Has anyone here done it?

If so, what are your thoughts? I'm assuming it was a hell of a good time but your grades/school/poker if you play suffered tremendously. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm thinking about doing it because dues are so low compared to university housing and plus I will have a sick roommate who I get along with really well + really chill suitemates (two rooms connected by a bathroom) + the ridiculously good times to come but I just don't know if its worth it because I am already a big procrastinator/really lazy/lack a lot of self-discpline so it would only hurt my study habits.

Thinking about doing it maybe junior year and senior year for sure though. So I guess I'm just asking for experiences from people who have lived in a frat house for at least a year.

Like anything, it's situation dependent. Are you thinking of pledging or just living in the house as a boarder? Either way, I recommend it. Had a blast.

you will not get good grades, take easy classes

I currently do and it is the greatest experience I have had. I will NEVER live anywhere else while I'm in college. Non-stop parties and girls over every night. No ****ing annoying landlord or "neighbors" to answer to.

With regards to school it is impossible to get any work done. However, when I was a freshman I could never get any work done in the dorms so I just went to the library. When you have work to do get out of the house and go to the library.

there are good fraternities and bad fraternities, so rush a lot.

if you get into a 'good' house and aren't an idiot, your grades should be higher than they would be in the dorms. Here at UW (wash), the all men's greek GPA is higher than the all men's dorm GPA (of course there are arguments such as 'well, people in the dorms are in harder majors, etc.'), -- so again, if you aren't an idiot your grades will be fine and you'll be more successful in the end with more connections, social skills, etc. I'd do it, just rush enough to make sure you pledge a good house (good size, GPA, philanthropy, social, blah blah blah)

I should add the advantages of a fraternity to your grades is that:

1) there is almost always an older guy in the house who is in your major who is smarter than you and
2) there are test files for every class

**although, maybe my perspective is skewed since I'm in a 100-man house...

I pledged and lived in a frat house last semester. I had plenty of free time and did fine in my classes. I mean, I could have done better but that was 100% my fault.

Poker suffered a bit in that I couldn't play as much but meh, pokers overrated anyways.

I lived in a fraternity house in college (graduated in '04), and loved it. I would absolutely recommend it. Being in a fraternity and living in a fraternity house allows you to gain experiences you wouldn't possibly be able to if you aren't greek. Regardless of your level of involvement, it makes you a more rounded person and better prepares you for the real world. Plus, you will have a blast. (which is a big part of college imo.)

Your grades won't necessarily suffer, however mine did slightly. Then again, your grades as an undergrad really aren't as important as people make them out to be. I got average grades all through college and got a better job than any of my 4.0 friends, and make way more than they do to this day. I think this is definitely a result of the skills I learned being involved in leadership and social positions in my fraternity, not necessarily what I learned in business school.

I would DEF do it for a year. My school has the largest greek system in the country and ridiculous hott girls that the frats *** ..i mean go on exchanges with.

They also have files of damn near every old exam and help each other out alot with thier work ...even the ones I thought were reatards do. If your frat are anything like the ones @ U of I, I would def do it. It could be a legendary yr.

I lived in a fraternity house for one semester and single-handedly killed 18 rats during that period.

Im in an all-engineering fraternity, files are so helpful for homework and practice tests.

If you have self-control do it, if you will be drunk every night dont.

Hall rats or actual rodents?

do it for atleast 1 year. I did it for 2 and the 2nd half of the 2nd year it got to be a bit much for me as my priorities as far as being responsible kinda changed.

Atleast in my situation it was dirty as hell, and really unhealthy all the **** i did. But honestly, the greatest thing about joining a fraternity is getting to live in the house for atleast one year. This is important tho, be really picky about ur roomates

Actual rodents. 17 with traps, 1 with the flat end of a fire extinguisher.

BAMF

damn i should of joined a frat just to end up with a sick GPA

enjoy that you will never have to worry about getting home when you are hammered.

One beat is that since all the guys in my house are Engineering, our GPA is on the lower end of the greek ratings. Kinda unfair we get compared with people who major in dumb **** like Anthropology, but anyone who is solely basing houses based off their collective GPA, keep everyones major in mind.

well i'm a chemistry major, there aren't too many of us and i don't know any chem majors that are in frats so it probably wouldn't help me at all.

my brother was the president of the biggest frat at WVU, he got good grades and isnt super smart or extraordinarily motivated. he also had the best time of his life. i went to WVU and didnt pledge and have regretted it every day.

We have plenty of guys in tough majors...biochem, bioE, chem, microbio, comp sci, etc...they do well.

the only time ive ever gotten a 4.0 in a semester was the semester i was pledging my frat, grades don't need to suffer if you make it a point to do well despite pledging.

everyone pretty much touched on the best parts so far. I lived in a frat house for the past 2 years, just moved into a house 2 weeks ago, it depends on what kind of person you are, there will be the group that drinks everynight and stays up till like 5-7 AM and dont go to school. If your certain this would not be you, i dont see any reason why you wouldnt.

In regards to grades. this depends on you again. you can do just as bad in a dorm or your own house as the frat. The houses have files as ppl said, also another pretty nice incentive are the scholarships most houses will give out. I ended up getting one from my house when i would have had no chance to get one from the school or anything. having a one out of ~50 chance is probably the best ratio you can get for scholarship selection

and of course the parties ALWAYS COME TO YOU. the safety of not stumbling around town all hammered or driving or whatever is well worth living in the house.