Should I join a sorority in college?
It definitely depends on your likes and dislikes and how much you care about what others think of you. I am going to be a junior in college in the fall and I joined a sorority my freshman year. I may be biased, but I think it was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I am surrounded by a solid group of women that inspire me to chase my dreams and keep me grounded while I'm away from home. If you care a lot about what others think of you, though, a sorority may not be the best decision because we are stereotyped as snobby, slutty, and always drunk. A lot of people from home also ask me if I pay for my friends, which I don't. There are always going to be people telling you not to do something, but you never know until you try. Rush week helps you to ask all of your questions, share all of your worries, and find the house that you like the best. On the plus side, aside from getting to know an amazing group of girls if you join, you also get to know other Greeks, as well. If I simply wear my letters on campus, Greeks in other sororities or fraternities smile and wave and it always sparks a conversation. Also, a lot of managers or people in respectable positions are Greek, so seeing that on your application is a plus a lot of the time. It has helped me to network and to get discounts! Also, sororities do volunteer work and most sororities require you to do mandatory study hours if your GPA falls below a 2.5. I promise we're not as horrible as they make us out to be on TV! Do we have fun on the weekends? Yes, of course, but all of us are first and foremost here to get an education and the sorority actually keeps us pretty well-rounded. You'll know during rush if it's for you or not. It can't hurt to try!
Do you think I should join a sorority?
I am going to be a freshman at college this year, and I really want to rush a sorority. However, I am concerned about a number of different things. First of all, does being in a sorority look good or bad on your reputation. I am not a crazy party girl and don't intend on joining a sorority of crazy party girls either. I know that when I first thought of a sorority I thought of that though and I'm afraid that if I tell people that I'm in a sorority, they will think I'm immature and like to get wasted all the time. Secondly, I am worried about the cost. I know that each sorority varies in how much you have to pay, but I have heard that sometimes the fees can get a little high. If you have ever been in a sorority, can you tell me what to expect in the way of prices. Third, how much time commitment is involved? It is not like my schedule will be entirely booked, however, I do plan on having a plateful. I will be having to study, work (because college isn't cheap and I'm not Daddy's little rich girl), and I am into other sports. I am pretty sure that those will all take a pretty big bite out of my schedule. Is that too much for a life in a sorority? Exactly how much time do you spend with your house besides just living there, and how much of it is required events? This isn't something where I just thought it would be cool to join, I really want to be in it. I am just a little worried about overworking myself the first year.
When and how do i join a sorority?
The process of joining a fraternity or sorority is commonly referred to as "pledging" or "rushing." The term "rush" refers to the historical practice where students would hurry to join fraternities at the beginning of the school year in large part to find housing. Recruitment is done formally or informally. The traditional "formal recruitment" often consists of a period known as "Rush" or "Rush Week." Fraternities and sororities invite fellow students (often referred to as "rushees" or "potential new members") to attend events at the house (or on-campus) and meet the current members of the organization. These formal rush weeks may impose limits on contact between interested students and active members to ensure fairness, such as time requirements to visit each house. "Informal recruitment" as the name suggests, is much less structured. New members are introduced to the fraternity's members and activities through friends and everyday behavior. Many campuses may have formal recruitment periods and also allow informal recruitment after the formal period ends. "Deferred recruitment" refers to systems where students must have at least one semester's experience on campus before joining. You may have to meet certain criteria to join such as grade point average. Before being sworn in you are known as a pledge and have fewer rights than full members.
How likely is it to not get a bid from any sorority in college?
It depends on the school. Some Panhellenic rules say that if attend every party to which you have an invitation, and go to the final night for Preference, then you will get a bid. It may not be your first or second choice, but you will get a bid to pledge.Some girls get released from every house before the recruitment is over. This is rare but it happens. An example of thls happening to great girls, is that she may have a sister currently in a chapter and every chapter can only invite back so many. The other sororities magine that she is going to pledge that house, so they drop her early. If you have bad grades from HS or a reputation for being ‘easy’ you will get dropped. If all the sororities release you, you will obviously not get a bid. Appearance and confidence is important.Don’t have you heart set only on the top tier sororities and dismiss the others. Your uninterested attitude will get you dropped and you may end up with no bidsCheck out the Office of Greek Affairs and the Panhellenic Website for the policy at your college. Good luck! Go the distance and you will probably be happy with the sorority that chose you back!BTW, many times the top tier sororities don’t have a great sisterhood or or there’s other problems.The best advice that I can give is that you will feel at home and want to be friends with your group. I was in the top sorority and we were pretty divided and definitely not warm and fuzzy. I stayed with my clique and had a great time.
My girlfriend wants to join a sorority in college... How will this affect our relationship?
Kudos on recognizing that what you know is the stereotype. College is going to affect your relationship, there's a lot of growing up going on. The major effect that a sorority is going to have on your relationship is time. Pledging and being active in a sorority takes up multiple hours a week and sometimes (like during recruitment or retreat) whole weekends. You're going to need to respect that, if you need her to make more time for you ask for it and understand when she says she has to be at certain things. Some sororities fine if you don't show up for certain important events and don't have an excuse. It isn't life consuming I managed to have an executive position in the sorority and in 2 other clubs, a relationship and classes but sometimes you need to work at making that time. There will be some events you can go to and some you can't. Things like formal or a date party she can bring whoever, but mixers with fraternities are just for members. Use this as a positive thing, you both can branch out and make new friends at college, and having separate interests is important to keep a healthy relationship. Meet her sisters before you judge them and maybe consider joining a fraternity yourself.
Should I join a sorority?
Only you can decide if joining a sorority is the right choice for you. Every school is different and every individual chapter of a sorority is different but at most schools, you are allowed to join even if you're a commuter. Like another answer says, there are sometimes residency rules where you might be required to live in the house your junior year but at many chapters, the demand to live in the house is greater than the number of rooms available so it all depends on the conditions at your school. The only way I was able to live in my chapter house was because I was an officer or else I would have had to wait until I was a senior and even then, I wouldn't have been required to live in the house simply because everyone wanted to live there. A sorority can be time consuming and even if you just do the bare minimum required, it's still a time committment. You have your weekly chapter meeting and then if you're assigned to a committee or subcommittee, you'll have those meetings too. Typically a philantrhopy or charity will take up a good amount of time, I would plan on 3 weekend days per semester minimum in order to meet your chapter's philanthropy requirements. Of course then there's the fun stuff which could be every day or night of the week. It really all depends on just how involved you want to be. There are people who join and just do the bare minimum but then they graduate and start to wonder why they bothered. Try to not be one of those people because you truly get out of the experience what you put into it. Even if you continue to commute until you graduate, I would suggest you spend all of your free time with your sisters; get on the house's meal plan and then do your studying there and use your parent's house strictly as a bedroom! Good luck!
Is it okay to join a sorority when you are a senior?
it all just depends on the school you attend. At some schools, it's difficult for a sophomore to be invited to join let alone a junior or senior. At other schools, the school encourages the sororities to consider juniors and seniors and if they pledge an upperclassman, it doesn't count against their "quota". (each sorority is only allowed to have a set number of members) I don't think you would have much success during the big formal rush. what you want to do is to contact your school's office of greek affairs over the summer and find out which sorority chapters were not at total for spring semester. Hopefully those chapters will have their own web page and you can sign a guestbook or whatever to indicate you're interested. About a week before school starts, email the rush or recruitment contact on their webpage. If you don't hear back from anyone, wait until the fall formal recruitment is over and then find out again from your school's greek life office which sorority didn't make total after the fall rush. Those chapters will be wanting to fill up their openings and you'll have a chance to meet some of the sisters of each chapter and see if you want to join one of the chapters. Good luck! My sorority actually pledged a senior; she was an exchange student and we had to get special permission from the school because we were at total so that's how I know about that "secret" rule. She was an awesome member so don't let anyone tell you that you can't "bond" with your sorority sisters in just 1 academic year. You can if you want to.