OT. Aerospace Engineering and frats

[dawgdr]

My son going to AE. Wanting to go out for rush. Is it doable? And maintain a decent gpa? And when I say decent I mean 3.5 or better? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[civildawg88]

Yes, seen multiple guys do it. I was in engineering and did it as well. Takes some self discipline though

 

[jethreauxdawg]

I believe the frats view 2.5 as decent

So you tell me.

But seriously, a friend of mine was in a frat and graduated with higher than 3.5 in ME. So it can be done, but compared to the other friends I had that were in frats, he was an exception.

 

[Dawgzilla]

Of course it is doable. It is up to your son to prioritize his grades, but that is true of all students. The average GPA among Greeks is consistently higher than the average GPA of all male students. (That is true of a lot of organizations, of course, since students who are flunking out typically don't join many organizations). If he finds the right chapters that emphasize grades, then his goal of a high GPA will actually be an asset.

Here is a link to the Spring 2017 grade report, which is the most recent I could find online. I would say, focus on the chapters that averaged a 3.00 or above, and just ask questions during rush about how much the chapters encourage academic achievement. They almost all claim to encourage it, but ask them what they actually do.

https://www.union.msstate.edu/sites...les/Fraternity Grade Report - Spring 2017.pdf

I graduated with a 3.86 in Chem E, and there were a couple of AE's in my chapter who had a similar or better GPA. Plus, the chapter had upper classmen who gave me valuable survival tips, and helped me seek membership into leadership and scholarship honors chapters around campus to become more well-rounded and pad my resume. I never would have even heard of some of those possibilities if not for my brothers.

And when I decided to switch gears as a Senior, my fraternity brothers helped me figure out how to get into Law School.

 

[TNT.sixpack]

My son going to AE. Wanting to go out for rush. Is it doable? And maintain a decent gpa? And when I say decent I mean 3.5 or better? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Yes. As someone else said, it takes discipline. My son is pre-med Organic Chemistry and molecular biology major. 4.0 gpa. Was his fraternity rush chairman his Soph year and is now president for his upcoming junior year. He’ll tell you that when it’s time to study, u just do what u have to do - close ur door and study. It depends 100% on the kid. The frats won’t interfere with it. It’s All self discipline on the kid. .

 

[MaroonCrusader]

We had two or three guys that were aerospace engineering majors in my fraternity at MSU. All of them did well. Also, I know when I was in school we had like 3.1 overall GPA with like 100 members..not bad considering what the media portrays fraternity members to be.

 

[Allday.sixpack]

The Fraternity won’t be the reason he doesn’t get his grades. The engineers that I know with social skills, are killing it!

Fraternity life will help him.

 

[o_dawgnabit]

Had several in my fraternity who were AE and all had 4.0’s. One was an officer as well. Definitely doable. Most of them will actually push him for better grades

 

[dawgdr]

Thanks for the responses. My son is a typical millinial and I worry about him balancing!

 

[Joe Schmedlap]

He just needs to avoid the weed and blow.

 

[dickiedawg]

If he's entering school this year, he's a post-millennial.

 

[LexSCDOG]

Yes My son and I both did it 30 years apart and He was president of the Fraternity(same...). All about priorities and what is important in his life.

My son going to AE. Wanting to go out for rush. Is it doable? And maintain a decent gpa? And when I say decent I mean 3.5 or better? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[LexSCDOG]

And BOTH of us got our first Engineering jobs due to Fraternity connections with the companies. Mine was with Westinghouse, the guy I interviewed with was in the same Fraternity at a small college in the Northeast. My son through an Alumnus from MSU who was in our Fraternity. The Connections are very valuable as are the friendships.

Yes My son and I both did it 30 years apart and He was president of the Fraternity(same...). All about priorities and what is important in his life.

 

[engie]

My son going to AE. Wanting to go out for rush. Is it doable? And maintain a decent gpa? And when I say decent I mean 3.5 or better? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

I know when I was coming through, several of the frats had almost every test from almost every class which were always almost verbatim. Sometimes identical. If I had it to do over, I would have probably gone through for that reason.

 

[o_fredgarvin]

It's completely doable. I was an AE and in a fraternity. Whether he makes the grades or not is driven by the kid not the fraternity. Fraternity brothers I had who didn't cut it were screw-offs. It wasn't because the fraternity kept them from succeeding.

 

[diggidydog]

IMO joining a fraternity has very little to no bearing on how well you do in school. Plenty of guys make 4.0s and plenty flunk out and both of them would've done the same whether in a frat or not. Frats don't eat up any more time than you want especially once the pledge semester is over and even then it is not a ton of time. I think it is good for future career, they will know more people than just fellow AE majors.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

I know when I was coming through, several of the frats had almost every test from almost every class which were always almost verbatim. Sometimes identical. If I had it to do over, I would have probably gone through for that reason.

Not so much in engineering, but yeah they definitely did in many other majors. Most of the engineering tests were circulating around the other engineering students in my experience.

 

[engie]

I dunno... SAE had nearly everything from ME when I was coming through. A couple of times I would have reallyyyy struggled based on what was taught in class vs what the test was actually going to be without the blueprint...