I kind of think that by posting this topic, you've already answered your own question.

If there's any doubt in your mind that what you have written may not be received positively, then scrap it! I definitely had so many topics, stories, even sentences that I was proud of and really wanted to keep in my PS, but ultimately slashed out because they might have been interpreted incorrectly. By the end of the process, I'd gone through sooo many drafts of my PS that I stopped thinking that I might be "wasting an idea" or "wasting x number of well-written pages". The most important thing is to have a single, cohesive piece that ties your resume, u-grad major, personality, and career plans together; you can publish that heart-breaking autobiographical masterpiece later.

That said, if you're sure that your story is seriously awesome and can override negative preconceptions about frats, then I say do some website sleuthing to figure out who will be (or in the case of admissions committees that include profs, who *is likely* to be) reading your app at the schools you're interested in, and if their profile seems to indicate that they're pretty open-minded or pretty fratty themselves (like, if they're from a younger generation), then go for it! Visit schools and request meetings, so you can get a feel for what these people are like, in person, even, just to be sure!

Do you have any good gang rape stories bro??? Duke might bite on that essay

Kidding.

It should always be remembered that a PS is supplemental to your numbers. It is required for most schools, but it is unlikely to play a large role in your outcomes. Ultimately, make sure it is well written and "personal"--a quality that can be conveyed through any subject with the proper style and fluidity.

FWIW, I wrote a PS that I shopped around to various professors for advice. Almost all of them told me that it was beautifully written, but neede drastic revisions in content and subject matter. I didn't listen to any of them because the specs of their advice conflicted and I didn't feel comfortable with their suggestions. I got into my top choice (mostly b/c of numbers), but clearly my PS did not hurt me.

I'm gonna go with this. I held a few offices and we actually had a few crises we had to resolve that I think gave me some great leadership experience. However, not everything is fit for a PS. In fact, even though I feel I gained valuable leadership experience, I'm not sure I would want the details of the incidents ever divulged to an admissions committee to anything.

That said, because you don't want to post any details about the PS you wrote (a good move IMO), we can't tell you how good/bad it is. If it's the right story with the right outcome, and it doesn't come off as too bro-ish or sancrosanct, then it may be a good one.

at the people who were "in fraternities" yet call them "frats"

you guys are the ones who probably shouldn't use it in your PS

Solid advice bro-skie.

I would say that my most significant experiences in college came from being in a fraternity. I felt like it was something that was worth mentioning in my PS, but any parts I suspected would elicit an eyes-rolling-into-the-back-of-head response were left out. I mention my fraternity experience and how it contributes to the theme of my PS and how qualities/skills I developed or discovered in the fraternity are still helping me today.



Side note: I am wondering which fraternity the OP is in. Maybe we're bro-dizzles

So, I had never read a personal statement when I wrote mine, and now that I have..I wonder. Care to take a glance?

It all started with a simple children's toy. Couldn't be more innocent than that, right? That was the thought process of the gentlemen of Delta Tau Delta when we decided to have a “Slip 'n Slide Night” for our recruitment week. Something fun, care-free, and (since it was 90 degrees outside) ultimately just something to cool us down. Who would have thought that it would have fired so many other people up? But I am getting ahead of myself. I am a long-standing member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity, and also have the unofficial title of “recruitment guru”. From the time I was a pledge I helped execute the best recruitment program at the University of Northern Colorado. We took recruitment week from simple house tours and BBQ's to full out Carnival Days and Casino Nights (complete with Craps tables, and Roulette wheels). Unfortunately not every event can be a sure-fire winner, and we have had less than ideal events, as well including Oil Wrestling with the UNC Dance Team. Oil. It was from oil that a new rule for fraternity recruitment was born. “Women are not to be used in a sexually explicit manner.” We, of course, had no problem with this because we had only that one event that involved women at all, and normally kept our recruitment events to higher standard. Now, this new rule was meant to only punish my fraternity but it seemed that other houses were also involved in slightly inappropriate events as well and had to abide by their own new rule. Between the new “chastity” rule and hitting the highest recruitment numbers at UNC for 4 years in a row, you could say that we were not the most popular on campus with the other fraternity houses. How does this all effect me? It all started with oil.
The newest recruitment chairman, who just happened to be my assistant the year prior, was hungry for another year on top of the recruitment ladder. We had won awards for the last 4 years, and he didn't want to be the one to stop that. Together we created a flawless execution of flyers, recruitment shirts, and events that would entice the whole campus community, not just those interested in Greek life. We had over 200 people at our first event which involved dunk tanks, pie eating, free food, and the Ultimate Slip 'n Slide. Made from 50 feet of rubberized tarp with a garden hose running the water we had created the biggest Slip 'n Slide I had ever seen. Then it happened; someone decided to be a genius and pour bottles of baby oil on the slide in order to make people “slide better”. It, almost ironically, was a slippery slope from there and we soon had 50 girls in their bathing suits slipping and sliding up and down the lawn outside the DTD house. We made it through the night, and everything seemed to be going swimmingly. We had not been lectured by the Greek Advisor, nor had anyone shut us down. We had 50 names of future members to continue recruiting and it seemed as though we had dodged a bullet.
“We would like Delta Tau Delta to be suspended from recruitment activities for the following 2 semesters, including being unable to initiate any members this semester.” That was the statement given by a member of another prominent fraternity on campus. The house shall remain nameless to protect the guilty. Our rival house asking that we be taken out of the recruitment equation would mean significant increases in future members for them, and almost certain death (of the house) for us. Apparently there was a member of this house that had driven by the DTD house in order to see how many people we had “stolen” from their numbers. They saw beautiful girls sliding down our lawn in bikini's and decided to take a report straight to the Inter-fraternity Council; the governing body of fraternity life. Our President asked for a weeks time in which to prepare an answer for their grievance and we had one week in which to save our recruitment, and thus save DTD.
This is where I come in. Our President came to me and asked that I defend our position that we broke no rules during our recruitment event, and I gladly obliged. You may be asking yourself, “Why would he ask you to defend the fraternity? Couldn't he easily do the job himself?”. As I mentioned earlier I was known in the fraternity as the “recruitment guru”, but I also had another unofficial “title” that I am almost significantly more proud of. I can get out of anything. I have always been a highly vocal person within my fraternity and allowed myself to be the punching bag for many of the other members ill-suited vendettas and petty misunderstandings. I allowed this because I currently hold the record for most disciplinary write-ups within my fraternity, and the least amount of punishment given. I research for hours in old fraternity by-laws, and read 100's of pages of fraternity Constitution that most of the members did not even know existed. I call in witnesses, and collect written testimony relieving me of any wrong-doing. I found the “loop-hole” within our by-laws that allowed for a member that is currently not enrolled in the University to remain active in the chapter, (I became quite ill and was forced to withdraw from all classes, but thats another story) and most of the current rules and regulations were co-authored by me so that others would be unable to get away with the drastic misrepresentations of what was actually written versus what was obviously meant to be written. I was the guy that could figure out how to get us out of the problem we were facing. I was appointed “Legal Counsel for the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity”.
Do you know the legal definition of “sexually explicit”? I do, and so do all of the members of the Inter-Fraternity Council. It involves words and phrases I think best left out of an essay I am hoping will kick-start my law school application, but I will say that if you ever need to see a 21 year old football player blush, try it. After reading the definition there was absolute silence. These were the members of the fraternity community that had significant “moral” (though, obviously other reasons were in play) problems with the “elicit” acts performed on the lawns on the Delta Tau Delta house and they were silent. Eventually there were arguments against the legal definition which were immediately disregarded as they had no relevance. I spoke again on the nature of our events being purely child-like, and that they oil was simply a conductor to increase speed and had no bearing on a sexual nature of the event. I spoke, and spoke. I answered question after question with ease, because I had prepared myself for each and every discerning opinion. In the end we were given the opportunity to re-write the current
by-law for the following semesters, and no punishment was given. We had done nothing wrong, and we knew that from the beginning. Delta Tau Delta would live on.
After speaking with many people about my law school application most felt that I should try to shy away from my fraternity life, and focus on something else good, or honorable that I had done in my life that had brought me to my love of the law. I told them that the fraternity was one of the biggest influences in my life, and it taught me things that no simple club or other organization could teach me. Politics, and rules live within us everyday and define the things that we do. Either you play by someone else's definition of the rules, or you better understand them to live your life the way you should. I have always been one to better understand the rules around me, and believe that I was made to argue for myself and others for a better life. I was born to be an attorney, and I hope that with your help and your University that I will become the best one that I can be.

There are issues that I need addressed as well, but didn't want to destroy my story with information that wasn't relevant. I wanted to address my missed year of school, and subsequent drop in GPA. I have a heart condition that was discovered early in my junior year, and effected me throughout the year. I have a hole in my heart that effects many other things in my body, including my respiration, energy levels, and physical well-being. I was forced to withdraw from my classes for one semester, and while I tried to continue the semester following it didn't work out. I took very few credits, and was still unable to make it to class often enough to perform the caliber of work that my professors were used to. I am an A and B student, and the grades reflected have stemmed from this physical condition as well as a severe depression that seems to have exposed itself due to this heart problem. I no longer have any symptoms from the heart condition and intend to follow up with doctors as I continue my career in law school, and I have been seeing a Psychiatrist regularly to help with my depression. I feel that I will be able to give my complete and total commitment to the study of the law, and I hope you can look past the poor marks that are surely not a complete representation of who I really am. I also would like to make it known that California is my home, and I wish very much to return to it. I was raised here, and I intend to spend the span of my life contributing to the professional and social worlds of California that are unmatched by any other state.

LawandOrder: Is that all one giant PS from that PreLawDelta guy? Why did that thread get deleted?

HAHA good for you if you're not a flame and that shit actually went down. However, it is pretty poorly written, and that is the exact kind of thing I had in mind when I said:

Why are you asking what you should write about in YOUR personal statement? No one here can tell you what, in your life, is worth writing about/best defines you. As jayzon said, write it how you want and show it around - don't listen to a bunch of fucking know-nothings half-assed opinions on Greek life.

Yes it and I have no idea why it was deleted. I just Googled PreLawDelt

eaaaasyyy brah... you could just not post here...

btw, the level of little-girl-bodied, sexually-frustrated, pre-pubescent anger in your post means you must be an Alpha Del. yous guys are all the same.... broskie.

Maybe this is just my personal outlook because of my particular UG, where Greek life is a huge deal. This past spring I was responsible for evaluating applicants to an honor society, and at least 50% of applicants wrote about their leadership in a Greek organization. It just got old after a while. I'm sure some were great leaders, and others weren't, but they all just seemed to blur together. Especially considering just how many offices there are in sororities/fraternities, and such a large proportion of members have 'leadership' roles.

Ultimately though, it's up to you, and I agree with MeTalkPretty. Just make sure whatever you do is well-written, since I think that's one of the major things adcomms are looking for. Good luck!

Wrong.
I wouldnt join a fraternity if you paid me...
The parties and girls are the only redeemable factors and don't outweigh the douchiness...brah...

I dont think there is anything wrong with including fraternity or greek involvement in a ps. All the taboo subjects (religion, very strong political viewpoints, frats/sororities, etc) are taboo b/c they are too often done the wrong way. Delicate langauge is required. You have to avoid stereotypes, and make it about yourself and a specific experience. But I believe it can be done. Just don't concentrate too much on the fraternity aspect and concentrate more on the you aspect.

And for everyone else, we dont know the OP's situation. Not every experience that happens in fraternity life includes drinking or bonding with bros. It could be something that demonstrates maturity and personal growth. Which is what a PS is all about.

So you couldn't even get a bid? (jk kinda)

I recommend that anyone in a frat watch the "Frat Aliens" episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force before writing a PS about your frat, bc that is how peole like DCD will view you.

e:

I dont know what you mean by bid - Im guessing it means being allowed to rush a frat? Thats ridiculous that a bunch of douches need to give you permission to join there douche circle.

Also, I dont view anyone any way until I meet them. I cant help that most frat guys I meet turn out to be douches. That said, some of my good friends are frat guys.

Funny story: When the Greek douches on my campus first came up to me (freshman year) and said "Are you greek?" I had no idea what they were talking about and said "Umm no, Im Italian." They laughed.

[quote="ughOSUI recommend that anyone in a frat watch the "Frat Aliens" episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force before writing a PS about your frat, bc that is how peole like DCD will view you.quote][/quote]

Yeah thats how ppl will view you if you write about how the fraternity changed your life and the leadership position was the most important thing EVER. and once you had to tell a bro to stop drinking so much and it was awful but now you understand whats required of a leader.

so don't do that. But there are other, more serious, situations which can arise. if yours is one of them and you keep your ps focused on yourself and well written, then i say go for it.

I'd be happy to read over a draft. my job is boring and I need something to do besides argue about greek life.

You are really bad at distinguishing serious posts from jokes. I'm glad someone bites though. And also, never underestimate the educational value of Aqua Teen!!!

That said, there is a stigma associated with Fraternities (just as there is a stigma associated with atheists). If someone is going to write a compelling PS about their experience in their fraternity (note above, I did say I felt I had a valuable experience in my fraternity), then they are going to have to overcome that stigma, and provide a compelling story. I think this is more difficult to do than simply to write a compelling story. Also, it is not very unique. Many people are in frats, and many people have "leadership" positions in those frats.

e: also in my experience those more serious situations are the ones I would definetely NOT want to talk about.

I know you were joking around. I dont watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force regularly but I doubt an adcomm would think of that right off the bat when they see the word frat. I was more referring to the general stigma and stereotyping that everyone on here says is going to happen. I'm just trying to say there are ways to overcome it. And yeah many people have leadership roles. I did, and I would never write about it bc it didn't shape who I am as a person. Writing about a leadership role is just as dumb as writing about work experience if youre only going to talk about what you did, not how it effected you.
thats the distinction I'm trying to make. Don't write about the leadership role or your responsibilities. Write about something that effected you as a person. and if that happened while you were in a frat, then fine. write about it.

Agreed.

Like I said many posts ago, if it's the right story with the right person it could work, but I can't think of any story I would want to discuss in a PS.

good one "schmohawk"

Leadership.