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do you have something more interesting to talk about?

I was in a fraternity; I held many offices in that fraternity. There is nothing about this that I would include in a personal statement. This is resume material.

Frankly, I think my fraternity membership is an embarrassing aspect of my background. It was a bad experience. Most of my brothers were total meat heads. Most of them didn't belong at the college.

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I completely agree that my fraternity experience taught me priceless lessons about leadership. I just think that a good PS should be less generic than that. I am willing to bet that the people reading it will have heard the same story a million times. I think a good PS should either address something specific about yourself, or address something specific about your goals. And, as another frat guy, I really don't think the admissions people are looking to accept us "privileged" folk who had the opportunity to completely enjoy undergrad. (Privileged was in quotes because I am not rich and waited tables to pay my dues)

I say if it makes for a good PS, go for it. I had one written about my leadership and Greek life (in the Greek community as a whole. My house was great, but apathetic) but scrapped it because I didn't really like the writing and thought that I could stand out more with a different topic. If your experience is well suited to be conveyed in 2-3 pages of good, creative writing, just the fact that it is about a fraternity should not hold you back. Just direct all your apps to the south...

Edited for grammar

Unfortunately it's just a negative stereotype that exists. Leadership in a fraternity/sorority is very time consuming and a lot of responsibility is shouldered, which I'm sure is wonderful in fostering leadership skills, but in my opinion you just don't want to run the risk of a negative first impression. What if the admissions committee member (or their son) didn't get in to your fraternity and holds a grudge? What if at their undergrad college/university your fraternity had a terrible reputation? What if they think of all greeks as alcoholic party people?

Also, you run the risk of seeming one-dimensional. Pretty much everybody can join a greek organization. It's not all that unique, though I'm sure the experience you detail in your PS is. I just wouldn't want an adcomm to read my file and think, okay, so this person was in a fraternity and held some offices. Big deal.

I'm sure your PS is well-written and that the detailing of your leadership skills is good; however, if I were you, I would want to avoid incurring any negative stereotypes if possible. Remember - these admissions deans/committee members are people, with many preexisting biases, which is something you just can't change.

OP, i wrote my ps about a story about something that happened to me in the frat like you it was more a story than my duties i got into UVA so go for it.... don't listen to people on TLS they are mostly antisocial nerds haha there is a lot of solid ps that can come out of frat life

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Unfortunately I agree. I was in a frat and did not envy those that held office. It was a rough job. But I would say if you made a decision as tough as kicking someone out and wrote it well, it might be a good PS.

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+1...

I'm going to go against the grain and say go for it... Especially if it was an event or experience that shaped who you are/demonstrates something important about your character... Remember this is a site full of nerd (myself included) so we have an anti-frat mentality

I wrote what some might call a jock-ish PS (PM if you want details) and it seems to have worked out thus far - see my LSN profile

I say go for it - be daring!

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IMO general public impression of fraternities:

This would likely make a better PS than the one you are proposing.

Agree.

I briefly spoke about my fraternity involvement in my diversity statement (no, this is not a cultural fraternity, its an IFC fraternity (and not ODPHI, either). I spoke about it for 2-3 sentences and it was extremely relevant. An entire PS on the subject may be overkill, because unfortunately there are those out there that look down upon fraternity life for one reason or another. Now, on the flip side of that, adcomms know that fraternities take up alot of time, so if you have a good GPA they already know everything they can about you from your days living in the frat-castle; You possess time management skills. Devoting an entire PS to it may not be wise. Is there an over arching theme that you could tie it into?

On the other hand, I love reading about other peoples greek experience. I think if its well written it could be great, especially if you land an adcomm that is 1) from the fratty south, or 2) just a frat-daddy in general.

P.S. don't call your fraternity a 'Frat'. Would you call your country a 'count'

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Good idea. You don't want to bring any additional heat on you for being an "irresponsible, wild 'frat-boy'. If you do end up referencing your greek experience and want to swap PS', let me know.

Will do.

TITCR. If you think it will be your best PS topic, I say go for it. I don't see anything wrong with writing about specific experiences within your fraternity that exemplify your character and leadership and demonstrate how your experiences helped shape who you are today. Avoid sounding stereotypical/bro-y: use "fraternity" instead of "frat", use language that is intelligible to independents (e.g.: "joining a fraternity" instead of "pledging a house"), and avoid language that induces images of alcoholism and hazing.

I agree, that anyone can join a fraternity (key article: "a") is largely irrelevant. I submit that anyone can do most of the stuff people write about in their PSs, excluding PSs about inherent characteristics (race, sexuality, place of birth, etc). Anyone can save puppies. Whether you're writing about saving puppies or serving as a leader of your fraternity, law schools will be most impressed by essays that are genuine, well-written, and convey personality traits that law schools find desirable and attractive, such as character, ambition, leadership, and compassion.