is pledging an OK thing to talk about during an interview

[alee_25]

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Im not talking about the specifics of pledging because most people are boudn to secrecry.. but

if one of the questions is: describe a difficult situation that you faced and how you coped with it. Would referenceing pledging be a reasonable answer?

I am worried that since it is not suppose to happen, it will be looked down upon.

Please let me know yoru imput

 

[junebuguf]

Unless you talk about the specifics, its going to sound like a really lame instance of a difficult situation. And since you (apparently) can't talk about the specifics because of this secrecy clause, it will sound inappropriate if someone on the adcom has pledged.

And even if there is no one on the adcom familiar with pledging, unless your pledge experience included something truly heinous--like assault, sexual or otherwise--I dont see how being bound and gagged or kicked in the nuts or whatever they do to you is going to solicit sympathy since you clearly opted to pledge knowing full well that you could leave at any time, and moreover, paid for the privilege

In summary, you should avoid talking about your pledge incident as a difficult experience.

 

[alee_25]

maybe not necessary as a difficutl experience, but

do you think that it is ok to reference in terms of other questions? or is that a no-no

 

[junebuguf]

It would be fine for other questions as long as you don't reveal the details of the experience since you're not allowed to. Avoid anything that could get you in trouble, or at least frowned upon.

 

[Disinence2]

I would highly avoid it! Of course I refused to take part in any activity sponsored by greek letters. My school kinda has a certain stigma about them.

To me

1) Joining a organization with strict pointless laws shows you’re a follower and don’t have enough initiative to start something new
2) You can’t find meaningful volunteer or community service opportunities unless you have to for your little club.
3) There’s a possibility you’re a hard core binge drinker

PS. Why would u ever let any other human being do anything that could be considered an “obstacle” to be in some stupid club?

I truly wish someone would explain this to me. At the ER at my school I’ve seen some horrible near death “hazing” incidence.

 

[colbgw02]

if one of the questions is: describe a difficult situation that you faced and how you coped with it. Would referenceing pledging be a reasonable answer?

i would not reference pledging during a medical school interview.

the vast majority of people who will be interviewing you will be much older and much more removed from fraternity/sorority experiences than you are.

even if those with whom you interview are familiar with the greek undergraduate experience, they are unlikely to lend any sort of credence to your experiences.

this is coming from someone who was asked, "when was the last time you were drunk?", during their medical school interview.

 

[Falco2525]

Medical schools look poorly upon greek organizations because of the stigma associated with them...in summary no do not mention it

 

[instigata]

only if you got lucky with 4 or more girls 😉

 

[kevster2001]

I dont think having to stick something up your pooper or getting your greek letters branded on your arm counts as a meaningful stressful situation

 

[Law2Doc]

Medical schools look poorly upon greek organizations because of the stigma associated with them...in summary no do not mention it

Med schools don't frown on greek organizations per se, and you can certainly use any leadership positions you may have held, or charitable efforts you may have done in such group, to your advantage in an application. But a given adcom member or interviewer may certainly have preconceived notions about fraternities, or have not received admission to one, and so the pledging process itself is probably not a great focus. Hazing certainly doesn't count as a good difficult experience to use. I personally left all evidence of those fraternity days off the application.

 

[riceman04]

Im not talking about the specifics of pledging because most people are boudn to secrecry.. but

if one of the questions is: describe a difficult situation that you faced and how you coped with it. Would referenceing pledging be a reasonable answer?

I am worried that since it is not suppose to happen, it will be looked down upon.

Please let me know yoru imput

Unless you know that your interviewer is frat or soror then I would leave that alone.

 

[Depakote]

Medical schools look poorly upon greek organizations because of the stigma associated with them...in summary no do not mention it

Totally. I had a friend who was Phi Beta Kappa... Couldn't get in anywhere.

Seriously, what's your basis for this?

As a member of a fraternity that did a lot of good community service while I was an active member, I fail to see how it would be a negative. It also let me hold a leadership role and grow as a person. Both things med schools hate to see.

 

[BucsFan813]

i would not reference pledging during a medical school interview.

the vast majority of people who will be interviewing you will be much older and much more removed from fraternity/sorority experiences than you are.

even if those with whom you interview are familiar with the greek undergraduate experience, they are unlikely to lend any sort of credence to your experiences.

this is coming from someone who was asked, "when was the last time you were drunk?", during their medical school interview.

Although I'm not greek, I disagree for the following reasons:

1. The organization provides structure to start new/innovative community service activities as well as demonstrating continued commitment to one or two projects (long-term commitment to one or two projects is valued higher)

2. Gives you an opportunity to demonstrate teamwork in working with those inside and outside of your organization (fundraising, service etc)

3. Indicates that you have a life and interests outside of bio/orgo lab.

However, if all you did was use your organization to party and have a good time, then I wouldn't mention it either.

 

[notdeadyet]

Alee, you'll find that folks have discussed this ad naseum, and there are pretty much two camps of thought:

Don't talk about Greek life:
1. They are elitist organizations by nature (particularly re: allowing poor members)
2. They do not have great diversity track records
3. Herd mentality
4. Underage drinking/date rape

Do talk about Greek life:
1. Shows initiative
2. Orgs do lots of good works volunteering
3. Leadership potential
4. Life outside of premed

Folks have pretty defined opinions on Greek life. My personal opinion would be to talk about aspects of Greek life as they directly affect your applicatioin (leadership role you played, volunteer work you did, etc.). These strengthen your application. I don't see a lot of upside to bringing up Greek life for its own sake. Paying dues doesn't say much.

I personally wouldn't use hazing/pledging as an example of a difficult situation you faced. If the most difficult thing you can think to talk about was hazing/pledging, it might reinforce stereotypes in some people's minds of Greeks coming from privilaged backgrounds.

 

[Kikaku21]

Although I'm not greek, I disagree for the following reasons:

1. The organization provides structure to start new/innovative community service activities as well as demonstrating continued commitment to one or two projects (long-term commitment to one or two projects is valued higher)

2. Gives you an opportunity to demonstrate teamwork in working with those inside and outside of your organization (fundraising, service etc)

3. Indicates that you have a life and interests outside of bio/orgo lab.

However, if all you did was use your organization to party and have a good time, then I wouldn't mention it either.

Frats suck. End of story. Next question.

 

[notdeadyet]

Totally. I had a friend who was Phi Beta Kappa... Couldn't get in anywhere.

I think that there are pretty obvious differences between social fraternities and honor societies.

I agree with you on the point that not all adcoms will have a negative association with greek life. There is a stigma for some, but that doesn't mean everyone buys into it.

 

[Depakote]

Frats suck. End of story. Next question.

Thanks for that well-argued, elloquent contribution to the discussion.

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

Im not talking about the specifics of pledging because most people are boudn to secrecry.. but

if one of the questions is: describe a difficult situation that you faced and how you coped with it. Would referenceing pledging be a reasonable answer?

I am worried that since it is not suppose to happen, it will be looked down upon.

Please let me know yoru imput

I wouldn't go near pledging if I were you unless your experience was full of sunshine and lollipops. I have quite a few negative things to say about my own pledging process so I knew it was better for me to steer clear of it in case I slip and mention something bad. I did talk about my role in the fraternity and all the opportunities it provided me. There are many positives to being a part of Greek life, mention those!

 

[gotmeds?]

If your pledging activities involved any hazing then they were probably in violation of your school's rules (if not the law). So mentioning that you did something illegal or unethical to join a club would probably be frowned upon. Not to mention that if you tell adcomm that pledging a frat was the biggest challenge you had to overcome, it shows a lack of life experience. Besides, no one wants to hear about the elephant walk.

 

[DoctaJay]

Im not talking about the specifics of pledging because most people are boudn to secrecry.. but

if one of the questions is: describe a difficult situation that you faced and how you coped with it. Would referenceing pledging be a reasonable answer?

I am worried that since it is not suppose to happen, it will be looked down upon.

Please let me know yoru imput

As an Adventist, I advise that you avoid that conversation with LLU, because fraternaties aren't looked upon so favorably, especially when they might think that hazing, or drinking, or other acts of the sort took place.

 

[Nickelpennykid]

I would highly avoid it! Of course I refused to take part in any activity sponsored by greek letters. My school kinda has a certain stigma about them.

To me

1) Joining a organization with strict pointless laws shows you’re a follower and don’t have enough initiative to start something new
2) You can’t find meaningful volunteer or community service opportunities unless you have to for your little club.
3) There’s a possibility you’re a hard core binge drinker

PS. Why would u ever let any other human being do anything that could be considered an “obstacle” to be in some stupid club?

I truly wish someone would explain this to me. At the ER at my school I’ve seen some horrible near death “hazing” incidence.

This doesn’t come within 15,000 miles of reality.
1.You assume that all Greek organizations have strict / pointless laws. Some do, some don’t, so if you are smart enough to join one that doesn’t, then it can be a good experience. As for being a follower, please do not kid yourself into thinking that because you joined a greek organization that you are the human equivalent of a lemming.
2. Most people in my fraternity, which by the way consisted mostly of athletes, myself included, had meaningful volunteer experiences outside of greek life.
3. You could binge drink sitting in your room with no friends just as easily as you could at a frat.

People that allow themselves to get hazed and wind up in the hospital are just as stupid as those doing the hazing. Do some fraternities haze, obviously, but when you join one where people have larger obligations than social events, then its not a problem.

At both of my interviews, I used my leadership position in my fraternity as a way to demonstrate my diversity as an applicant. Both were impressed by being able to balance Div 1 athletics and a leadership role in a Greek organization.

You make some pretty bold statements considering you have never personally raised these issues in an interview nor having ever been a part of such an organization. As long as you present your experiences in a positive manner, involvement in a greek organization can be a major asset b/c it opens volunteer opportunities and shows you can manage your time well if you are actively involved.

I am by no means the biggest Greek advocate in the world and there are a lot of cases were joining can hurt you academically, but if you are the kind of person that can handle outside commitments, I can speak from experience that there are numerous benefits.

 

[zimmie256]

To the OP:

I would say that the consensus here is not to discuss pledging as a difficult situation you have overcome (for the reasons others posted).

However, I think most would agree that discussing volunteer work or leadership roles through a fraternity/sorority could be advantageous. I think the key is to focus on what you actually did. What volunteer projects were you involved with? Why did you pick those? What did you accomplish? What leadership positions have you held? How did those help you grow as a person? Did you make any beneficial changes in the organization? These are the types of things the adcom wants to hear about. I think as long as you keep the focus on what you did and what you learned rather than the organization through which you did these things, you will be fine.

 

[HailMary]

I'm a proud Greek as well, and I think there are a lot of positive things about fraternity/sorority life that you could talk about in an interview. It's amazing the misconceptions that some people have about organizations they know nothing about. The biggest followers are the ones who blindly accept stereotypes about people without taking the time to do the research themselves. But all ranting aside, remember that hazing is ILLEGAL! I'm no expert, but I'd say that if it could get you arrested, it's probably frowned on in interviews.

 

[DrBowtie]

I would highly avoid it! Of course I refused to take part in any activity sponsored by greek letters. My school kinda has a certain stigma about them.

To me

1) Joining a organization with strict pointless laws shows you’re a follower and don’t have enough initiative to start something new
2) You can’t find meaningful volunteer or community service opportunities unless you have to for your little club.
3) There’s a possibility you’re a hard core binge drinker

PS. Why would u ever let any other human being do anything that could be considered an “obstacle” to be in some stupid club?

I truly wish someone would explain this to me. At the ER at my school I’ve seen some horrible near death “hazing” incidence.

Because I am such a follower, I guess I shouldn't mention being a founding father of a new colony at my school

All of your views are stereotypical. Some fraternities do some of the things you mentioned but you will find as much variance among the chapters at your school as you will within the chapters of a national fraternity.

 

[21JumpStreet]

Im not talking about the specifics of pledging because most people are boudn to secrecry.. but

if one of the questions is: describe a difficult situation that you faced and how you coped with it. Would referenceing pledging be a reasonable answer?

I am worried that since it is not suppose to happen, it will be looked down upon.

Please let me know yoru imput

I would say no. You can talk about a difficult situation that you had at work and how you resolved it. Let's say if you had a problem with a boss and you both worked it out.

 

[nervousivy]

I would highly avoid it! Of course I refused to take part in any activity sponsored by greek letters. My school kinda has a certain stigma about them.

To me

1) Joining a organization with strict pointless laws shows you’re a follower and don’t have enough initiative to start something new
2) You can’t find meaningful volunteer or community service opportunities unless you have to for your little club.
3) There’s a possibility you’re a hard core binge drinker

PS. Why would u ever let any other human being do anything that could be considered an “obstacle” to be in some stupid club?

I truly wish someone would explain this to me. At the ER at my school I’ve seen some horrible near death “hazing” incidence.

Should be in bed...but ya...I think your argument just shows your ignorance surrounding sororities and fraternities. Most of my community service was done through my sorority and I definitely know that I got a lot more out of doing service with my sorority, than just volunteering on my own in a hospital. Since you are a member of an organized group that means way more people power/opportunities for creating and executing service projects.

To the OP: No, I would not talk about my pledge process. That's inappropriate and while pledging is difficult and challenging, try to find something else to mention. When I mention my sorority, I stress the leadership opportunities and service that I have done, etc.

 

[SitraAchra]

Should be in bed...but ya...I think your argument just shows your ignorance surrounding sororities and fraternities. Most of my community service was done through my sorority and I definitely know that I got a lot more out of doing service with my sorority, than just volunteering on my own in a hospital. Since you are a member of an organized group that means way more people power/opportunities for creating and executing service projects.

To the OP: No, I would not talk about my pledge process. That's inappropriate and while pledging is difficult and challenging, try to find something else to mention. When I mention my sorority, I stress the leadership opportunities and service that I have done, etc.

The problem is when greek organizations have to fulfill their requirement for service projects so they do some facade of a project like a pancake breakfast where everyone just donates money.

It's interesting that you compare volunteering on your own at a hospital versus having a group organize an event and volunteer that way. Honestly, I think you gain more by going out there and doing it on your own. However that's just my opinion.

 

[Nickelpennykid]

It's interesting that you compare volunteering on your own at a hospital versus having a group organize an event and volunteer that way. Honestly, I think you gain more by going out there and doing it on your own. However that's just my opinion.

That's a great approach to medicine, please share that with an adcom so that you can get rejected and there will be more seats for the rest of us. Working / volunteering as a group, espically in a hospital setting is what you are going to be doing if you do clinical medicine. Medicine requires that you work together...I am pretty sure that no matter how good you are, you still can't know everything and have to rely on other. That would consitiutate a group setting.

 

[nervousivy]

The problem is when greek organizations have to fulfill their requirement for service projects so they do some facade of a project like a pancake breakfast where everyone just donates money.

It's interesting that you try to compare volunteering on your own at a hospital versus having a group organize an event and volunteer that way. Honestly, I think you gain more by going out there and doing it on your own. However that's just my opinion.

Just for clarification...My sorority is heavily community service based. We organize and run a weekly tutoring program at a local elementary school, clothing drives, fundraisers for different health causes, etc. We don't put on any "facades." We actually do work and for the majority of ugrad, at least 2x a week I was off somewhere either tutoring, doing a community clean up, hosting a student forum, etc. Also, my sorority is a historically Black one and from what I noticed, ethnic sororities and frats usually do more hands on community work versus the philanthropy-centered efforts of historically White ones.

I've done the individual hospital volunteering and while I liked it, I much prefer doing service through the sorority, because I do different types of service projects, both medically related and non-medically related. Also, we're primarily responsible for organizing the project, whereas with hospital volunteering, most of those places have already constructed 'programs' and they just match you to a dept. That doesn't show much initiative in my opinion.

 

[Disinence2]

ha I was wondering how long it would take for someone to argue with me! I’m actually fairly disappointed it took as long as it did. (Gotta find some entertaining way to wait for my MCAT scores) Each university has a different feel to its greek life. I perfectly understand that it can be a positive experience given the right circumstances at the right school. In the two weeks at my school a fraternity member killed someone in a DUI, and two frat members shot (yes with a gun) a sorority member who insulted them. Ill keep you posted as to what this weeks event is as I’m sure something will come up.

So all you greek like members, what has your organization offered you that could not have been done in an open, community friendly way?

Just remember. Most stereotypes have at least a hint of truth!

Please note that I never said "all greek life is bad", So don't put words in my mouth then call me ignorant.

 

[Nickelpennykid]

ha I was wondering how long it would take for someone to argue with me! I’m actually fairly disappointed it took as long as it did. (Gotta find some entertaining way to wait for my MCAT scores) Each university has a different feel to its greek life. I perfectly understand that it can be a positive experience given the right circumstances at the right school. In the two weeks at my school a fraternity member killed someone in a DUI, and two frat members shot (yes with a gun) a sorority member who insulted them. Ill keep you posted as to what this weeks event is as I’m sure something will come up.

So all you greek like members, what has your organization offered you that could not have been done in an open, community friendly way?

Just remember. Most stereotypes have at least a hint of truth!

Please note that I never said "all greek life is bad", So don't put words in my mouth then call me ignorant.

The DUI and gunshot assclowns are idiots. The fraternity did not make them do it, thier general inability to be contributing human beings did. I hope the one's that shot the girl are sterile.

"Most stereotypes have at least a hint of truth" - you are ignorant. I said it.

 

[Disinence2]

ok...well lets think about this for a second.

So you are telling me that out there, there is not one single frat member who binge drinks on weekends, has unprotected sex with multiple partners, urinates in public, and generally creates a public disturbance.

Trust me I’ve seen one. Therefore your wrong, stereotypical people do exist, that’s why stereotypes perpetuate.

It looks like your well on your way to fitting in!

PS. Does it occur to anyone out there that perhaps I was in a greek organization, and that’s why I have such strong views?