Pharmacy School and Frats

[714]

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Do a lot of students in pharmacy school join frats? I know it's probably good for networking but Greek life is so damn exhausting and I got burnt out on it in undergrad already.

 

[DrDrugs2012]

That depends on the school you attend. Some schools have overwhelming participation with upwards of 70% of the class while others are far, far lower. While most chapters still have an element of "frat" life, the key is to remember that it is more about the network you can establish... and graduate school is 50% about networking.

 

[Skrumpy]

Do a lot of students in pharmacy school join frats? I know it's probably good for networking but Greek life is so damn exhausting and I got burnt out on it in undergrad already.

Was kind of wondering this myself so I asked a couple of 1st-4th years at my school. They all joined one of the frats and were also heavily involved in other areas. They said it was worth it to get involved in as many things as you can handle without your grades suffering too much. One also said there are 3-4 different frats and one is known as the "party frat" so you may want to avoid that kind of environment if you are burned out on that kind of activity.

 

[714]

Sounds like joining one is inevitable and you'll feel the pressure to do so by the majority of the class who do join one.

 

[PharmerInPNW]

Sounds like joining one is inevitable and you'll feel the pressure to do so by the majority of the class who do join one.

Personally, I think this is a bad way to look at it. Don't join one because other people are and you feel pressured to join.

 

[pharm B]

Sounds like joining one is inevitable and you'll feel the pressure to do so by the majority of the class who do join one.

It's not inevitable. The frats are fun, but by no means mandatory. It's great for networking, but only you can decide if you have the time. Besides, most people join several organizations their first year. They trim down as they progress.

Example: P1s might join SNPhA, APhA, SSHP, NCPA, and god knows what else. By P3 year, they're an officer in one of the above groups, a committee chair or member in another, and maybe a member of a frat.

Feel free to explore. Don't feel obligated.

 

[714]

Do a lot of people who join pharmacy frats come from other frats in their undergrad?

 

[NaOH]

Do a lot of people who join pharmacy frats come from other frats in their undergrad?

Speaking only for myself, I never had any interest in undergrad fraternities.

 

[pharm B]

Aside from joining one of the pharmacy frats in undergrad, I haven't seen any link between the undergrad frats and the pharmacy ones. We have several brothers in my chapter that were leaders in their undergrad frats.

 

[tifflj2004]

Do a lot of people who join pharmacy frats come from other frats in their undergrad?

I was not a big fan of Greek life in undergrad, but that totally depends on what school you attended. I joined a co-ed pharmacy fraternity my P1 year and looking back as a P4, it was the best decision I made for networking and having a "family" on campus. I would say 90% of our members were not involved in Greek life in undergrad.
I think there are many pharmacy fraternities that have an entirely different way of doing things vs. undergrad fraternities. Definitely consider checking them out as a P1 and go from there.

 

[Illinette2012]

A decent amount of my class chose to join one of the two fraternities we have. Looking back on my P1 year as it's wrapping up now, I think choosing to join was one of the best decisions I made this year. I've already seen the networking opportunities and it's helped me become very involved. If I hadn't joined, I don't think I'd know as many P2 and P3 students as well, and they've been very helpful this year. It's definitely worth checking out as a P1 to see if it is something you would be interested in.

I was involved in greek life in undergrad as well and this is completely different. It's much more professional and is not centered around partying (my undergrad greek system was).

 

[714]

Everyone's undergrad greek system was centered around partying which was why I am reluctant to get back into the greek system. I am interested in checking a few out now that I've gotten some more information about it though

 

[BenJammin]

Generally speaking, pharmacy greek life is completely different from undergrad greek life.

 

[DrDrugs2012]

I promise you this much: if you don't see yourself wanting to have a beer and shoot the proverbial doo-doo with at least half of the faculty you meet at a school, its probably not a place to want to be. Being able to socialize with your faculty is one of the aspects of 'networking' which applies to all graduate schools.

 

[PharmerInPNW]

Everyone's undergrad greek system was centered around partying which was why I am reluctant to get back into the greek system. I am interested in checking a few out now that I've gotten some more information about it though

From my personal experiences with greek life, saying that all undergrad frats are centered around partying is pretty harsh. Do parties occur on a weekly basis in the majority of them? Sure, but what you aren't looking at is the hundreds of hours of volunteering that the Fraternities/Sororities participate in, the many events (sober) that greek life puts on, and the large amount of great people that you can meet. I am currently in a Fraternity, and I can tell you that the attitude of "all you do is party" pretty much sums up the type of person that we don't want. Doesn't mean that partying doesn't occur, but you get the point.

 

[714]

From my personal experiences with greek life, saying that all undergrad frats are centered around partying is pretty harsh. Do parties occur on a weekly basis in the majority of them? Sure, but what you aren't looking at is the hundreds of hours of volunteering that the Fraternities/Sororities participate in, the many events (sober) that greek life puts on, and the large amount of great people that you can meet. I am currently in a Fraternity, and I can tell you that the attitude of "all you do is party" pretty much sums up the type of person that we don't want. Doesn't mean that partying doesn't occur, but you get the point.

I understand what you're saying but you're also rehashing the same thing that we all said when we were told all we do is party. "We volunteer and do philanthropy!" I never said partying all the time was bad. I'm just not into that lifestyle anymore which is why I was questioning joining another frat in pharmacy school.

Volunteering and philanthropy work is fine but don't use it to excuse the fact you party a lot like you need to defend yourself for it. So you like to party more often than others. It's not a big deal.

 

[BenJammin]

I understand what you're saying but you're also rehashing the same thing that we all said when we were told all we do is party. "We volunteer and do philanthropy!" I never said partying all the time was bad. I'm just not into that lifestyle anymore which is why I was questioning joining another frat in pharmacy school.

Volunteering and philanthropy work is fine but don't use it to excuse the fact you party a lot like you need to defend yourself for it. So you like to party more often than others. It's not a big deal.

Not to echo my previous post but the stigma with social frats is a 180 from your pharmacy frats generally speaking. You are completely right that the "volunteer and philanthropy" scam is prevalent in your TKEs and Delta Gammas. Not so much in the big 3 pharmacy ones. Every school differs.

 

[beargirl200308]

Everyone's undergrad greek system was centered around partying which was why I am reluctant to get back into the greek system. I am interested in checking a few out now that I've gotten some more information about it though

This generalization is very disturbing. Not EVERYONE'S undergrad greek system is centered on partying & every administration will tell you that. If that is all that you got out of ur undergrad days then I think that you weren't heavily involved in greek life to begin with. I was in a latina social sorority as an undergrad and I got so much more than partying out of it. In fact every other president that I met (IFC, NPHC, or NPC) was so wrapped up in their duties to their organizations that they didn't have time to party. The same is said for other people that I met that were heavily involved in running their organizations: they didn't have much time to party. As an alumni and a part of national management for my sorority this is the very stereotype that all greeks try to combat on a daily basis. The fact that you are just perpetuating this stereotype makes me wish that u would turn in ur letters. As with any organization you get out of it what you put into it and that goes for greek organizations. I'm sorry if I do come across as harsh but perpetuating the greek stereotype just gets me upset.

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[Sugoi Travis]

This generalization is very disturbing. Not EVERYONE'S undergrad greek system is centered on partying & every administration will tell you that. If that is all that you got out of ur undergrad days then I think that you weren't heavily involved in greek life to begin with. I was in a latina social sorority as an undergrad and I got so much more than partying out of it. In fact every other president that I met (IFC, NPHC, or NPC) was so wrapped up in their duties to their organizations that they didn't have time to party. The same is said for other people that I met that were heavily involved in running their organizations: they didn't have much time to party. As an alumni and a part of national management for my sorority this is the very stereotype that all greeks try to combat on a daily basis. The fact that you are just perpetuating this stereotype makes me wish that u would turn in ur letters. As with any organization you get out of it what you put into it and that goes for greek organizations. I'm sorry if I do come across as harsh but perpetuating the greek stereotype just gets me upset.

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Nowadays, breaking that stereotype is a Sisyphean task on its own. When you see the "typical" frat/sorority in movies, you see them partying and doing ridiculously stupid stuff. I quoted typical for the very reason that I know that there are social frats/sororities as well as professional frats/sororities and that you can get a very different take on each. You don't see the philanthropic side to Greek life being portrayed as much as the social side, hence probably the reason why it has such a negative connotation. I don't hear on the news what Alpha Phi or Theta Chi do in terms of community service; instead, I hear one of Delta Gamma's executives trash-talking her members through an email and a Chi Omega party that had a Mexican-theme going on, with two of its members holding up signs that said "smokes grass as weed" and "will work for food." I'm not making a point towards sororities being bad, but I see more negative things, as opposed to positive, in the news.

Coming from a non-Greek individual, I've met and known pretty awesome Greek guys and girls. At the same time, I've seen some Greek members who are the most arrogant SOBs and downright *****s on the face of this planet. Not trying to say that I harbor negative thoughts about Greek life, but I consider it more of a grab-bag; I don't know what to expect until I pull out something.

 

[PharmerInPNW]

This generalization is very disturbing. Not EVERYONE'S undergrad greek system is centered on partying & every administration will tell you that. If that is all that you got out of ur undergrad days then I think that you weren't heavily involved in greek life to begin with. I was in a latina social sorority as an undergrad and I got so much more than partying out of it. In fact every other president that I met (IFC, NPHC, or NPC) was so wrapped up in their duties to their organizations that they didn't have time to party. The same is said for other people that I met that were heavily involved in running their organizations: they didn't have much time to party. As an alumni and a part of national management for my sorority this is the very stereotype that all greeks try to combat on a daily basis. The fact that you are just perpetuating this stereotype makes me wish that u would turn in ur letters. As with any organization you get out of it what you put into it and that goes for greek organizations. I'm sorry if I do come across as harsh but perpetuating the greek stereotype just gets me upset.

Sent from my Galaxy S 3 using SDN Mobile

👍

 

[714]

Not to echo my previous post but the stigma with social frats is a 180 from your pharmacy frats generally speaking. You are completely right that the "volunteer and philanthropy" scam is prevalent in your TKEs and Delta Gammas. Not so much in the big 3 pharmacy ones. Every school differs.

Well that type of frat and greek life was what I was a part of and that's where I'm speaking from.

This generalization is very disturbing. Not EVERYONE'S undergrad greek system is centered on partying & every administration will tell you that. If that is all that you got out of ur undergrad days then I think that you weren't heavily involved in greek life to begin with. I was in a latina social sorority as an undergrad and I got so much more than partying out of it. In fact every other president that I met (IFC, NPHC, or NPC) was so wrapped up in their duties to their organizations that they didn't have time to party. The same is said for other people that I met that were heavily involved in running their organizations: they didn't have much time to party. As an alumni and a part of national management for my sorority this is the very stereotype that all greeks try to combat on a daily basis. The fact that you are just perpetuating this stereotype makes me wish that u would turn in ur letters. As with any organization you get out of it what you put into it and that goes for greek organizations. I'm sorry if I do come across as harsh but perpetuating the greek stereotype just gets me upset.

Sent from my Galaxy S 3 using SDN Mobile

You act as if everyone in a sorority or frat has substantial involvement in the responsibilities involved in running the organization, but that's not true at all. There's only so many leadership positions available in a frat or sorority and the total number of members in any organization heavily outnumbers that. There's some people that have a lot of responsibility who aren't going to party all the time, but it doesn't change the fact that many active members of any given IFC or Panhellenic organization are in the Greek system to party.

As for the bolded part, you seem so wrapped up in your own greek world that you convinced yourself to believe that ridiculous statement. If you really believe that then your greek life has been completely sheltered and insulated from any normal greek experience.

 

[Shadowcaster]

Speaking only for myself, I never had any interest in undergrad fraternities.

This.

I plan on joining Phi Delta Chi, and at least one organization, purely for the experience I missed in undergrad, and to increase my chances of getting accepted to do a residency.