I was hoping someone would have some insight into the greek life atmosphere on campus. I keep hearing that it is not competitive as other campuses, not as expensive and low key. My daughter is interested for next year and we have reservations. We have no personal experience to really judge the pros and cons.

Compared to larger universities and certain independent schools where Greek life is central to campus life in general, App's Greek life is low key.

Schools like Ole Miss that used to hold sorority rush before the fall semester have moved it to early after the semester starts because girls were dropping Ole Miss when they didn't get a bid from the sorority they wanted. Alabama still holds rush prior to the start of fall semester. Girls interested in Greek life at these schools will be certain to have references from sorority alumnae for each sorority represented on campus along with a resume and photos submitted early in the summer. I know this from having written references for girls to my own sorority's chapters all over the southeast.

By contrast, App does not have as many national sororities and does not have individual houses for each sorority. Those freestanding ante-bellum mansions are beautiful ... and costly to maintain. Instead, App has a panhellenic hall (transformed hotel at corner of 105 & 321). App's sororities are also much smaller than those on the campuses like Alabama's. I would expect a pledge class at App to be in the 40-50 range rather than 140-150.

Based on the young ladies I've known and met who were part of Greek life at App, I would have no hesitation in letting my daughter check it out. No doubt, your daughter is bright enough to realize whether a particular group of girls is a good fit for her or not. She can always decide against pledging once she has a closer look.

Caveat: My knowledge of App sorority life is from strong connections with young ladies who are currently in or have recently graduated from App. I was part of Greek life in a different school ages ago.

From what I recall, the percentage of students involved in Greek organizations at App is lower than many colleges.

It is lower because the qualifications to pledge and maintain membership are restrictive. There are rules upon rules that don't apply to non Greek undergrads. GPA requirements...parties mUst be registered. The University controls Greek Life does not promote it and would be happy without it. More worried about liability. The women's sororities are much larger than men's( most of whom are on double secret probation) better organized and good groUps.

I always suggest that undergrads at least consider some type of involvement beyond their class schedule. Greek life is normally my top suggestion being that it greatly impacted my experience at App moreso than I ever imagined. If Greek life is not for that person, then I suggest they look into joining one (or more) of the over 400 clubs on campus. She may always go through the recruitment period and decide at that point, plenty of people decide it is not for them after a bid is given out.

The school does its very best to keep the Greek life as minimal as possible at ASU, an idea that I never understood and still don't. There are no large fraternity houses, the sororities have floors in an old hotel, school keeps a close eye on everything especially when compared to other schools. That being said, I would fully recommend that she at least check it out and see what she thinks. Greeks tend to be more involved in the school and therefore get a lot out of the college experience. I valued my time in my fraternity and my daughters, who don't go to App, have enjoyed their time in their sororities. Greek life isn't what it is at other schools but it can still be an extremely rewarding experience and a ton of fun. Its worth looking into if she is interested.

I always found it quite refreshing that we didn' t have much in the way of Greek life at App (mid-late 90's), although I feel like it's expanded since I've been in school. I worked at Elon for a short while, where half, if not most of, the student body was involved in greek life. I always found fraternities/sororities to be too similar to high school cliques, and not really representative of what college was/should be about. I know it might sound ignorant since I've never truly experienced greek life as a member, only as an outsider at an occasional party. When I think of Appalachian, I think of going to a party at a cabin in the woods, where people get along, not at an exclusive, elitist-ish house. I know there's much more to greek life than parties, but that's all I ever experienced at ASU.

Never was interested in Greek life...Well other than the times I visited the sorority dorm.

I think Daphne hit the nail on the head when comparing App's Greek life to that of other schools. It's simply not a huge part of Appalachian's culture. Several close friends who joined frats at other schools (Clemson, UNC) have said that they did so because Greek life dominated the social and party scene at their schools.

Our social/nightlife/party scene/bar scene is completely self sustaining without the influence of Greek life, especially with the closing of Klondike and Parthenon. I lived with an infamous poster on these boards for 3 years and we both attended and threw great parties all without joining a fraternity. The same goes for tailgating, tubing during the summer, traveling to away games, etc. We were always able to get a great group of friends together and enjoy our free time without the structure of Greek life.

App is lucky in the sense that there are a million other things to do to occupy your time other than getting shit-housed every night. I would encourage her to check it out, but not be discouraged if it doesn't seem like a good fit. She'll still be able to have plenty of fun and meet tons of great people without it.

For context, I was in school from 09-13.

NO.2 wrote:I think Daphne hit the nail on the head when comparing App's Greek life to that of other schools. It's simply not a huge part of Appalachian's culture. Several close friends who joined frats at other schools (Clemson, UNC) have said that they did so because Greek life dominated the social and party scene at their schools.

Our social/nightlife/party scene/bar scene is completely self sustaining without the influence of Greek life, especially with the closing of Klondike and Parthenon. I lived with an infamous poster on these boards for 3 years and we both attended and threw great parties all without joining a fraternity. The same goes for tailgating, tubing during the summer, traveling to away games, etc. We were always able to get a great group of friends together and enjoy our free time without the structure of Greek life.

App is lucky in the sense that there are a million other things to do to occupy your time other than getting shit-housed every night. I would encourage her to check it out, but not be discouraged if it doesn't seem like a good fit. She'll still be able to have plenty of fun and meet tons of great people without it.

For context, I was in school from 09-13.

nailed it.....and, this is why I love Appalachian State

I graduated well over a decade ago, so my experience is dated, but I seem to recall Greek participation at App being less than 10% of the student body. Compared to the big SEC/ACC/Big10 schools with on-campus and campus-adjacent mansions for fraternities and sororities, or small private schools with huge Greek participation (I know that at one time, Wofford had the highest percentage of students involved in fraternities and sororities in the nation), Greek life simply isn't a huge component.

That said, it's not like Greek students feel out of place at App. At least I don't think they do. I was never in a fraternity, but I had plenty of friends who were and attended my share of Greek events. It was always a good time, and the Greek organizations were always involved in community service, philanthropy, and all the other stuff you'd expect.

All that is to say that Greek life is a fully valid choice at App, and your daughter could make plenty of friends and have lots of fun if that's what she wanted to do with her time. But it's also not even close to an essential part of the App lifestyle, and there are lots of other ways to make friends and get involved.

Sorority life can be a very positive experience and should give your daughter a good support group and add some structure to college life. My daughter was in a sorority at UNC and it was overall a very positive experience for her. Good for social life, academics, and great for networking.

My GPA would not gel let me pledge today. I went back and looked that the GPA of 30 of the guys who chartered a Greek Frat at App. Of the 30 only 10 had GPAs above the current requirement. We did party hard, the legal age for beer was 18 and we did some stereotypical frat stuff. BUT a higher percentage of us graduated compared with the general undergrad population. The majority support the school financially are pretty successful and still are close friends. I've watched the way Frats are treated and it reminds me of the movie Cool Hand Luke...." Do "this" and spend a night in the box"

It is definitely not a "do or die" type of thing as she does have interest in other areas. All I have heard is the negative from co-workers so it is nice to hear what you have shared. Better grades, involvement and a good group of friends are positives you don't often hear about. She is a smart and well balanced girl who we are sure will continue to make smart decisions - well for an 18 year old!

It sounds like the university is involved at a certain level and I found out today it is close to 10% of the student body. Honestly, I was surprised it was so low.

NO.2 wrote:I think Daphne hit the nail on the head when comparing App's Greek life to that of other schools. It's simply not a huge part of Appalachian's culture. Several close friends who joined frats at other schools (Clemson, UNC) have said that they did so because Greek life dominated the social and party scene at their schools.

Our social/nightlife/party scene/bar scene is completely self sustaining without the influence of Greek life, especially with the closing of Klondike and Parthenon. I lived with an infamous poster on these boards for 3 years and we both attended and threw great parties all without joining a fraternity. The same goes for tailgating, tubing during the summer, traveling to away games, etc. We were always able to get a great group of friends together and enjoy our free time without the structure of Greek life.

App is lucky in the sense that there are a million other things to do to occupy your time other than getting shit-housed every night. I would encourage her to check it out, but not be discouraged if it doesn't seem like a good fit. She'll still be able to have plenty of fun and meet tons of great people without it.

For context, I was in school from 09-13.

For context, I was older and less shit-housed.

Plus I married a smart sorority girl as did most of my friends!

I actually really like how low key greek life is here. I'm in an organization and love it, but only because it is a good fit for me... I look at the other fraternities and don't really see myself in any of them. But because organizations are a bit smaller here, you are closer to everyone in your organization. I feel like if you were involved of a pledge class of over 100 you wouldn't know half of the other members. I came to college without planning on doing it but I have zero regrets once i gave it a chance. It's also a great opportunity to do service in the community and meet tons of people. It's all about finding the right fit, but my girlfriend and I both love our current organizations. If you want any more info from a current student in greek life feel free to inbox me or something. Tell her to definitely go for it though, if she goes through recruitment and doesn't like it it's not like there is a penalty or anything for dropping at any point.