Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Writer's Circle => Research Assistance => Topic started by: FrickingKaos on June 29, 2012, 04:36:32 AM
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I am planning a new AU story about college life....I can't really say much more other than most of the story will be about pledging a fraternity and living on campus in a regular dorm. If anyone has information on fraternities or dorm living at college I can use any info possible as I have never attended college. Also need information about marine biology.
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I tweeted you a bunch, but let me know if you have other questions; it'll be easier to post in here than on Twitter! I never did the Greek thing, and most of my friends didn't either, so I won't be much help with the frat stuff, but I can give you some creepy roommate stories and other dorm info if you need it.
Not sure about marine biology either, but if you want more general info about classes/science lectures and labs, I've been there, done that.
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I'm not sure how much of classes I will include. I think I will but it won't be a major aspect of it. Classrooms are large aren't they? Like an auditorium almost?
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It depends. Most of my classes weren't big lecture hall type classes; they were smaller classes (maybe 20 people) in regular-size rooms. The science ones tended to be lecture, in the big auditorium rooms you're picturing, with 100 or so people. But with the science classes, we'd also have a lab class once a week, and the labs were smaller sections, like under 20 people, and took place in a small science lab.
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I see. I'm gonna look up some things on wikipedia and some other websites as well for a visual idea.
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I went to a college that didn't do the frat and sorority thing. In fact the ratio was 1 girl for every 10 boys lol
I was an RA for most of my college life though.
I had my own room and was in charge of my floor. If anything happened emergency wise, I was the one the kids came to. I had to patrol The hallways once every few hours when I was on duty and had to stay in my room. In my time doing this I had to take people to the hospital, sit with them as they had meltdowns, call 911, help with diabetic issues, sat in the middle of many roommate arguments and played devils advocate. Planned activities for my floor and even took field trips lol
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^ and I have tons of crazy roommate stories as well. Just not my roomies lol
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Ok so you were like a dorm supervisor basically? One of my characters is getting that role.
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Yes, although its called resident assistants in most places. There are also resident advisors which are not students but adults. We report to them. They live on campus as well
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I see. I'm gonna look up some things on wikipedia and some other websites as well for a visual idea.
Do you know if you're going to set this story at a real college or make one up? If you're going with a real college, Wikipedia does have some good info on some of them, but also check the college's website. You can find a lot of info on majors and what campus looks like there. If you're making one up, you might still want to base it on a real college or a combination of real colleges you know of.
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I never did the whole living away at college thing as the college I went to is where I live. But it sounds like fun and also a little crazy too! Good luck with your research Tracy :)
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Julie seems to have you covered. But like she said if you do a scene in a science class, remember there's a lab. The lab is basically another class LOL. You have the big lecture type class and then the lab which is smaller and hands on. For me, my basic general courses, (100-200 level classes) were the more lecture hall style courses, while my more specialized classes (300-400) for my Major are like 20-30 people.
I've never done any sorority stuff though, not my thing at all LOL.
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I lived in a dorm for 3 out of my 4 years in college and I rushed a sorority (did not get in thankfully). The sorority I rushed though was brand new to the college I was at so it was a tad bit different than other rushes I'm sure. I can give you some info about that but 10 years and not getting in probably have me pushing it out of my mind ;)
I DO know someone who rushed a sorority, got in and was involved in helping with the consectutive rushes for her remaining years in college but good luck getting her to come out of hiding as she is one of the ones who has disappeared.
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All that sorority stuff goes over my head, I've no idea what it is, only that it's a club or something?
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Too bad Dee isn't still around, she is the ideal source of info for the Greek thing! haha
We don't really do sororities/fraternities here either, Steph. Mostly just the ones that have travelled up from the states and caught on at some of the bigger campuses. I guess it's sort of like a society/club, but generally they all live together and pledge to always be part of one specific group for life. They date back to secret societies in ancient Greece and such.
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^ Dee is who I was talking about :)
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My sister was in a sorority & so was my cat.
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^ Dee is who I was talking about :)
Haha I figured. She and I still chat and she has been on the board within the last couple of months. I'm sure if Tracy sent her a PM she would reply!
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Thanks for the information so far everyone :) I really appreciate it. There is a college just a town over from me, but it is a 2 year school so people don't live on campus. I might see if there's any books at the library I can get information on fraternities from as well.
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I never did the dorm life, but yeah I was going to say that Dee would know all about it! Tracy, if you're not able to get ahold of her via PM I've also got a really good friend at work who used to be in a sorority and is still heavily involved in the one at the University here. If you've got any specific questions, I could ask her for you!
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I have decided to use the University Of Florida. I don't know if I want to be completely accurate but I want to make it realistic, so that's why I'm researching first. Thanks for the help everyone!
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Okay so I talked to my friend at work about the pledging. The first thing I learned is that there are secretive and non-secretive sororities (and I guess fraternities as well) and hers was secretive, so she couldn't tell me much. She basically said that during the pledge period is where you basically learn about the history and about the group and you make your pledge. Then after the pledge you go through an initiation period. I asked her if in the initiation period you get pranked and stuff and she said she couldn't tell me lol.
However there is hope. Apparently there's another guy who works with us that was in a fraternity, and his was non-secretive, so he can probably tell me more! And it'll be more relevant because it's a frat, AND he went to college in the states. I feel like I'll be able to get a lot of information out of him for you, so stay tuned. Haha.
Oh, she also said there was a book written about the pledging process, and apparently it's called "Pledging." so it might be worth looking into at the library or something. Not sure. I don't know if any of this helps you, but now I'm interested in learning about it too so I'm probably going to keep picking the brains of people at my work anyway!
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I might can help answer questions about frats. I worked in Greek Life in college.
Here's a note: 90% of sorority girls are bitches. LOL
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Thanks guys :) I just want to make the story believable and accurate. I really appreciate the help. You all rock!!
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Okay, so I was able to talk to my fraternity friend at the end of the day. He said that the pledge period is basically when you learn about the people in the frat, learn about the history of the household and all that stuff. Typically you would be paired up with one of the members of the frat to learn all this stuff, but they might have an information session type thing too.
So then after the pledge all of the actives (the people currently in the frat) get together and decide which of the pledges they're going to let in based on how they mesh with the rest of the group, if they're a good fit and stuff like that. They way they did it was with a marble system. They'd talk about each pledge, then each active would drop in a marble, black for yes, white for no. That way no one would know who voted for or against. If the split was pretty even they'd have a further discussion about it.
So once that was over they'd do initiation. This is the part where all the classic pranking and stuff takes place. I think you'll probably want to make up your own silly pranks for this part, but my friend told me that they would send their guys out on a scavenger hunt. They'd provide them with money, and the people being initiated would have to come back with the items. Usually they'd send them for items that were needed around the frat house, but one time they sent them off for a plunger, and one of the other items they needed was a store receipt that had on it a plunger, a box of condoms and a jar of Vaseline LMAO.
When the initiation was over, they'd do the formal welcoming into the fraternity and then have a formal dinner.
In their frat house they'd have chapter meetings once a week and a formal dinner taking place before those chapter meetings. He told me that they actually have a "frat mother" who didn't live in the house, but was the mom of one of the actives. She would attend their weekly dinners and if any of the guys was out of line during, she'd rip them a new one. Apparently she was awesome and everyone loved her.
Yeah! He told me if I needed to know anything specific to let him know and he'd tell me. So if you've got any questions I'll ask!
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Okay so here is a random question, is there a certain time of year that fraternities/sororities do the pledging/rushing or can it be at anytime during the semester? I know this is an odd question lol sorry.
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I don't know for sure but I think logically it would happen at the beginning of each semester.
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I always see rushing at the beginning of the year, in the fall. They probably do it each semester, but the time it's most evident is the beginning of fall.
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Thank you. The beginning of the semester makes sense for me as well, so I will stick with that.
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Yep, I think fall too.
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I have no idea, but would presume the beginning of the school year makes more sense.
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Okay, I asked my sister for you & she said in the fall usually around Halloween and the spring usually in February.
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Thanks Mare. Gonna have to do a rewrite. Glad I waited to post this update, I want it to be believable.
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I imagine Wikipedia would have all kinds of details into that sort of thing
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Yeah, wiki everything. That site is a fanfic lifesaver. (That, and google maps if you're looking at locations)
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I can't believe I didn't think of looking it up on wikipedia. I won't ask anything anymore here. Sorry...
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No need to apologize. But this way in case none of us know, wiki might be of help.
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That's what this board is for - to ask questions! Wikipedia is great for factual information, but it can't describe personal experiences. Since I don't think any of us rushed for a sorority ourselves, the internet might be more helpful there, but I'm sure there are other things that people here will be able to help you with. :)
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I can't believe I didn't think of looking it up on wikipedia. I won't ask anything anymore here. Sorry...
I never implied you shouldn't have asked the question. I don't know why you felt compelled to apologize, but you definitely don't have anything to be sorry for.
Often Wikipedia will have step by step breakdowns of things that are often beneficial to compliment what we all might know. Like Julie said, it's great to get the personal experience but if you're trying to make it really accurate, which it seems like you are, then Wikipedia is a valuable resource.
I do a good chunk of my fic research on Google in addition to personal experiences.
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I always apologize for everything, I'm not offended at all...it's just how I am. Thanks girls. I thought I was being annoying asking so many questions.
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I rushed in the spring for the next school year so I rushed after spring break and closer to the end of the spring semester.