Academic and Social Misconceptions About College: Greek Life - The Greek Hierarchy (Part IV)

Social Misconceptions About College - Greek Hierarchy (Part IV)

Welcome to Part IV of our "Academic and Social Misconceptions About College" series.  

So far it's been a hit.

I hope guys that are considering college (regardless of their ultimate decision) or just started college get their hands on this.

For a lot of us, college came and went.

Most of us, including myself, underachieved, for one reason or another.

In Part II, I discussed the General Student (non-athlete) College Hierarchy.

Some areas at the top of the pyramid were occupied by a group call "Frat Guys". 

In this section, I'm going to talk about the "Fraternity Hierarchy" and which "Frat Guys" actually benefit and which do not. 

Not all frat guys are holding it down.

Not all frat guys are automatically propelled to the Top 20% of college guys - the group that [potentially] has multiple options for regular uncommitted sex. 

Should I Join a Fraternity?

My opinion is that you should.

A COOL FRAT.
(not a "A Frat")

But it still depends on the culture of your school, how many students go there, and how prominent Greek (fraternity and sorority) life is. 

At large schools (lets say, 10,000+ students) I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to do it. 

At smaller schools, where in some cases the administration requires official fraternity parties to remain open to Independents - you might consider otherwise.

Still, despite the open-party rules at some small schools, they are plenty more social opportunities (mixers with sororities, fraternity homecoming and prom parties prom, spring break, unofficial parties, impromptu parties, road-trips, fraternity traditions, exclusive organized tailgating, etc.) that you will forgo if you elect to remain Independent. 

Even if you fall into the 'Good Looking Independent' Top 20% category (see Part II for the social hierarchy) - you are still much better off joining a fraternity because you will have automatic status, social opportunities and friends that are over 21. If you don't, it's an uphill climb.

Just like I always say -

Normal Styles">Even though a good looking guy can rock a "well-dressed" style, he would have more sex appeal with an at least somewhat edgy style.

The same is true that nearly every good looking guy is better off joining a fraternity if he wants to prioritize his sex/social life.

There are simply more benefits and opportunities if you are a member of a House.

If you aren't particularly good looking (work on 'looking good' and read: "What is the Ideal Body to Attract Women?"), it's almost a must that you join a fraternity if you want a shot at nailing the hottest, most-popular girls on a semi-regular basis. You probably won't be partying with too many of them as an Independent.

For the Independent, even the Good Looking Independents - the opportunities and access to groups of attractive college girls that party are simply fewer and less convenient.

The girls that like you will end up at Fraternity parties on the weekend.

Although I ultimately got kicked out of Tau Kappa Epsilon at Furman University, if I could do it all over again, I would have rushed a fraternity as soon as possible during my Freshman year. 

I encourage you guys to do the same.

Misconception: If You Want Pussy, Just Join A FRAT!

As we have gotten 12,000 words deep into this series, I think I've given some guys the wrong impression.

So long as you are reasonably cool/good looking, joining a fraternity IS the quickest way to jump into the Top 20% of guys and open up exponentially more options for sex.

But...

Simply joining "A Frat" will not get you pussy nor will it be your ticket to Top 20% status.

I'm not talking about how you "still have to work for it" or "approach anxiety" either.

I'm talking about the fraternity. 

There's always ~3 or 4 fraternities on every campus that are considered uncool.

This Bottom 80% group are called the "Frat Rejects".

The group is largely comprised of a collection of guys that got rejected by the other houses and general losers.
(look - we are Losers at GLL but we aren't losers... you feel me?)

Joining one of these fraternities will not "Get You Laid" anymore than discussing "Why You Hate Faggots" will get you into the University of California at Berkeley. 

In fact - it's your ticket to NOT GET OR PARTY WITH HOT POPULAR GIRLS.

Life Among The "Fraternity Rejects"

There's very few cool guys that mistakenly pledge a "Reject House", since word of mouth and social pressure is more than an accurate compass.

As an Independent who talked to everyone, every once in a while, I would meet a decent looking guy in a "Reject Fraternity" who just needed some gym/diet help and he'd be in the Top 20% - with or without a fraternity. 

Instead, he was dwindling away in the Bottom 80% with other undersexed guys that didn't have half the potential and were bitter about the "in-crowd".

Life as a Frat Reject or being part of an unpopular house isn't torture though. It's actually very comfortable.

There's some less-desirable/reject sorority girls and intellectual female classmates that come to the parties, a lot of epic video game moments and a lot of late-night buffalo wings.

Despite the humor, I have great sympathy for a lot of these guys. They are genuine, decent people and they aren't socially cutthroat.

They are super nice.
(half the problem - obviously)

College is an "okay" time for them.

Still, it's got to be hard knowing that other guys the same age are getting compliments on their dick size and opening the walls of young pussies for it's first time --- while their "college experience" revolves around using the high-speed Internet to play World of Warcraft. By Junior year, most of the these guys have accepted their status in the world. While this is probably the more emotionally healthy move for the average person who never really works on himself - it doesn't address the lack of a sex life and the upcoming 20 years when it will be even harder. 

Like me, but for a different reason, college won't be their Golden Years.

They'll have to try again in their mid-20's.

The Fraternity Hierarchy

In Part II, you saw the social hierarchy for the entire university.
*Frat rejects exist in the Bottom 80% as well

In the Top 20% (among the general population, non-athletes) were -

• Fraternity Stars
• Fraternity Brothers & Good Looking Independents
• Independent Party Boys
• Wildcards (various status/rare circumstances)

I will reiterate - the "Frat Stars" and the "Frat Brothers" are guys in COOL fraternities that party.
(there are usually 2 to 8 houses that are considered COOL, depends on the size of your school)

The "Frat Stars" and "Frat Brothers" in the average/less popular fraternities are generally in the Bottom 80%.

As with the general college population, there is a distinct hierarchy that presides over Greek Life.

And This is what it looks like -

Lets talk about the "Cool Fraternity Pyramid"...

At the top are the Frat Stars in cool frats and the small amount of White College Athletes that join fraternities.
As shown on the general population pyramid, only star athletes have more status than this group. White athletes in major sports that are also in popular fraternities are INSTANTLY Frat Stars. They have already proven themselves and have high-status as far as the other brothers are concerned.

Second on the list are the Future Stars in cool fraternities.
These are generally Sophomores that fucked a lot of girls/acquired high-status in their Freshman Year. Juniors are on the cusp too. Only a small percentage of Freshmen get into this category because they usually don't have a lot of influence yet. There is a small group of Veteran Seniors that have equal status to the Future Stars but they have generally hit their potential.

Third on the list are Frat Boys (A-Team) in cool fraternities. 
This group is in cool fraternities but have middle-of-the-road status or slightly above. They are considered reasonably cool and often make up the the majority of their fraternity. They are better socially and usually more athletic than the next group. The "President" of the fraternity usually comes from this group since Frat Stars and Future Stars don't waste their time with busy work.

Fourth on the list are Frat Boys (B-Team) in cool fraternities.
This group is similar to the A-Team but they aren't as popular. Many of them are on bubble of being in [Top of] the Bottom 80%. Most of them are still considered in the Top 20% of the general student population though. These guys are not usually friends with the Frat Stars and are scared to talk to athletes and girls they don't know. Although not Frat Rejects or Frat Pickon's - these guys often end up giving people rides, buying beer, being assigned responsibilities that the more popular kids don't want to do, and in the friend zone with a lot of girls.

Fraternity Guys that Outside of the "Cool Fraternity Pyramid" are...

Unpopular Frat Boys/Frat Rejects/Frat Slobs/Frat Pickon's. 
There's 3 types of guys that are in fraternities but have Bottom 80% status and do not receive a status bump from joining a fraternity.

• Unpopular Frat Boy - a guy in a not popular frat - he will remain in the Bottom 80% because his frat is in the Bottom 80%.
• Frat Rejects - as mentioned, these guys were rejected by the cool frats and end up in an unpopular "reject frats" with others that had a similar fate.
• Frat Slobs (or Frat Legend) - that fat/weird frat guy that will DO ANYTHING, EAT ANYTHING to the amusement of his peers. Only overweight girls might fuck him if he's not a total clown.
• Frat Pickon's - guys in cool/average frats that are the least popular and get bullied. Although they joined a popular frat, they aren't taken seriously, end up as the designated driver every night, bankroll, resident punching bag and serve as a human toilet for the House. (Figuratively speaking - usually)

So there are you have it - in general.

The major points were -

• Consider rushing a fraternity during your Freshman year. Especially if you go to a big school.
• Simply joining 'A Frat' doesn't really help your status or sex life - unless the Frat is considered cool.
  You will get access to low-end parties where there will be mostly guys.
• There is a social hierarchy among fraternities - just like the general student body and every country on the face of the earth.
• Guys that are Frat Rejects/Slobs/Pickon's in cool frats don't have much status, despite their House being cool. They fall into the Bottom 80%.
• The majority of guys in cool frats get an instant status boost into the Top 20% of the general population.
  There are still some guys in cool frats (Pickon's, Low Status B-Team) that don't make the Top 20%.

How Can I Tell Which Fraternities Are Cool/Chill With Hot Girls?

There are several ways.

First -

As a Freshman, unless you quarantine yourself in your dorm room, you will go to some fraternity parties. While you are at the parties, you will be able to evaluate their scene and catch the overall vibe. The members of the fraternity will come up and meet you (if you stand out in a good way) and you will get to talk to them.

While these types of interactions and rush parties begin to feel somewhat rehearsed and repetitive, one thing to take into consideration is -

• HOW HOT ARE THEIR GIRLS?
  The girls that are talking to brothers (and seem to already know them) - are they attractive? 

You should figure this out and compare the different fraternities. These will most likely be the types of girls you are going to be hanging out with.

Second -

Word of mouth sheds light on who's cool and who's not, even among new students.

During rush, multiple fraternities have parties on the same night.

• Which fraternity is getting the Freshman girls to come by?
• Which fraternity are the hot girls on your hall/dorm talking about?

Three -

You have all the permission and power in the world to walk up to introduce yourself to the brothers that you think might be cool.

This rarely happens because most newcomers are so scared of the social scene. It's impressive and you get to see if the guys can hold a conversation with you.

In a sense, you are "screening" them.

Do the normal small talk stuff.

Who, what, where, when, why? Just on common threads.

• "Hey what's up dude, I hear you guys really throw down and have some awesome parties?"
• "I'm Chris, by the way."
• "Yeah, I'm new actually. Where are you from?"
• "That's cool I've been/not been there - how it is compared to here?"
• "Do you like the [name of major sports team in that city]?"
• "So tell me- what are you biggest events/parties of the year?"
• etc.

It's not hard - it's like you are deliberately feeling them out (not in a stiff/nosey way) them to see if they meet your standards. They will ask you a ton of questions back and offer you drinks.

Although I was more timid than I am now - I did something like this at Furman and I was pretty much the most highly sought after recruit in 2004. It doesn't take much.

You can fake it to a certain extent.

Small talk is usually fake conversation. 

Fourth -

Just ask around.

Not in a pathetic way.

In a YOU-SEEM-COOL and SO-AM-I.

I-NEED-TO-KNOW-WHO-IS-COOL-SO-I-DON'T-WASTE-MY-TIME kind of way.

Don't rely on the Freshmen for this information, they don't actually know. Ask some of the older guys in your classes who seem cool.

You can ask girls too, just catch them when they aren't in a group if you are scared.

This is one of the things I did correctly as a Freshman at Emory. A lot of sophomore girls had input on where I should join, where'd I would fit in/like and "what Frat House I looked like". Some of them gave me their AIM screen name (popular at the time).

EVERYONE has an opinion on the social scene at their school and will talk to you at-length about it. There is nothing to be scared of - returning students feel good about helping new students out.

If they don't help you out - they are weirdos and they know it.

There are more ways to probe the Greek Scene. Those are 4 ways I thought of in about 30 seconds - you can get your answers in less than 1 day. 

Lastly -
(recently added)

This is something I haven't done but it's worth a shot.

Just ask online.

The question you want to ask is -

"Which fraternities at the [university of location] party the most?"

Don't ask -

"Which fraternities are cool?"

"Cool" is a subjective thing and if you get an answer from a guy that has 10,000 posts on a "college forum", chances are - it's the opposite.

Here's a spot where you can ask -

• "College Confidential Online Forum" 

Such is Life.

Remember, I don't make the rules.

I explain them and tell you what you need to do to thrive.

A few people from the intellectual class wrote in, critiquing "my rules" and how Americans are disgusting. 

The social structure in the United States is what it is. 

The "In-crowd", social climbing and men/women being attracted to status is not a "Stupid American Thing" or unique to the United States.

Social status has been around since before the time of Jesus Christ.
(he was poor but turned into God)

Even animals have a status quo.

North Korea, where everyone is completely equal, has one too.

Social status is hardly unique to American universities.

And College, big or small, is simply a microcosm of the world.

If you want to make yourself into someone that is in touch with reality and dominates the status quo - that's what the majority of this place is about.

And it doesn't take much to be above-average these days - especially in college.

Stop whining.

Our series on the college scene will continue here -

• "Academic and Social Misconceptions About College: Greek Life - Getting Pussy, Hazing, Minorities, etc. (Part V)"