Gettysburg College Top Questions

Greek life. lots of it. you can avoid it if you want, or you can try to, but inevitably you'll know someone who rushes somewhere. gburg is unusual in that you rush sophomore year, not freshman year. this can be unfortuante because people make "freshmen" friends and then ditch them all the next year to rush. even if they don't ditch their friends, they find it hard to balance Greek and non-Greek frienships because Greek takes over your life. gburg athletics suck, except for lacrosse. music ensembles are pretty big, and choir concerts bring in a large crowd (the band, though one of the larger ensembles, draws teh smallest crowd. go figure). there are weekend events and several yearly things--a dance, a spring party, stuff for seniors, etc. mostly on weekends i hang out with friends in the dorm, rather than going out and getting drunk and being stupid.

The social atmosphere is pretty positive and people are always willing to talk to you. Through your first year you’ll develop friendships that will last all of your college career and maybe even further (I haven’t gotten that far yet to find out). The College wants to keep its students as active as possible whether it’d be through college sponsored events or events run by student organizations. These are offered mainly on the weekends to provide some activity for the students who do not wish to take part in the drinking atmosphere. I’d rather not say that the college competes with Greek Life, but it is a force to be reckoned with – out of all the students who are eligible to rush (Gettysburg College does not permit you to rush until your sophomore year) 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of those are involved with either Fraternities or Sororities. If you’re concern is about drinking then come prepared because students will always find an excuse to drink...that’s no matter where you go.

Gettysburg has tons of clubs and organizations, fraternities, sororities. As I said previously, students are very involved in every aspect. A lot of people participate in Greek life...either as part of a fraternity or sorority or by attending one of their events, but it's not a necessary part of campus life. We support students making their own decisions, whether you decide to remain substance-free or drink. Gettysburg can be a pretty big party school, though.

The social life here is great. In your freshman dorms you'll meet a lot of great people. I got lucky and made friends with nearly everybody both on my floor and the floor above me. There's always someone who wants to hang out, and just hanging out can be really fun. It's like having all your best friends from high school living just down the hall, or around the corner. People almost always leave their doors open, and there is usually a steady flow of kids from one room to the next, talking, getting homework help, or just relaxing with one another. There is no one singular club or organization that seems to reign on campus. But there are many that you can choose from. There's a seemingly endless supply of extracurricular here. You just need to ask where to find them, as sometimes it's not crystal clear where to go to find something to do. Athletic events are fun to watch, and probably even more fun to be involved in. You'll always have some Gettysburgians in the stands cheering you on if you're in a match. There are also tons of guest speakers hosting events on campus. Fun things, like comedians, and plays at the theater, but also speakers who inform you of job opportunities, internships and the like. People party pretty regularly here. Nearly every weekend there are parties and drinking going on. If you're into that, cool, but if you're not, don't sweat it because it's all up to you here. You're the adult. Fraternities are very prevalent here, I count seven just thinking about it now. I'm not into Greek life myself, but a lot of people are. I find almost all the frats a little sketchy, but if you have nothing better to do on a Saturday night and feel like dancing, if you know a couple people you can usually find an open frat and have fun. I would never join one though, but a lot of guys do. Sororities exist too, but they don't have houses thanks to some crazy 19th century law that says no 6 women or more can live in the same dwelling alone, as it is then considered a brothel (no joke!) The dating scene is big too. There are a lot more random hookups though, especially in freshman year, but dating is big too. Me and my girlfriend got together in the beginning of Soring semester and have been together ever since (it is currently the end of May). So if you want to date, it's completely doable. The college puts on a lot of dances and social events on weekends as an alternative to drinking, and they can be a blast. So again, don't sweat it if you don't want to drink! There's a lot more to college life then getting wasted, believe me.

There are a lot of sports events to go to which are division III or club sports. There are a lot of guest speakers offered by the school and are open to the general public usually. You meet most of the people you know for your college career either in your first year residence hall, sports team, or through greek life. Greek life dominates most of the social scene and about half the school is involved in a greek organization (students are not allowed to rush until fall of sophomore year). Student activities offered by the school consist or two big concerts, one each semester, parties in the school night club, movie nights, and other events such as crabfest and springfest. Depending on which fraternity you go to you could be able to drink 5-6 nights a week. If you're looking to go out and drink and you're under 21, fraternities are pretty much your first choice and if you're looking to socialize and not drink you could go to campus events, which are offered frequently. Off campus there really isn't much. There are bars and movie theatres. People that go off campus usually don't go into town but go to other schools or the baltimore area.

Gettysburg goes to great lengths to bring in speakers of interest. I went to see Carson Daly and Chelsea Clinton speak. I've watched presentations on garbage as a means of addressing environmental studies and the struggle of making global issues relevent to the individiual as well as macro economic presentations on the current monetary issues impacting the housing market.

Although they school doesn't like to advertise it on campus visits or in viewbooks, fraternities ARE the social scene at Gettysburg. Because we are in a small town and there isn't much to do off campus, the majority of us party at the frats--any night from Wednesday to Sunday. Parties are open to mostly everybody, though, so it's a fun way for the whole campus to come together on weekends and definately creates a sense of community outside of the classroom. Most first-years meet their friends on the hall (we live with people from our first-year seminars, so people often share similar interests), and these friendships tend to last throughout people's time at Gettysburg. The administration seems to know that the students are mostly interested in partying on the weekends, because there's not much else to do that is well-attended.

The craziest thing about Gettysburg is safety. Students reserve their desk at the library with their laptop, then leave for dinner. People regularly loose their ATM card and have it returned to them. During lunch time the lobby of Servo (the dining hall) is filled with backpacks. You could leave it there for days and no one will touch it. That kind of environment says a lot about the people who go to Gettysburg. I am involved with a variety of activities on campus, from athletics to tourguiding. Students are very involved in campus activities. Greek life is important, but not a requirement at Gettysburg. You can have an active and involved social life without being in a fraternity/sorority. The Attic is a place on campus where students can go to hang out. It hosts events on campus over the weekend life comedians and musicians. It's also open during the week for students to hang out, watch TV and play pool. If you're awake at 2 am on a Tuesday you are: a) studying for an exam on Wednesday b) frantically writting a paper c) out at "pitchers" at the Pub on Tuesday nights (if you're 21 of course) d) a night owl who is slowly getting ready for bed

Greek life is by far the most prevalent organization type on campus. I'm in a sorority and I never thought I would be. I'm still up in the air about whether I'm glad I joined it or not, and most of my closest friends are independent. There isn't much to do that doesn't involve drinking as far as I've seen, and I always wonder what people do if they don't go out on a Friday or Saturday night. The biggest party every year is called Springfest, where the college sponsors outdoor concerts, barbeques, and big outdoor activities. This year, MTV came to film an episode of Made, which was pretty cool. Athletic events are pretty popular, and sometimes we even have fan buses to other school for big games. The campus itself is pretty safe, people leave their doors in dorms open, but there are also thefts and vandalism sometimes, mostly by townies.

This is not a relationship school. Everyone is too busy for that. Greek life is prevalent but you don't have to be Greek to go to a party and most everyone on campus enjoys the social scene the fraternities and sororities provide. Seniors can live off campus so there is usually a healthy amount of off campus houses that throw parties but you've got to know someone to go so it's usually the same people you would see at the bars or the frats. Lacrosse is big here and the guy's games are the best attended sporting events.

There is always something to do, it's just a matter of finding it. If you like the outdoors, there are trips with GRAB to go rock climbing, kayaking, etc. If you like the arts, there's a gallery and a theatre where you can act, build, paint, sew, or just hang out and observe. If you like music, there are "coffeehouse" performances in the Junction on weekends and musicians who play in the Attic for happy hour. Free movies are also held in the Junction once in a while, sometimes playing double features on the weekend. If you want to go drink and dance, there are frat parties and bars in town. If you want to try something a little different, the theme houses on campus host a lot of different kinds of events. There's also Thursday Common Hours over lunch (no students have class at this time) where guest speakers come in and talk about relevent social issues-- AND you get free food.

Fraternities and sororities are quite popular with i think about half of the eligible (not freshman) student body being involved. Your freshman dorm is a great place to meet people and usually everyone has their door open at some point during the day. When the weather gets warm people usually congregate outside to lay in the sun or play some frisbee. The best friends I have are those who lived on my freshman hall, in fact by the time I graduate I will have lived with my freshman roommate for all 4 years! People tend to go out on the weekend to fraternities and some go out on the weekdays as well. Older kids go to the bars on Thursdays and one a month they have Midnight Madness late at night with free food in the dining hall (affectionately named Servo). If you want to get away for a weekend Baltimore and DC are close.

Okay- so Greek life is a HUGE part of the social life. If you like to drink and party- its just kind of inevitable that greek life will play a part in that. BUT I am here to be an advocate for clubs and such as well. There is a lot to be involved in on campus. Like I said, the people who are the least happy at Gburg are the people who don't get involved with the campus. Do you have to be a part of greek life to have fun? No. Do you have to be a part of greek life to party? no. Do you have to be a part of greek life to enjoy your four years at gettysburg... no. But If you are interested in Greek life- it is great at gburg. You can be as involved as you want to be- its not completely life consuming or even socially consuming (that is to say you're not necessarily categorized by what greek oranization you join). I have really enjoyed my experience.

The most defining characteristic of Gettysburg College is the partying. It's not uncommon, in fact, it's pretty standard that gburg students party 4, 5, 6, sometimes 7 nights a week. In the spring time when it's warm, students usually are day-drinking, usually whatever time they get out of class and if they have no work. Upper-classmen go to bars usually Tuesdays and Thursdays, and occasionally Wednesdays. Weekends are times for frat parties, other non-affiliated house parties are also popular. Pregaming begins around 9pm and the nights usually don't end til around 3am, but it's definitely not uncommon for people to party until 5, 6, or 7am (on any given day). Natty Light, Banker's Club, and Andre are names a part of everyday speech. If one decides to drink on a "random" day, they refer to it as: Monday Funday, Boozeday Tuesday, Wasted Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, Sunday Funday (Fridays and Saturdays are clearly set aside for drinking and don't need a name). If per chance you are not drinking on a Friday or Saturday (often because of a game the next day - 48 hour rule), students spend their nights watching movies at home, going to the movies in town, or hanging out with their friends just not drinking. The most popular sports teams are 1. lacrosse (men's first, then girls), 2. football 3. guys basketball. More often than not, fans pregame sporting events. Students pregame pretty much everything. Students go to the library and class drunk on a regular basis. On Springfest students bring drinks in Nalgenes to class. It's really a wonder how more of us didn't end up in the hospital on multiple occasions. Basically, Gettysburg is like a bubble where it feels like you can do anything without anyone on the outside world knowing, nor understanding. My fellow classmates have often said "this place isn't real." Gburg's also been known as "Disneyland" or "GVegas."

In my freshman year, everyone left their doors open. However my sophomore year, no one did. My closest friends at Gettysburg are in my major. There is a large communal bond with people who are in your major, no matter your graduation year. Parties can happen any night (if someone brings alcohol), however the large party nights I've noticed people go to (I'm not a party goer myself) is Wednesday through Saturday nights, and yes they do return very loud, noisy, with paper thin walls to blanket their sounds. How important Fraterinites/sororities are, depends on where you live. If you live on campus, then fraternities/sororities play a larger part in ones social life. If you live off campus, then it is usually the people in the house you live in, who are your social life. There aren't a lot of places a person can go to have fun in Gettysburg beyond fraternities/sororities. There is the Blue Parrot and the Ragged Edge, however they are more sit down calm environments. The largest complaint is that there isn't much to do in Gettysburg, and that is very true. My suggestion to keep you involved if you don't want to go out drinking every night, would be to involve yourself in as many extracurricular activities as you can handle.

The most popular social groups could be classified as the sports teams and greek life. While the two may interchange, the social life centers around these two groups. Most parties are either mixers between fraternities and sororities or between girls sport's teams and boy's sports teams. While the popular sororities are only Gamma Phi Beta, Chi Omega, and Delta Gamma, the popular fraternities are SAE, TKE, ATO, Phi Sig, Phi Delt, and ATO. The sports teams that have the most social gatherings are probably the football team, the basketball teams (boys and girls), lacrosse teams (boys and girls), and the baseball team. The athletic events are usually very popular and a lot of the student body goes out to support them. When students turn 21 their social scene changes a little bit by incorporating the bar scene. Tuesday nights are pitchers at the PUB and LIT's and Trivia at Mama's. Thursday nights are karaoke at Mama's. People party a lot at Gettysburg College and most don't realize this because of the small population... in all actuality, the fact that there are so few students makes parties that much more fun because you start at one end of campus at a party and can wonder all around hopping from house to house or fraternity to fraternity. Events that do not involve drinking at Gettysburg are basically only movie theatres. Drinking is constantly going on at Gettysburg and the party scene is out of control but so fun.

I've mentioned this a lot already I think, but there are lots of organized groups that give a lot of structure to the social life, events held by the college that give students something to do on weekends, and it's also equally possible to find a group of friends to just chill with on weekends. Clubs benefiting social life aren't just Greek life, but also sports teams (especially the Ultimate Frisbee team), theme housing (a group can apply for a theme house that is based on a similar interest, so you live in a house dedicated to an interest of yours and lead events based on said interest), and from my experience Gettysburg College Choir. The events the college leads for social life are really great too; the comedians are usually very entertaining, there is a hypnotist during freshman orientation every year, well-known bands and speakers do stop by as well as less well-known but very interesting and relevant speakers. Also a lot of over-21s enjoy "host provider" events, where any student over 21 gets a wristband on the way in to the event and can enjoy three free alcoholic drinks (beer or wine). There are of course also non-alcoholic drinks that are also free, sodas and that kind of thing. It is possible to find a party on campus most days a week, but weekends are more likely, and it's also possible to avoid a party on campus if it's not your thing (after three full years at the college, I've still never been to a frat party and don't really care to go, and still find myself readily entertained without that kind of partying). People do also dedicate themselves to work, even if it is pulling an all-nighter to write a 15-page paper due the next day (...though I don't recommend that). The library gets progressively more full toward the end of a semester and finals week it is near impossible to find a computer there (though there are less-well-known computer labs across campus if you need to use a computer somewhere quiet... also, these computer labs make it possible to survive without a computer even though most students have a laptop... I went without a laptop for a semester and had no problem getting work done, but email is really heavily relied on for contact).

Students are friendly and social. The most popular clubs include Ultimate Frisbee, Alpha Phi Omega, GECO (Gettysburg Environmental Concerns Organization) and Italian Club. Athletic events, particularly lacrosse games, are huge. Football games are huge also: a win dictates whether or not there is an enormous open fraternity party that night. There are tons of guest speakers and the theater department and Conservatory sponsor concerts several times each week. The best Gettysburg traditions are Springfest and the coffee cart at the library. Springfest is two weeks befre finals in the spring. The college hosts an outdoor concert with a popular artist, a barbeque and a carnival. It's a huge weekend for partying, especially for seniors: it's the last hurrah before students hunker down for straight studying. The coffee cart is at the library. Every night at midnight (the library is open 24/7!), the librarian on duty wheels out hot water and coffee. Students take a brief break for cocoa, tea or coffee and socialize before hitting the books. Students work hard and party with dedication. Sororities don't have houses, but fraternities do throw parties. They are not essential to the campus life, but personally, I love frat parties. They are free for anyone who attends and in addition to free beer, it's a great excuse to dance the night away. Frequently you'll suddenly realize the DJ is your lab partner, or the girl dancing next to you is a classmate from your philosophy lecture. Activities on campus that don't involve drinking include concerts, movies in the campus union building, hanging out at The Attic (the on-campus night club with a pool table and TVs) and taking advantage of the fabulous history surrounding the town. There are plenty of coffeeshops and bookstores. Baltimore and DC are also very close.

Greek Life rules the school for the most part. The six sororities and eleven fraternities comprise nearly half of the eligible student body. Weekends consist of frat parties or mixers (open to some, not all) and week nights are split between frats and town bars. There are certainly some people who are in serious relationships, there is also a huge amount of "hooking up" that happens. People at Gettysburg work hard and play hard, which makes for a fun experience. The College also sets up events for students over the year, with the best being "Springfest" -- which is an all-campus, all-weekend blowout party at the end of the year. Overall, Gettysburg is a very fun place to party for four years. For sports, the Lacrosse teams (Men's and Women's) are the most popular, but the soccer teams and swim teams also draw big crowds. Generally there is a high amount of school spirit for the Gettysburg College Bullets.

The most popular organization on campus is probably the intramural sports, Everyone loves sparts at Gburg. People are pretty active and like to work out and have a fun time. The dorms are very open and friendly and you'll usually know most people in your building but especailly on your floor. People almost always keep their doos open for study breaks of chatting and snacking with friends! I met my closest friends in my dorm and in DCF (DiscipleMakers). Each year there are 3 big traditions: (1) Crabfest: everyone eats crabs in the ballroom one night. (2) snowball: our semi formal in febuary (3) springfest: a big week of concerts and parties. The party scene is pretty big. There are parties at just about every frat on Friday, Saturday, and Wednesday nights... sometimes Thursdays. Lots of drinking. If I were awake on a Tuesday at 2 am, I'd probably be at LD's with my room mate and girls across the hall drinking cocoa, stardgazing on the quad, or cramming in the library. Frats and sororities are pretty big here... but its easy to get by w/ out them. Things to do on Sat that don't involve drinking: bowling, mini golf, movies, going to DC/ Phillie, frat parties (you'll be one of the only sober ones), hanging out with friends, nighttime adventures through the battlefields, ...keep your eyes open. There are pleny of fun things to do if you are creative :-)