I need your imput on this. Strictly for ppl in college.

[Bioture]

I told myself that I would join a fraternity when I got into college. This spring, I have rushed for ZBT, Arcacia and LPE and have gotten bids from ZBT and (eventually) LPE. (Arcacia was way too expensive for my tastes anyway) so now I'm stuck with the dilemma of choosing which bid to accept.
See, ZBT (www.psuzbt.com - for the psu chapter) has a no-pledge policy, meaning that if I accept the bid, i become a full brother with all the rights and priveledges and blah blah blah... without having to go through pledging, which is realy appealing to me because of the scarcity of time. The downside of all this is that there is a $350 starting out fee and an additional $300 per semester for dues and such.
LPE (www.psulambdas.com ) is the first and only national Asian Interest fraternity. Although this is a relatively small frat, it does more than any of the white frats i rushed for in terms of events and parties and such. In addition, LPE is also a closely-knit fraternity, because of its size and because of the fact that almost everyone in the fraternity is asian. Yes, im asian, so this also appeals to me in that fasion. The downside of accepting this bid, however, is the fact that there is a pledging process, which takes at least 2 months. There is also a $100 starting out fee, which is minimal.

currently im leaning towards the LPE fraternity, but i just wanted all of you guys' expert opinions on this matter before i make a decision (which as to be done by weds night.)

skoal,
-bio

[Bioture]

Oh yea, one more thing. Tell me what you think of fraternities in general. And not just the stereotypes of girls and booze, something a little concrete than that. (btw girls and booze is nice, and it should NOT be the reason you consider a frat, at least not my reason)

[pv=nrt]

uhh at texas a&m frat life is really small. the culture here is a lot different than a normal college. People associate more with their dorms than frats for guiys. THe girl greek stuff is pretty big and accepted, the guys not so much. I think the dorm thing is much bigger here due to bonfire (though we dont have it any more, it carries over albeit a lot less intense or active.)

[wadi]

Well, my campus isn't as large as yours, but we do have several(please excuse the term, I'm not trying to be offensive) ethnic centered frats. They do a lot to bring cultural awareness to the campus, but the people that I know that join them seem to disappear off the face of the earth! This is especially true of the asian american house, as the two guys I know that joined have gone from being luke warm friends to really distant aquaintances.
I'm not sure exactly how communal this frat is, but the members on our campus are almost appalingly close-knit. They rarely do anything with people outside the frat, and (you'll probably think I'm racist) _never_ with anyone who's not of Asian descent.

That being said, I don't know your frat, I don't think they have a chapter on the Oxy campus, so you really can't be sure. Frats range the spectrum from overbearing to extraordinarily loose, so you really can't button hole them. Just decide if it's really something you want to do, and if it's worth the money, go and do it. By the way, one nice thing about pledging is if you decide you don't like the frat you can depledge with only minimal financial loss.

[PolluX]

Originally posted by Bioture
Oh yea, one more thing. Tell me what you think of fraternities in general. And not just the stereotypes of girls and booze, something a little concrete than that. (btw girls and booze is nice, and it should NOT be the reason you consider a frat, at least not my reason)

Well...girls and booze .
No, I joined them (it's slightly different in Belgium but the basics are the same) because you get to know people, because you have activities
-most activities are related to girls and booze, ok bad example-
because you get notes of your courses, you can talk to older students who give you advice...
It would be fucking stupid not to join a faternity..but..Bio, it seems that you have to pay a lot of cash...that sucks and that's the only thing I wouldn't do.
..so I can't help you with that, I would say:"go join the cheapest!"...the atmosphere will be the same in every fraternity (I think).

[Tigerex]

I reckon ZBT.

To be honest any frat which focus' on one ethnic group is only going to make themselves seem weird and turn themselves into outsiders. No such thing as frats in the UK so my opinion may mean nothing

[Material Girl]

for a price?

I LOVE OMEGA. IT MAKES ME FEEL WARM AND FUZZY INSIDE.

[PaulOakenfold]

Phi Gamma Delta4life

I went to Lehigh, though it has a small campus, it's Greek life percentage was through the roof. I suggest not rushing your freshman year, but good luck with it, and have fun.

[Pearl Jam]

I like going to fraternity/sorority parties and all, but I'd rather not be in a frat. When it comes down to it, basically you're paying a monthly fee to have friends and hang around girls.

[GuruMeditation]

Wha? A real thread in these forums?

*faints*

[Sleepy Weasel]

I have a friend in Acacia and 1 in ZBT. Acacia is a lot less partyish. Doesn't really feel like a real frat. The guy in ZBT seems to like it.

My best friend growing up is also in a frat at PSU, if you're into just chilling out and smoking weed all day that's pretty much their thing, but I don't remember which frat it is.

The all asian frat at Cornell that I know of, the guys all dress in black and walk around like a gang and freak the hell out of everybody. People avoid them as much as they can. Might not be the same at PSU as Cornell though

[Bioture]

Wow - thanks for the input guys! Anyways, LPE does seem to be a lot more closely knit than ZBT, and I do know thier brothers better and I like some of the charity events they do. ZBT isn't a complete party frat either, they're in the top 10 in terms of average gpa among the brothers.

As to wadi and tiger and sleepy's insights, i think LPE does separate themselves from the other frats (thus the close-knitting), in an attempt to distinguish the fact that asian fraternities differ from white ones. But I don't think they're outcasts and I certainly dont expect them to replace my caucasian friends. You can't spell caucasian without asian, right?

As to PJ's opinion, LPE only has a one-time member fee, which covers the registration and clothing, while ZBT has a semesterly fee because of the size of the frat nationally and the fact that they need to be able to afford the frathouse and the beers. LPE's revenues come mainly from fundraising, which takes up time rather than cash. Either way there is money involved, but there is also alot more to a frat than being able to party and get together with girls. Besides, if the girls only want you because of the letters on your jacket, you might as well let her have the jacket.

Pollux - yes I am going to accept a bid (it would be rather silly not to accept a bid), I'm still leaning towards LPE, but ZBT is not without its appeal. girls and booze. cough.

-bio

[Blast]

xxx

[Blast]

xxx

[Divine Rides]

I know it varies from college to college, but I am pretty anti-greek after my experience at the U of I. The major universities tend to have real shitheads in those things. If it seems like a good idea to you then you should go for it, but remember to think for yourself. A lot of meathead homogenous conformity goin on- you can get fucked up and laid on your own (the main reason most people join from what I can tell- that and FEAR), and you won't have people like me judging the shit out of you. (I really don't want to tell you what to do, but don't do it- at least go to school for a year without joining one and see from an outsiders perspective if that's what you want)


"Raping Girls and fucking up people for being weak are our favorite games, I love that chumba wumba song! Ignorance is blisssssss, these are the best friends I ever bought"

(finding the above picture was a hilarious undertaking- punch "frat boys" into google image search, i've never seen so much tight young tender cuts of ass)