If you are a new student at Florida Atlantic, the chaos that comes with the first week of classes can make it difficult to decide on anything — especially which fraternity or sorority to join.

The Greek club that one chooses can impact one’s life from who their friends are, to what path their future takes.

Matthew Wilson, risk manager of Sigma Chi and a junior majoring in political science, said that rushing offers a great opportunity for prospective pledges to get a feel for which frats they share similar views with.

“Just find the [fraternity] you want to go to,” Wilson said.

Jonathan Freeman, a senior biology major in Phi Delta Epsilon, shared a similar sentiment regarding rush, explaining how his fraternity is more tailored toward students who wish to join the medical field. He said that the fraternity provides test preparation, advising and community service opportunities to members.

It also has to maintain an 80 percent rate of members going to medical school.

“So if you decide you are no longer interested in going to medical school, it is in your benefit to find another organization that fits your goals since we are focused on getting members into medical school,” Freeman said.

While fraternities and sororities have their differences, family, and the use of the big brother or sister system is a key aspect in most. Alpha Psi Lambda is one such fraternity.

“Since we are a co-ed fraternity, we are all family,” said Alejandro Bittana, a sophomore business major. “It’s not just brothers, but brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers.”

In addition to their family atmosphere, Alpha Psi Lambda also has a library time study requirement for its members and monitors this aspect of the organization heavily. According to Bittana, the number of hours you would be required to study is based on your GPA.

The following is a ranking of how fraternities and sororities compare against each other in terms of member rates, academics and philanthropy.

The information in this chart can be found on FAU’s website.

For more information, here’s a link to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s website at FAU.

Benjamin Paley is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @benpaley92