Greek MD (good idea?)

[GujuDoctor]

I am a current freshman going into my spring semester at a university. I have been considering joining an Indian social fraternity at my college and am wondering if I would be making the right choice. Just some background info. This semester I did go out a lot however was able to get a 3.46 GPA. I realize it isn't enough for medical school but I am determined to bring it up and I hear that joining a frat helps gain time management skills.Further, I am worried if joining a social frat would look bad on a medical school application? I'm open to hearing all types of advice (be it frat-bashing or not). Thanks for your help!

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[Jarudy]

I am a current freshman going into my spring semester at a university. I have been considering joining an Indian social fraternity at my college and am wondering if I would be making the right choice. Just some background info. This semester I did go out a lot however was able to get a 3.46 GPA. I realize it isn't enough for medical school but I am determined to bring it up and I hear that joining a frat helps gain time management skills.Further, I am worried if joining a social frat would look bad on a medical school application? I'm open to hearing all types of advice (be it frat-bashing or not). Thanks for your help!

Being involved with things never hurts, but making it the sole focus of your future application would be bad

 

[varsityblue]

I am a current freshman going into my spring semester at a university. I have been considering joining an Indian social fraternity at my college and am wondering if I would be making the right choice. Just some background info. This semester I did go out a lot however was able to get a 3.46 GPA. I realize it isn't enough for medical school but I am determined to bring it up and I hear that joining a frat helps gain time management skills.Further, I am worried if joining a social frat would look bad on a medical school application? I'm open to hearing all types of advice (be it frat-bashing or not). Thanks for your help!

I rushed "the best" NPC sorority on my campus last semester and ended up not pledging due to the amount of time they required me to be in the house and to attend mixer parties/keggers with other frats. (I also felt really pressured by the other girls to dump my long distance boyfriend in favor of a replacement in fratland.) The frat you wish to join may be significantly different in mindset and you may find that there are several other equally motivated students who share your aspiration to attend medical school. (As a point of reference, none of the girls in my sorority had any interest beyond getting their MRS degree.) I'd say your best bet is to go through with the rush process and see if the guys there are supportive and non-demanding on your study/EC time. If you find that after a few weeks it's a good fit, stick with the frat. The parties will likely continue to be fun irrespective of whether you join or not. I've found that being friends with a lot of different people on campus gives me access to a wide range of party options every weekend; if you don't end up joining, maybe befriend a bunch of sorority girls and frat guys.

N.B. If you need to work on time management skills, I strongly discourage you from both rushing and pledging.

 

[gettheleadout]

There's always a chance the person who reads your application at a school will have a bias for/against any particular thing. That said, Greek involvement is common enough that I wouldn't forgo it simply for fear of it looking bad on you (unless you boast of beer pong and slampieces in your description on the application.)

A warning though: Frat involvement can lead to time management skills, as you said, but sometimes in a sink-or-swim fashion. Pledging is a big time commitment, and you run the risk of losing control completely if you don't make sure to stay on top of allotting time to everything else you need to get done.

That said, if time management was part of the reason your GPA wasn't higher this past semester, pledging might be a bad way to try and gain the skills you need to raise your GPA.

 

[Cambino]

There's always a chance the person who reads your application at a school will have a bias for/against any particular thing.

If you're insecure with the thought that an adcom will have a bias against your Greek involvement, you don't need to disclose it on the application. Just sayin'.
In fact, if they are unbiased, they're not going to care unless you had an influential leadership position that made a mark on the community in which you reside.

 

[Omppu27]

GDI 4 life!!!

 

[235788]

I did it and loved every second of it. I would recommend doing it. Don't do it for your medical school application, do it for you. You meet tons of people whom can get you into other things and help you along the way (Prestigious honor societies that run things on campus).

 

[Music MD]

It's a totally personal decision.. forget about medical school when your thinking about it, its not so relavent. No one will hold a bias, its far too common. If you do decide greek life is for you, it will certainly present endless volunteer opportunities/leadership roles. If anything greek comes up in interviews it will be about the leadership positions so take advantage.

 

[Double Trouble]

If you got a 3.46 without a frat, you probably won't make higher than that when you are in one. Indian greeks are stupid anyway, they party way too much. It's like being in high school all over again... you will start to worry about fitting in more so than your grades.


You came onto an online forum and asked this question... is being in a frat really for you? If you have doubts, then don't join, its not worth the pledging.

Btw, do you go to college in TX?

 

[dartmed]

I am a current freshman going into my spring semester at a university. I have been considering joining an Indian social fraternity at my college and am wondering if I would be making the right choice. Just some background info. This semester I did go out a lot however was able to get a 3.46 GPA. I realize it isn't enough for medical school but I am determined to bring it up and I hear that joining a frat helps gain time management skills.Further, I am worried if joining a social frat would look bad on a medical school application? I'm open to hearing all types of advice (be it frat-bashing or not). Thanks for your help!

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't. I am going to be honest. It's going to get more brutal from now on. If you can't keep up the GPA next semester, you are going to put yourself in a bad position. Get the GPA up to a 3.7, and then go join a frat. A frat can be extremely distracting. Requires good time management skills. Lots of peer pressure...

Perhaps join student organizations?

 

[DrBowtie]

An Indian Frat? What?

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Frats providing time management skills...that's a new one.

 

[GooDooG]

Frats providing time management skills...that's a new one.

haha this. OP don't join for time management skills but if you're interested in pursing an ec that helps you meet people certainly do it. i've heard of several people who got into md/phd or med schools from frats so of course it's possible.

 

[nysw]

Pledging is an extremely time consuming experience. I highly suggest getting your GPA up and your time management skills in order first, otherwise your GPA is going to end up tanking. You're still young and have many many semesters to try out Greek life.. I suggest waiting.

Also, being in a sorority hasn't hurt me in apps to my knowledge. I did use my position as fundraising and social chairs and new member director elect as examples of leadership. Contrary to popular belief, all of the billion chairs each org has IS really important. No one in interviews has indicated that they felt otherwise, and most people have been really receptive to it.

Feel free to PM if you have any other questions about Greek life

 

[nickelbackfan]

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[typicalindian]

I agree, I rushed a frat this past semester (I am in my sophomore year). I ended up getting straight's A's with a school load consisting of med school pre reqs and weed out engineering classes. The way I did it? I only went out once a week and never to our socials (they were on thursdays). The key was time management but its definitely doable

yeah but you also like nickelback so how many friends can you possibly have to go out with? (jk jk )

@ op, there are a lot of indian frats at my school and almost all of those kids in the indian frats are a just wasting their time and money by even attending college, theres nothing advantageous about it, especially if it is a social fraternity.

 

[dr zaius]

I was greek. It served as a talking point for a few of the interviews. If you can handle the time commitment and feel that you mesh well with the organization, go for it. My fraternity was a little unique (lots of video games, nights drinking at the house ALWAYS devolved into discussing string theory, quantum mechanics, religion, and/or politics. Luckily this usually happened around 2am which was when the sorority girls had to leave due to their rules anyway). I met some of my best friends through the organization and did a whole lot of community service during my time as an active brother.