Hello everyone I'm sure this question has been asked, but I couldn't find any recent threads on this forum or blogs on the internet. I asked the ROO at the school I'm attending if it is a possibility to join a fraternity and he said a handful of cadets participate in greek life. My thought is it may be a turn off to fraternity's that you have a larger commitment. I would also think as you become more of a leader among cadets as you get closer to LDAC and commissioning it will be hard to participate in both? If anyone could touch on this from experience I would greatly appreciate it. Some quick background is I'm joining Army ROTC as a freshman in August without a scholarship I may do SMP part way through the year once I'm adjusted to college, or I will hopefully earn a scholarship.
I really think it will depend on the school and the Greek system.
There were a couple schools my son visited where he would not have joined a Frat (Sorry but I get tired of spelling it out all the time) The Greek system at these school had a not so good rep. Some of the schools were a lot better.
As it turned out both my son's attended the same school, one graduated last year and the other is currently a soph. Both joined the same Frat, they have a great Greek system at the school. The Frat he joined has had the highest GPA on campus for as long as they both have been there and it is almost a full point higher the the general campus average.
There have been many benefits to the Frat, but be aware there are the downsides. The first year freshman sleeping porch was not a place you could count on getting the sleep you needed to get up for PT. there were many a night my son's would find a quiet place in the Frat to sleep, it is a lot better this year.
Most Frats only require you live in house for the first 2 years, after that you can move out of the house and still be a member if you feel you need a bit more privacy and quiet.
Time management is needed as well as a good set of Priorities, School, ROTC, Frat.
This last comment may not sit well with everyone and it is purely subjective so please take it that way.
All battalions are not created equal, you may find that you don't connect all that well with every cadet in your class or battalion. If you are in a smaller battalion that can be an issue. Being involved outside the battalion is one of the great perks of ROTC, make the best of it, whether you join a Frat, are in a Dorm, or involved with other school activities.
My son has friends in ROTC, he will admit, not all cadets are friends outside of ROTC. He is in a Frat, and has a position within the Frat, he is also a School Senator, as well as part of the Student run Campus Marketing Business. This all requires some time management but is doable. As far as hurting in regard to ROTC, only if you let it, my son is #1 in his ROTC class.
Try different things, see what works for you. The beauty of ROTC is that it allows you to explore a lot of options at school and find what works for you. My son's always commented that they enjoyed having both a ROTC and Civilian life while at school, and I feel it helped them in the longrun. You really get a lesson in managing your own time, all by yourself with ROTC, make the most of it, you only get to do this once.
EDIT:
Edelahanty made some great points.
Make sure the school has a good Greek Council that oversees Greek Row.
Research all the Frats on campus, my son actually talked to the manager of the bookstore and asked her opinion on the the different Frats, he ended up joining one of the ones she said was good.
Ask what the average GPA is for the house, if they won't tell you then look it up, it should be listed. If they don't tell you it's probably not that good.
Ask about the initiation process, how it works and how long is it. They won't tell you everything but they should tell you enough to get a good idea.
Find out there alcohol policy, some houses are dry and some are not, unless it is required to be dry by the school. Find out their policies on parties.
I can give you an example of my son's Frat.
Minimum GPA is 3.0 while in the house, drop below and you have one semester to bring it back up or your required to move out.
All freshman have a mandatory 2 hour a night study hall six days a week in the house study hall.
Parties are by invitation only, everyone must have ID and are given wristbands, green for over 21, red for under, get caught drinking with a red band and your kicked out.
Initiation was one week at the start of the second semester, that was it, no running around campus wearing a stupid hat or anything like that. Initiation was done in house, nothing that done outside of the house.
The only requirement of freshman was that they did all the house cleaning there entire freshman year, they called it one year Hell, 3 years Hotel, since after your freshman year you no longer cleaned the house. This was the extent of what some might call hazing.
So these are just a few things to keep in mind when looking into the Greek System.
I can tell you one thing, both my son's said they would have no way belonged to a Frat if the had gone to the University just 8 miles from theirs. So like I said, a lot depends on the school and the Greek system they have.