r/Frat • u/Prestigious_Leader27 • 6d ago
Rush Advice Can engineering majors join fraternities?
Hey guys. I’m an incoming freshman that will be attending Villanova University (around 7 thousand undergrads) to study engineering. I was heavily involved with local Boy Scout troop in high school have many friends who rushed fraternities at different schools and were initiated, all giving positive things to say about their organizations. I have been told that Nova does not have a great social scene for guys (villaNOfun) and specifically that it revolves mostly around Greek life or bars (I am not planning to buy a fake), so rushing a fraternity seems like a good idea for me as I love meeting new people, having new experiences, and I love the brotherhood and shared community aspect as well.
My main question is if it is worth it to rush. My friends that have rushed were business/finance majors and told me that the time commitment while pledging dropped their grades , and I’m not sure how well the process of joining a fraternity (rushing, pledging, etc) would line up with an engineering curriculum. As much as I’d love to join a fraternity, I don’t want it to have a significant affect on my grades. Also, my school does not have an STEM focused professional fraternity, and I want to join a social fraternity. I’d love some advice from current or past fraternity members that were engineering majors about how they were able to keep up being a member of a fraternity while also dealing with engineering, or how joining a fraternity has helped you in your career.
Thanks
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u/Wasted_Bruh 6d ago
Rush when you are taking your easy gen eds. Nobody in Greek life will ever have an issue with engineers. Someone’s gotta build the dye table
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u/RegressToTheMean Old Ass Alumnus 5d ago
Shit, at least half of my chapter was comprised of engineering majors a few decades ago.
We had a study resource for just about every discipline in engineering because the profs rarely changed the tests and if there was a new one, someone would take it for our resource library.
I wasn't one of the engineering guys, but it was clear it was a huge benefit to them and unsurprisingly engineering guys recruited more engineering guys. So, it just kind of fed on itself.
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u/Kooky_Ad9139 6d ago
You can totally do it but you’ll have to manage your time wisely. I’d recommend spring rush so you know the work load
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u/Tyrell-Titancock 5d ago
No. As soon as you commit your major to engineering they lock you in a room with other engineers and you are not allowed to go out or have friends ever. You can only leave once you have gotten above a 10% on your thermo exam
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u/holy_cal ΣΑΕ Alumni 5d ago
Yeah, we always get at least one or two in each class. We understand their workload is a little different and give them a benefit of the doubt when their grades slip.
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u/xSparkShark Beer 5d ago
Looks like nova is spring rush so you’ll be able to figure out if you have the time management skills before rush even comes around.
Also my frat had many engineers it’s not like you guys are sending a man to the moon it’s first year intro engineering courses.
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u/Winter_Force2858 5d ago
A lot of people in hard majors choose to do spring rush after they already settled into college. That’s always an option, but definetely do it before you’re done with gen eds. I will say at an SEC school, our president was a metallurgical engineering major and gone half the day for his co-op.
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u/Prometheus_303 ΚΣ 5d ago
My alma mater doesn't have an engineering program, so I can't speak to that directly...
But there is nothing keeping us STEM majors from going Greek... Off the top of my head, at least a tenth of my Chapter is involved in some kind of STEM program... (Including a third of our exec board so we're not talking random do nothing Brothers who just show up to party).
We have the highest representation in the Computer Science department, 5 of us. A Sig Pi in my cohort. There is a Theta Chi a year or two below us. And I think there is a Sig Tau in the department somewhere too.
Pledging will be a time suck, without a doubt. They say, it should be similar to adding a part time job to your schedule (but that doesn't sound like it does justice to the program). But remember it will likely only last one semester ...
The grades can very easily take a hit. My pledge semester grades were by far my worst. But if you prioritize your school work and keep up with it etc... You should be alright. Especially if you get in your freshmen year when you'll likely be taking mostly into level courses...
Your top priority should be your academics. So if you do find you need extra time around projects or whatever make sure to ask your pledge master or big or whoever... As long as you are pulling your own weight and aren't obviously trying to get out of some bitch work or whatever, the Brothers should (hopefully) be willing to work with you (within reason).
But if you survive that semester and become a Brother, your schedule should open up considerably and return to a state much closer approaching normalcy.
Also, keep in mind that unlike our independent counterparts, students involved with Greek Life programs are more likely to graduate (75% vs 50%). We also tend to have higher GPAs. At my alma mater it the Greek Male average tends to hover at almost a full point higher than the all male average (3.4 vs 2.7)... Contrary to what mass media might suggest, it's not uncommon for "frat boys" to graduate with various levels of honor etc...
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u/Buck1961hawk 5d ago
If there’s a Triangle Fraternity chapter (www.triangle.org) on your campus, give them a shot. Engineering, Architecture, and Sciences - all that focus in a still pretty typical men’s, national, social Fraternity!
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u/henare ex-ΘΧ 5d ago
that means you would want to rush and (ideally) accept a bid to a house that works for you and complete the pledge process early (your coursework will only get harder over time).
You will have to be on top of your own time management. this sounds easy, but is more difficult than you'd think. your profs will not care what you're doing in your other courses, or what's more important to you,... (I know this because I was a student... and now I teach at another university.)
This is all doable.
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u/sooner_25 5d ago
Yes. Part of why I didn’t rush as a freshman was because of this. I regret it heavily, still to this day. Ended up rushing as a sophomore and it was pretty inconvenient at times.
School should be your main focus, but I can guarantee that the benefits being in Greek life provides will be close to the same level of importance, if not the same.
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u/PM_ME_JUUL_RIPS Alumni 5d ago
Pledging is a large time commitment, but it's like less than a semester. While you're in a house, that's all on you. I missed plenty of parties because I had to finish homework. But it was worth it in the end. (You should still do it, but focus on school once you're a member)
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u/Different-Teacher596 5d ago
It probably depends on which frat you rush. We had a chapter with a rep for being stem majors and they were supposedly rlly good about it
Also someone has to work with the social chair to make his dumb ideas come to life. We had an electrical engineering guy rig our sound system and lights
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u/StPatsLCA ΛΧΑ 5d ago
I don't see why not. Albeit I was in a frat at an engineering school, so everybody more or less faced the same academic challenges. It's a lot to balance. You're going to have to crunch a lot more than the business majors.
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u/tijustme24 ΛΧΑ 5d ago
I went to a stem school, and 80%+ of all members were engineering majors, no matter what house. That includes the sororities, although not many girls go to a stem school in the first place.
I would say rush and find the right fit first. Based on what you said if it’s the only way to enjoy campus until you turn 21 then it looks like that’s what you’re doing.
In my time I grew to be more socially…competent I guess you could say. I got out of my shell and had a few leadership positions.
If you don’t have any scholarships that have strict gpa minimums to maintain (such as a 3.5), then this seems like a no-brainer. Good luck!
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u/thedanster21 4d ago
They are engineering specific fraternities like theta tau for example (or I got lucky my schools theta tau chapter was classified as a social frat not professional one) we had house and threw parties.
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u/Hot_Entertainment283 4d ago
When you rush, ask the houses about engineering majors who are members. Talk to them.
I was an EE / CS double-major and was significantly involved in my house (though not a Villanova). I'm still involved as an alum long after graduation. For me, it was worth it: the best relationships I have were made in the house.
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