If I run XC/Track in college will it be harder to join a fraturnity?

At my school athletes are considered gods, it would be a major step down in social rank to join a frat. But I don't know about other schools. How much does it cost to join a frat? Do they take anyone who will pay?

yuk yuk wrote:

My first week on campus, my upperclassman teammates told me, "this team is your fraternity." Made sense to me.

That would probably make me want to join a fraternity even more, honestly. I think it is 100% correct, though.

I chose xc wrote:

At my school athletes are considered gods, it would be a major step down in social rank to join a frat. But I don't know about other schools. How much does it cost to join a frat? Do they take anyone who will pay?

Curious... where do you go to school? I am not sure how it is in the North or Midwest, but frats are a big deal in the South. Most ACC and SEC schools have very robust Greek systems with a lot of demand. It can be very tough to get into a "good" fraternity and - believe it or not - there is a rather odd and unspoken feeling that being a fan of a sport is better than being an athlete. It is kind of gross to think about, but to me it is a bit of a holdout from the slave-owning days. I may be reading WAY TOO MUCH into it, but there are guys who kind of consider athletes to be animals. Granted, this is mainly football and basketball, but still.

Go hang out in the men's grill of any Southern country club and listen to the way these guys talk about the players...

"Obviously I wouldn't be getting smashed during the seasons,"

Just stop right there. If you think that wont happen, you need to just stop your plans.

As a college student you only have so much time and energy. Collegiate track & XC take a tremendous amount of both, combine that with studying and you should be very busy.

Either run OR do the frat. Dont do a $hitty job at both things.

The University of Texas at Austin. I don't much care for what guys think, I care more about what girls think, and I certainly don't want to be part of, or funding, that culture if your perceptions are accurate.

When Johnny Foosball, Major applewhite or Vince Young walk into a house party the girls don't care about Greek frat boys

gamma beta epsilon delta tau wrote:

You're not going to be a runner forever. If you want to be successful after college -- I'm talking top dawg, king of the hill -- you'll need to join a frat. You'll have a 4-5 year headstart in networking compared to all the other loosers out there. Plus, drinking, sex, vomiting, hazing -- it's all part of learning how to play the game. Trust me, unless you want to be some shmuck who gets his azz handed to him on a daily basis by an alpha male who's already paid his dues, you'll join the frat.

Really? Being a walk on and having my arse handed to me everyday for 4 years but sticking it out and hanging tough, has done a lot more for me than a frat network.

As the company VP i can say the team would laugh if you brought up a frat in an interview as a strong suit. I wouldnt even put it on the resume. To me the immediate signal is "this person doesnt take things seriously and is insecure."