Should I rush a fraternity?
Trending Content - Business School and GMAT Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
June 30, 2026
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
High Finance Applications
Guaranteed
Get at least one offer GUARANTEED
- 1:1 support
- 92% success rate
- 2,000+ mentor network
- Unlimited Live bootcamps
- AI for resume + LinkedIn
- Networking automation tools
- HireVue simulation tool
- Full course library
- Private Slack community
- 20hrs of mocks
- + much more...
Greek life is shrinking imo. Cost conscious millennials that grew up during the crisis coupled with all kinds of social media leaving kids these days busier with other things is decreasing the amount of kids that go rush. This is coming from someone at a 150 man fraternity at an SEC school.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to how comfortable you are socially and with your ability to network. For a school like Kelley, greeklife would give you a potentially massive alumni base to reach out to. The whole rush process in itself is such a great experience getting out of your comfort zone and shaking lots of hands. Its almost like a more fun, alcohol fueled job recruitment day. I personally credit my rush/recruiting during rush experiences for doing relatively well in IB interviews.
The cons of joining a fraternity could be the potential fuck-boy party culture that many kids (not necessarily saying you) just can't handle. I've seen so many top class brilliant kids annihilate their GPA/prospects of any kind of future by joining greeklife. Especially these days kids are messing around with all kinds of pills, drugs, & the sort. Some Millennials these days just don't give a flying fuck. Living this life for 3+ years can really fuck up your perceptions on how life really works out there.
My advise, definitely rush for the sake of free alcohol, parties, & networking for the sake of practice shaking some hands. If you feel like the life is something you can handle, go for it. If not, its a great week of fun.
I also pledged a 150+ man SEC fraternity and would be happy to write a detailed post surrounding the costs and benefits of the experience. From the people I’ve spoken with IU isn’t that much different, though may be a bit easier on the pledge process.
To touch on a couple of things off the bat, joining a fraternity doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get to know ‘scientists and doctors,’ as mine had more than a few of both. Also, some bids will go to legacies, but most people don’t get in with ‘family names’ at a school like IU. Pretentious legacies may even avoid getting a bid if their actions indicate entitlement (we pissed a couple dads off).
I would definitely recommend rushing. You never really get another chance to experience the fraternity culture, and as long as you’re conscious about your grades the only major time commitment is during pledgeship.
http://fastasashark.tumblr.com/post/570052976/freshman-year-pledge-like…
Follow this and you will be fine.
Shout out to anyone who remembers the oldrow.net forums.
I come from a far left family where “toxic masculinity” is a common point of discussion. I was not equipped, by my parents, with the social tools needed to survive in a relationship-based industry like real estate finance. While not purposefully wanting me to be a pussy, they would’ve rather me grow up to become what most of you consider a “beta.” I assume my parents always figured I would be a teacher, social worker, or doctor when I grew up.
I ended up attending a right-leaning university, studying finance, and joining a fraternity. I consider the social skills I learned from my brothers to be just as valuable as what I learned in the classroom. The fraternity taught me to be confident, assertive, and social. I learned how to talk to girls, play golf, I started following sports, and I’ve taken up fishing. I certainly don’t consider myself to be as bro-ish as maybe some of the guys I hung out with in college but I can confidently hang out withthat group (which you’ll see a lot of in finance) and earn their respect.
Also keep in mind I went into banking and real estate. If you’re looking to double major in math and computer science with hopes of becoming a quant trader, this advice may not apply.
Great experience and I keep up with a good number of my pledge class/fraternity brothers on a regular basis. Some tangible benefits include the opportunity to assume leadership positions and gain some experience there. As a finance major, I was in charge of treasury and while it wasn't akin to managing deals, I usually got some credit during interviews with the quip that "I was able to convince 100+ rowdy guys to pay dues regularly."
The intangible aspect is that its a genuine support structure. From my experience, if you gave a damn, there was a brother to give you pointers on teachers, classes, clubs etc. that could benefit you in making the most out of your academics. The crux of it all is that a fraternity is what you make of it.