I'm going to be completely honest, when I was a freshman and a sophomore, I had no interest in joining Greek life. It wasn't until the first fall semester of my senior year when the thought of joining Greek life came up again through an email and I decided to join a Greek organization on my campus that ended up changing my life for good. I also noticed that there were many people in my new member class that were the same age as me.

So, I decided to give several pros and cons of joining Greek life as an upperclassman.

Pro: You can get extra leadership experience on campus.

College is the time for growth, and joining Greek life is a great opportunity for any college student to grow both personally and professionally. By the time my junior year ended, I thought I was running out of time to obtain a leadership position on campus and develop my skills. But I got the opportunity before I could graduate by joining Greek life.

Con: You have a lower chance of getting a bid.

While I may have been grateful that the fraternity I joined does not do bids, most Greek organizations give out bids, and they usually give them to the freshmen and sophomores since they will be active in the organization longer. My advice is to not feel discouraged if you didn't get a bid from a fraternity or sorority that you wanted to join.

Pro: You will already be adjusted to college life.

College is one of the hardest things to adjust to, and joining a bunch of organizations and clubs during your first semester before adjusting can make college a lot more overwhelming. I will always emphasize to everyone that class comes first, but college should also be a time to have fun too and to make time for that fun. When you join Greek life when you already adjusted to college life, it can make your new member process much easier in the long run.

Con: You may possibly feel like a grandparent in your new member class.

Like I said earlier in the article, many of the people in my new member class were the same age as me (plus I joined in the fall and freshmen are not allowed to join their first semester at my school, so that helped too). But many people who join as upperclassmen do feel old in their new member classes because so many of them are younger, especially during the spring semester on my campus which is when freshmen are allowed to join.

Pro: You don't have to pay as many dues.

Dues are one of the things that turn a lot of people off from Greek life; I'll admit that the dues were one of the reasons why I was turned off from Greek life for a while. You have to pay your dues every semester while you're an active member, so joining as a junior or a senior can give you less of a financial burden when it comes to dues.

Con: If you really enjoyed your time, you're going to feel like you should have joined sooner.

This is a thing that has plagued me whenever I joined clubs and organizations as an upperclassman, both in high school and in college. I had such a great time and experience in my current fraternity these last two and a half semesters that I know I'm going to be upset that I haven't thought about joining as a sophomore or a junior.