Guide
A business fraternity at SMU for students outside the business school
You do not need to be in Cox to join Phi Chi Theta. Here is what students from every other school at SMU get out of it, and why the chapter wants them.
Phi Chi Theta, Alpha Gamma Chapter, is open to all majors at SMU. Students in Dedman, Meadows, Lyle, Simmons and every other school can apply, and many of the chapter's placements, from D CEO to the U.S. Department of Energy to Jackson Walker to Billabong, are in fields well outside traditional finance. If you want business exposure, interview practice and a network without changing majors, this is the path.
Yes, you can join
The most common question at Info Sessions from students outside Cox is whether they are allowed to apply. The answer is yes. Phi Chi Theta at SMU is open to all majors, which is a deliberate choice. A room of thirty finance majors is a study group. A room with engineers, journalists, economists and designers in it is a network.
What you get if you are not a business major
- The vocabulary. Every field has a business side. Advertising has media buying, engineering has procurement and project finance, journalism has D CEO. Sitting through a semester of chapter meetings teaches you how the people who fund and run your industry think.
- Interview practice. Most non business majors never get a structured mock interview. The chapter does them.
- Introductions. Brothers have gone to law (Jackson Walker), government (U.S. Department of Energy), media (D CEO), construction (Brasfield & Gorrie), apparel (Billabong), sports (USGA) and infrastructure (CyrusOne). Those paths started with someone in the chapter who knew someone.
- A credential that travels. Membership in a national professional fraternity founded in 1924 is legible to employers who have never heard of your major's honor society.
What the chapter gets from you
This part gets left out. A professional fraternity that is all one major has one point of view, one set of contacts and one recruiting timeline. Students from other schools bring different industries into the room. The chapter's placement list is wide because its membership is wide, and officers know it.
Common paths by school
- Dedman. Economics, political science and pre law students use the chapter for exposure to banking, consulting and law firm recruiting. Jackson Walker is on the placement list.
- Meadows. Advertising, journalism and arts management students use it for the media and agency side. D CEO is on the list.
- Lyle. Engineering students use it to learn the business of building things. Brasfield & Gorrie and CyrusOne are on the list.
- Simmons and others. Anyone considering a career switch or a graduate business degree later uses it to test the water first.
Will you be behind
No. Chapter programming assumes nothing beyond curiosity. Nobody is quizzed on accounting. What matters is showing up, asking questions and being useful on a committee. Many of the brothers who got the most out of the chapter came in without a single business course.
How to apply
The same way as everyone else. Attend an Info Session during recruitment, go to the Meet the Brothers night, and submit the application. Say what you study and why you want business exposure. That is a good application. The how to join page has the step by step.
Whatever your major, PonyUp Properties helps SMU students find housing near campus.
Every major. Same application.
Tell us what you study and what you want. Officers read all of it.