As a counter, joining a fraternity was the best decision I had ever made. After my first few years of college, I still had no social network and very few friends. After rushing a fraternity, I became part of an ultra-inclusive group and made friends and bonds that have lasted the rest of my life.
Don't rush a fraternity or sorority for the connections - you'll be sorely disappointed when you find out 95% of the other members are just normal people from a normal background. The few connections that may be valuable business-wise probably won't even be in your field.
Do rush a fraternity/sorority if you're looking to make friends and get the social college experience. If you have a history of having a hard time making friends, there are few options that are better than joining greek org.
Don't rush a fraternity/sorority if you have a tight schedule. Parent comment is serious, they're a huge time sink - especially during your pledging semester.
Do rush a fraternity/sorority if you want a head start in social/management experience. I can't tell you how hard it is to promote engineers into management positions because the vast majority don't have the social skills required to reward, pressure, or inspire their underlings. Getting involved in a fraternal organization will get you extremely valuable leadership experience, experience in how to organize people, and most importantly, experience in how to inspire people to do the things you need to get done.
I honestly can admit that I wouldn't be where I am today without the social skills I learned during my tenure in a fraternity. While the vast majority of bad press about the greek system are puff pieces meant to enrage people, do know that the greek system is not for everyone.
Don't rush a fraternity or sorority for the connections - you'll be sorely disappointed when you find out 95% of the other members are just normal people from a normal background. The few connections that may be valuable business-wise probably won't even be in your field.
Do rush a fraternity/sorority if you're looking to make friends and get the social college experience. If you have a history of having a hard time making friends, there are few options that are better than joining greek org.
Don't rush a fraternity/sorority if you have a tight schedule. Parent comment is serious, they're a huge time sink - especially during your pledging semester.
Do rush a fraternity/sorority if you want a head start in social/management experience. I can't tell you how hard it is to promote engineers into management positions because the vast majority don't have the social skills required to reward, pressure, or inspire their underlings. Getting involved in a fraternal organization will get you extremely valuable leadership experience, experience in how to organize people, and most importantly, experience in how to inspire people to do the things you need to get done.
I honestly can admit that I wouldn't be where I am today without the social skills I learned during my tenure in a fraternity. While the vast majority of bad press about the greek system are puff pieces meant to enrage people, do know that the greek system is not for everyone.