Often, I have conversations with clients about whether or not they should use a story from their fraternity or sorority days as part of their business school application. As a former president of my sorority, I understand the leadership experiences available through Greek life, as with most extracurricular experiences. As with any story in your application, what’s most important to think through is what a specific story shows about you and why it is important for an admissions committee to know. Often, you can use Greek experiences to demonstrate leadership, highlight what you learned, and explain how it’s helped you grow as a person.
Here are some examples of common strengths that can come out of your college Greek experience:
Leadership
Sororities and fraternities offer opportunities for both formal and informal leadership. Being elected by your peers as an officer brings with it responsibility. What did you learn about yourself and others as president or vice president? A client who felt her sorority was not supporting diversity in the way she and other members had hoped decided to start her own sorority on campus—an organization that would provide financial assistance to anyone who needed it. The group found a house and established an inaugural chapter of the new organization. This experience showed her entrepreneurial and innovative spirit as well as her ability to challenge the status quo.
Another client ran for election as his fraternity’s president soon after the group was kicked off campus. He sought out this responsibility to ensure the future of his chapter and to help maintain for future generations all that he had gained from it. Upon taking office, he built a relationship with the dean of the school and motivated his brothers to develop and execute a plan that led to the chapter being reestablished on campus. This experience showed the applicant’s willingness to take on a tough challenge and to build relationships with higher-ups (a dean) and colleagues (brothers) to ensure commitment from both above and within. This is the kind of leader you want in an organization and in your business school program.
Another client joined his school’s Interfraternity Council after serving as his fraternity’s president and worked to update the alcohol policies of the school to include non-Greek organizations. He worked with diverse stakeholders—school administration, Greek and non-Greek student leadership, parents, and community members—to help update an alcohol policy that has decreased alcohol-related visits to the local hospital by 30%. His leadership across stakeholders shows his ability to work well with others and inspire groups to drive results.
Problem Solving
Because sororities and fraternities are self-led organizations, it is up to the members to identify opportunities and develop solutions to those opportunities. Think about what changes you enacted while you were a member. As house manager, a past client managed a house of 53 women, including a house mother and a cooking and cleaning staff. She also managed the allocation of the coveted 18 parking spaces near the house. After listening to the concerns of young women who had to walk to the sorority house on their own from other far-away parking lots, she redesigned the sorority’s parking lot to increase capacity by 35%. In addition to learning how to manage the operations of an organization, she identified opportunities to make improvements.
Community Mindset
A key component of Greek life is supporting other philanthropic organizations through fundraising and volunteering. Such experiences can demonstrate how you dedicated your time at college to helping others. A recent client took on a fundraising role in his fraternity and challenged himself to increase the effectiveness of this role. Working with a national organization that supports military veterans, he organized a benefit concert, collecting more funds than had ever before been raised in the fraternity’s history. On top of this, the pro bono performer of the evening made a generous donation that drove the total amount even higher. This concert was a way for the applicant to show innovation in fundraising in addition to having done important work in the community—and challenging the status quo. The experience both highlighted his ability to make improvements within an organization and showcased his desire to make an impact on his community.
Mentoring
Growing as a manager is all about mentoring others. Within a sorority or fraternity, there are often opportunities to mentor younger peers, either formally or informally. As a graduate, you can provide mentorship by serving on a board or offering career advice. Many of my sorority friends were studying for the LSAT during their senior year, and alumni would come back to campus to help them study and to offer career guidance—much like business school alumni offer support to MBA students.
A client who served on the judicial board of his fraternity talked about helping a friend who was suspended for drinking and low grades. This client sat down with his friend and helped him develop a plan to come off suspension—similar to how one might need to mentor or work with a member of their team who was not performing as expected. Such experiences can demonstrate how you motivate, support, and inspire others. Another client was president of his fraternity during the COVID-19 pandemic and had to be creative about maintaining the culture and connections of the group even though they could not meet in person. He set up small groups to facilitate the older brothers supporting the others to help continue the culture. This culture building is very relevant in companies today, as more employees are working remotely.
Relationship Building
We all know that much of what is accomplished at work is done outside of meetings. It is important to understand others’ perceptions of or problems with an issue as well as what is important to those individuals; the best way to do so is through relationship building and empathy. Starting with rush, you learn to meet and quickly establish rapport with new people. Within a pledge class, you meet people from different backgrounds and geographies and must work together on fundraising and other charity events. Often, you also learn to live together under one roof. A recent client was responsible for managing the Sunday night dinners at her sorority and had to learn to balance dietary restrictions with personal preferences to minimize conflict each week. Similar to business school, a sorority/fraternity can be a safe place to learn such skills within a supportive environment.
As with any extracurricular activity, your role, the impact you made, and what you learned are key to whether or not stories from your Greek experience belong in your MBA application. Can these stories demonstrate a pattern or offer evidence that fits with and supports your experiences and goals? If you can make this connection, then consider including your Greek experiences in your application.
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