Is starting a Frat helpful for med school?

[skins38]

Hey,

So I am currently a freshman at a pretty large state school, and I have the opportunity to start a pretty big Frat (FIJI) on campus. This group seems to be one of the more academics oriented Frats, and I have the chance to be one of the first members, which means that I would have almost instant leadership and philanthropic roles. I'm not very particular when it comes to greek life, and am not very particular in joining a frat. However, how does this differ from starting another club? Obviously Frats have a negative connotation that med schools definitely know about. But I would have the chance to possibly turn it away from "partying" and more towards academics, as I would have leadership. Is this worth it, or should I focus on trying to delve into something else that would be more beneficial for my chances to med school? I definitely would not want to do something that is eventually harmful to my chances in my future desired field.

Thanks in advance!

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[RogueBanana]

I was a founding member of a big chapter at my school. It was a great leadership experience and I held a lot of major roles (academics, president, recruitment etc..)

It has gotten nothing but positive remarks from interviewers. Though I did call it a "Greek Letter Organization" and not a Frat on my app. For obvious reasons.

I say list it.

 

[skins38]

I was a founding member of a big chapter at my school. It was a great leadership experience and I held a lot of major roles (academics, president, recruitment etc..)

It has gotten nothing but positive remarks from interviewers. Though I did call it a "Greek Letter Organization" and not a Frat on my app. For obvious reasons.

I say list it.

thank you so much!

 

[Go4Doc]

I was a founding member of a big chapter at my school. It was a great leadership experience and I held a lot of major roles (academics, president, recruitment etc..)

It has gotten nothing but positive remarks from interviewers. Though I did call it a "Greek Letter Organization" and not a Frat on my app. For obvious reasons.

I say list it.

Did you list the actual fraternity you were in (XYZ - Greek Letter Organization) or did you just list the experience as Greek Letter Organization? I was the academics committee chair for mine and I was just planning on putting something like "XYZ Fraternity - Academics Committee Chair".

 

[Ampharos]

I listed my Greek letters and said: XYZ Fraternity. Worked out well for me . Even met an interview who turned out to be a brother!

Starting a fraternity is a lot of hard work, definitely not something to take lightly especially because you'll be starting essentially at the bottom of the campus totem pole. Consider joining a more well established/respected one. Older chapters tend to have more presence which could lead to a better social experience for yourself. Also, chapter reputations vary by school so while your FIJI may be more academically minded, the chapter at my school is most certainly not. No fraternity has a set reputation across the nation that everyone would agree on.

 

[partypantss]

Hey,

So I am currently a freshman at a pretty large state school, and I have the opportunity to start a pretty big Frat (FIJI) on campus. This group seems to be one of the more academics oriented Frats, and I have the chance to be one of the first members, which means that I would have almost instant leadership and philanthropic roles. I'm not very particular when it comes to greek life, and am not very particular in joining a frat. However, how does this differ from starting another club? Obviously Frats have a negative connotation that med schools definitely know about. But I would have the chance to possibly turn it away from "partying" and more towards academics, as I would have leadership. Is this worth it, or should I focus on trying to delve into something else that would be more beneficial for my chances to med school? I definitely would not want to do something that is eventually harmful to my chances in my future desired field.

Thanks in advance!

The multiple leadership positions I held in my Fraternity were, I believe, an important part of my application. However, only do it if it's something you would actually get enjoyment from. Don't just do it for your app. Figure out if it's something you actually want to do.

 

[Mwooster]

I have the opportunity to start a pretty big Frat

It is called a fraternity, not a frat. Would you call your country a c*nt?

 

[Goro]

Not in my book.

Get off campus and go help people less fortunate than yourself.

Hey,

So I am currently a freshman at a pretty large state school, and I have the opportunity to start a pretty big Frat (FIJI) on campus. This group seems to be one of the more academics oriented Frats, and I have the chance to be one of the first members, which means that I would have almost instant leadership and philanthropic roles. I'm not very particular when it comes to greek life, and am not very particular in joining a frat. However, how does this differ from starting another club? Obviously Frats have a negative connotation that med schools definitely know about. But I would have the chance to possibly turn it away from "partying" and more towards academics, as I would have leadership. Is this worth it, or should I focus on trying to delve into something else that would be more beneficial for my chances to med school? I definitely would not want to do something that is eventually harmful to my chances in my future desired field.

Thanks in advance!

 

[cactusman]

It is called a fraternity, not a frat. Would you call your country a c*nt?

See, there's this thing called an abbreviation.

 

[mimelim]

Not in my book.

Get off campus and go help people less fortunate than yourself.

One of my favorite personal statements from a year or so ago went something like this: I joined a frat because that is what baseball players at my school do. It changed my life. I realized that there were two things that I enjoyed more than baseball, organizing things and helping people. I spent the majority of the next 3 years of my undergrad restructuring our frat so that it became known as the most service oriented frat at our school and yes, all the baseball players still join it.

It was a tad corny, but it worked well. At the end of the day, just about anything can be worthwhile when it comes to admissions, the more important consideration that WHAT you are doing is how it is impacting you and others.

 

[chibaddie]

It is called a fraternity, not a frat. Would you call your country a c*nt?

JAKE AND AMIR!

 

[iandraggia]

Hey,

So I am currently a freshman at a pretty large state school, and I have the opportunity to start a pretty big Frat (FIJI) on campus. This group seems to be one of the more academics oriented Frats, and I have the chance to be one of the first members, which means that I would have almost instant leadership and philanthropic roles. I'm not very particular when it comes to greek life, and am not very particular in joining a frat. However, how does this differ from starting another club? Obviously Frats have a negative connotation that med schools definitely know about. But I would have the chance to possibly turn it away from "partying" and more towards academics, as I would have leadership. Is this worth it, or should I focus on trying to delve into something else that would be more beneficial for my chances to med school? I definitely would not want to do something that is eventually harmful to my chances in my future desired field.

Thanks in advance!

Perge! Fellow FIJI here as well. I've heard great things about mentioning leadership while in the fraternity. For instance I started a food recovery initiative while I was a brother and it has been asked about in all of my interviews.


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[ed*26]

I started a sorority on my campus. It was the single most important experience of my undergrad career and I learned a ton about leadership, managing and mobilizing people, and channeling passion into concrete activities. It was an insane amount of work, though, and will cut into time you would maybe rather spend researching, volunteering, and studying, so if this is just for a leadership role you might want to reconsider.

As for applying to medical school, I listed it as one of my most significant activities. In general interviewers didn't bring it up on their own -- which to be fair I had several other relevant activities, but this was by and and away my biggest leadership role -- but after I brought it up it was always very well received. I can't really say how it affected my application.

 

[al22al22]

Absolutely!! I held a few leadership roles in a huge sorority on one of the biggest college campuses and have been able to talk about it in multiple interviews as being one of my more important experiences. It was a channel for me to volunteer through but also to help push other members to volunteer (thus, giving back to the community in greater ways than just one person could do through a hospital volunteer shift) along with offering me a unique leadership experience to talk about.
One thing to keep in mind: as one of the founders of this fraternity at your school, your name is tied to it and the direction it takes. You will have to put in a lot of work to make sure that the fraternity continues to strive for service, academics, etc. in order for your application to benefit from it.

 

[CapuccinoCup123]

I was on exec board for a large fraternity... never came up once in an interview. Obviously starting one is more impressive, but I don't think it will win you interviews in the same way that starting an off-campus benevolent non-profit would