of admission. I had a good time in college but I kept it to myself when I applied to med school. And, no, I was not interested in fraternity leadership, I joined for the parties, beer, and girls like any self respecting frat boy.

Very good point...

I wouldn't list my fraternity if I had only been involved in the social aspect. If it came up somehow during a tour or interview (but why would it unless you saw your interviewer wearing a Greek ring/necklace/etc, I doubt interviewers are big letter rockers.), I'd mention it.

Maybe we should make a new SDN rule? Unless you were one of the big-3/big-4 positions in your chapter, don't list it? LOL

(In my mind that would be pres/vice pres/recruitment, possibly another kind of chair like philanthropy or scholarship).

 

[Barney Stinson]

Very good point...

I wouldn't list my fraternity if I had only been involved in the social aspect. If it came up somehow during a tour or interview (but why would it unless you saw your interviewer wearing a Greek ring/necklace/etc, I doubt interviewers are big letter rockers.), I'd mention it.

Maybe we should make a new SDN rule? Unless you were one of the big-3/big-4 positions in your chapter, don't list it? LOL

(In my mind that would be pres/vice pres/recruitment, possibly another kind of chair like philanthropy or scholarship).

I would definitely think that Philanthropy Chair (or Service Chair, etc) would be worthwhile to mention on an application - provided, of course, that you actually did something with the position.

 

[OrangeRoost]

Anything more controversial than a soup kitchen will have a stigma for someone, but in general the positive impression that others have of greek life balance it out. There are a lot of fraternity men on ADCOMs. Also even if you decide you don't want it on your resume you don't need to drop the fraternity, you just need to leave it off your application. ECs aren't like grades: you're allowed not to mention some of them.

If you want the leadership to stand out your resume, though, you do actually need to take leadership positions. If you just use the house as a place to party and socialize that's fine but I'd probably leave it off the application.

I am a PKT.

I'm definitely mentioning my leadership roles in my fraternity, because it shows you can lead in a non-academic/honor-related club.

Also a PKT. Damn Proud.

 

[BigRedBeta]

I'm a proud fraternity alumnus, and I DID mention my experience on my med school app. It's all about how you spin it. I think it's important to be honest about what your experience really was and what it meant to your undergrad experience. There are fraternities and Greek systems that run the gamut of being beneficial to awfully detrimental. If the fraternity is something that you've managed to do in spite of being a pre-med, then it's probably not worth listing. If the fraternity serves as an inspiration and source of motivation (which is what my experience was), then why would you even hesitate to list it? It's a matter of showing the adcom that the experience was worthwhile.

 

[MSTPlease]

I actually wrote my personal statement about a conflict that came up when I was president of my fraternity as well as many secondary essays. I agree that it's all about how you spin it. You will know better than anyone else when it's time to apply if it's worth talking about based on what kind of experiences you can talk about. I held an appointed or elected position every semester after the one I pledged (60 member house), so for me it was a no-brainer to mention it.