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Hi! Southern schools have a reputation for being more fraternity/sorority focused than schools in other parts of the county. Some people feel they have the stereotype of being more snobby and cliquish. Does Clemson fit this stereotype? How important is Greek life at Clemson? Can anyone tell me about their own, or their child's, experience there? Thank you!
I attended Clemson. I think the majority of students are not in a frat or sorority. I never felt any pressure to join one.
The frats / sororities do tend to be cliquish because they basically do everything together. A lot of them will dress up for the football games which I thought was odd.
I met a lot of people at my various dorms on campus, my classes especially once I got into my major, playing basketball at the recreation center, and various clubs that I was in like the outdoors club.
Remember that roughly almost 20,000 students attend Clemson as undergrads. If you believe the College Board's stats on Clemson then almost 7,000 undergrads belong to Clemson's Greek Life. Now that could also include professional greek organizations and not just the traditional social ones but who knows. Even if that figure is true then you're still talking about roughly 13,000 non-greek students to hang out with haha.
Now Wofford College is another discussion. Wofford only has around 1,500 undergrads but half are in greek life. I've been on Wofford's campus recently and their newly constructed Greek "village" / "row" whatever you wanna call it is insane. Almost like a small town.
Clemson University does have fraternities and sororities among its 571 active student organizations.
I would have interest in organizations that were within my interests. If I was accepted into Clemson University, I would have interests in Clemson Army Reserve Officers' Training Corp, Collegiate FFA, and Ice Hockey.
My daughter made "not interested in joining a sorority" a key point she was looking for in a Freshman room mate. There are a lot of people involved in that scene at Clemson but there are also a lot of students that aren't involved. My daughter has a circle of friends that are all involved in other activities instead, of which there are many at Clemson.
Remember that roughly almost 20,000 students attend Clemson as undergrads. If you believe the College Board's stats on Clemson then almost 7,000 undergrads belong to Clemson's Greek Life. Now that could also include professional greek organizations and not just the traditional social ones but who knows. Even if that figure is true then you're still talking about roughly 13,000 non-greek students to hang out with haha.
Now Wofford College is another discussion. Wofford only has around 1,500 undergrads but half are in greek life. I've been on Wofford's campus recently and their newly constructed Greek "village" / "row" whatever you wanna call it is insane. Almost like a small town.
But there is usually a small number of degree of separation. 7/20 is a large percentage. The Greeks must likely dominate all the social life. There will be people not in the Greek life that are dependent on friends who are in the Greek life.
I graduated 12 years ago, but my view was similar. Greek life was very popular at Clemson, but it's not so dominant that it would interfere with anyone's desire not to join a Greek organization. Greek life was in many ways quarantined off from the rest of the school. You could have a very healthy social life without ever being in a Greek organization or really ever interacting with anyone who is.
Don't expect to go to fraternity parties if you're not female or Greek. But there are plenty of other parties. Particularly look into club sports and other organizations if you're looking to meet people outside of your dorm and classes. There were parties hosted by everyone from the Linux users group, to the sailing club, to the kayak club, to the skydiving club, to student-run online discussion boards.
But there is usually a small number of degree of separation. 7/20 is a large percentage. The Greeks must likely dominate all the social life. There will be people not in the Greek life that are dependent on friends who are in the Greek life.
Not really an issue. Daughter just graduated from there last year. She wasn't into Greek, nor were any of her friends. It exists on campus but doesn't dominate anything. People at Clemson in general are very friendly and get along pretty well with anyone, Greek or not. Or partiers or not. Or studious or not.
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