Rooted in tradition, fraternities offer free-flowing beer and a consistent social option on other campuses.

Thirty percent of Cornell undergraduates go Greek, while just under half of Dartmouth students are in a fraternity or sorority.

“At Dartmouth, there’s this common perception that the social life revolves around the Greek system, particularly fraternities, and I would say that’s pretty accurate,” Dartmouth junior Amanda M. Morris says.

And most students say that the frat houses are the single most popular social option on campus.

“There’s an incredibly strong presence of the Greek system,” says Mark P. Coombs, a freshman at Cornell.

Even at Yale, where fraternities constitute a smaller percentage of the student body­—roughly 20 percent—they are still a popular venue for socializing.

“They by no means have a monopoly on social life at Yale,” says Alistair F. Anagnostou, a member of the Yale Class of 2005. “Frats are at least consistent—if you want to find a party on a Saturday night, there’s going to be one.”

“[Fraternities] play a big role in welcoming students to Yale. They’re there for people who are interested in going to parties,” adds Goldman.

Compared with the student scene on other campuses, Sanghvi hesitates to decry the experience at Harvard—but he says social life here is unique. He says that at other schools students have more consistent and accessible choices.

“It’s kind of natural for people to go to these places because they always know what social options are available—they don’t need to search,” Sanghvi says of options like fraternity bashes. “The parties are constructed on a regular basis.”

—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.