Gettysburg College Top Questions

Fraternities and sororities are a pretty big part of this campus, I think. I didn't realize it until I decided to join one. When I first came to Gettysburg (and even before) I never considered joining in the greek life. I was actually against it. I saw movies and tv shows that made the greek life look stupid in my eyes: drinking all the time; getting drunk and doing stupid things, followed by getting in trouble; being loud and obnoxious to the people trying to study and sleep; hazing; fraternities making rude comments to girls as they pass by the houses; sisters being nasty to other girls and being flirtatious with every boy that crosses their path. However, not ALL the sororities and fraternities are like that. Despite the stereotype, the greek life that I've experience is much different. I would have never known how wrong the movies are if I hadn't joined the greek life. I see friendships that will last me for a long time. I see support when I feel like I'm falling. I see love for who I am. I see respect and politeness. I see a light when I'm lost. I see my family. I would definitely urge people not to dive head first into this life, but to definitely look into what it has to offer. Yes, the greek life isn't for everyone, and you may think it's not for you. But after having a negative image of the greek life and then giving it a try, I realized that going greek is one of the best choices I've made so far.

(frats = the only good parties at G burg) so let what works thrive

-all sports teams and most fraternities enjoy a degree of popularity -in order to survive you need to have some connection to a team of frat

There are many opportunities for involvement on campus.

There is no dating scene here. Guys cheat on their girlfriends, even when their girlfriends go to this school. Fraternities are extremely important, as our sororities. The statistics Gettysburg gives about how many people are in them are very unaccurate. Sororities also have an asburd rush process, leaving many girls out and getting away with things such as ripping up bids of girls they don't personally like. People party 3-5 nights a week and some probably 6 or more. There is nothing to do on a Saturday night that does not involve drinking, as our library closes at 8 pm and does not reopen until Sunday at 10 am. The only non drinking Saturday activities are staying in and going to bed, real fun.

Intramural sports are huge on campus. Almost everyone I know has played on at least one team. Greek life is also a big thing on campus. Springfest happens every spring and is amazing.

people are very friendly here, especially freshmen year. there is a lot of greek activity, 70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the people pledge or are somehow involved. sports are pretty popular. they do try to offer non drinking activities but its not as easy to find as beer.

The campus activities board at Gettysburg does a fairly good job of bringing interesting movies and concerts to Gettysburg. However, the vast majority of students do go to the fraternities, some up to five nights a week. Binge drinking is huge here, and if you don't like getting drunk and going from fraternity to fraternity then you won't like it here. I personally have been "out" once or twice here and its not fun or relaxing. Girls dress in short skirts and guys dress in their best polos, and everyone gets very drunk. Playing beer pong is a common game. Fraternities and sororities are huge here. If women were allowed to live in sorority houses, the problem would be even bigger here. The fraternities are the only source of entertainment here, unless you like to sit around and play video games with other like-minded people. I personally have had a difficult time finding friends who don't want to go out at least twice a week.

There are some things to do without alcohol, but not much. I personally do not drink. Although I am of age, I cannot take this risk because it could hinder my chances of receiving my teaching certification. People party all the time. It's hard to go anywhere on any day of the week without finding someone with some excuse for drinking. It's not so much because people are in fraternities or sororities, but people just get trashed here. To be honest, I'm concerned about some people's well being when they graduate college. They drink so often and so much that it's going to be problematic after they have left the "college scene."

I've met so many different people in the past three years, which has been a great learning experience. Even though the majority of the population is from the East Coast, there are students here from all over the U.S. and the world. I work with students from as far away as Nepal and Japan. Gettysburg students are very politically involved and there is Friendships that last forever are formed in first year dorms. That's where I met my closest friends. Our sophomore year, 10 of us lived in a theme house, where we had a lot of independence and were also responsible for planning campus events, which made us incredibly close. Four of us studied abroad together and for our senior year we will all have an apartment. Gettysburg is very tradition oriented. Every fall we have Crabfest, where we bring in 600 pounds of crab and have a huge picnic. We also have Thanksgiving dinner, where faculty and staff serve the students a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a whole turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. Every winter we have Snowball, our campus formal dance with a live swing band and the last weekend before finals we have Springfest, a huge party with games, concerts and lots of food. If it's 2 am on a Tuesday night and I'm still up, I'm in the library studying and enjoying the free hot chocolate and coffee that they bring out at midnight.