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Old 10-05-2017, 03:25 PM
JLCo JLCo is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 44
Greek Life and College Choice

Quote:
Originally Posted by NerdyGreek View Post
Back when I was in college, each of the sororities on my campus had their own personality. Recruitment really felt like it was a matching process. More social girls were attracted to one house, another had a much more artsy flair, one was more academic, etc. Houses might evolve, and reputations changed over time, but they were not just randomized groups of girls having to get along. No upper classmen were telling us that "nobody likes their sorority at first." like they are telling my daughter and her friends. And it's not like they all wanted the same house and are disappointed, they all had different favorites.
I am a mom of a recent pledge. I can tell you that she went on approx 15 college tours before making her choice. One of the colleges she visited was a highly ranked, small liberal arts college where Greek dominates the social life. Nearly the entire campus is Greek and it is in a rural environment- so there is little else to do socially. After my daughter's visit (which she extended due to extra invite) from a Friday to attend classes and meet professors that included two nights of Greek on Friday and Saturday, she told me that they have a very distinct Greek life there. She described how different types of people were in each sorority and I believe her descriptions are much like what you are describing. So, what you are describing seems to still exist- just at smaller colleges.

My daughter included Greek life in her assessment of what type of college or university she wanted to attend. We started her sophomore year of high school and discussed whether she wanted to be in a sorority or not. We talked about the benefits of being in a sorority. Since she was NMF, she had quite a few scholarship offers from SEC schools. I found that they had very intense, competitive, expensive sororities and large chapters. I don't think either one of us was very excited about the size of the sorority chapters and that it seemed like the bigger the sorority, the less likely a member would get the chance to live-in. Living-in was an important facet of sorority to my daughter. I will also add that I would have a tough time justifying paying $4,000 - $6,000/ year without the added benefit of her being able to live in. (At her university, the fee for living in the sorority house, including dues is about $11,000).

I guess my opinion is that people who are happy with their environments do better. For that reason, I think college-bound students should do a lot of research and thinking about what environment would be best for them. And since parents are paying for it and they do want the best outcome for their children, they should also be involved.

Ultimately, she chose a college where Greek life did not dominate the social scene because she was not totally sure she wanted to rush. I can tell you though that she spent quite a few days over the summer before she started her freshman year researching all the clubs and activities they had and how many things she was interested in getting involved in. She tried some activities and eventually focussed on 3-4 of them her freshman year and then decided to rush her sophomore year. Her sorority has agreed to excuse her when she has time conflicts from the activities she was already involved in prior to joining the sorority. She is having a great time in college and I think this is a direct result of all the thought that was put into selecting a college that was the right fit.

If your daughter is not enjoying Greek life that much, I think following the advice of some who have posted here to give it some time is a good idea. However, perhaps she could also check out some of the clubs and activities. I am sure there must be many since she is going to a large university. That way, if she drops the sorority, she will already be involved in other things and it will make the transition much easier.

Last edited by JLCo; 10-05-2017 at 03:55 PM.
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