Aug 11
16
1) I’m a junior and I’m afraid I won’t get a bid because I’m too old.
2) I have heard that hazing still exists. I don’t want to get caught in any of those situations. Do I have to worry about this?
3) I know that greek life can be costly. You have to pay more than just the fees to be involved. You have to pay for parties, new clothes, etc. Is this true?
Also, I am worried that it will affect my academic life…will it?
1) yes, that is a valid concern depending on how competitive the system is at your school. i know a lot of juniors and even some sophomores that get cut and usually, even though they don’t say it, it’s because of their age. houses perfer freshman because nationals know they can get their money/dues for 4 years, instead of 2. and also, most juniors don’t live in the house which can also be a concern because the houses need to fill beds in their houses otherwise nationals isn’t getting as much money out of the deal. so right off the bat, do have the whole age thing playing against your favor in comparison to freshman and the sophomores, but not all juniors get cut, i know a couple that transferred that got into houses – but i admit, they were the less "competative" houses on campus, meaning that they weren’t as sought after houses to be in and had less impressive "social calendars" than other houses on campus. in blunt terms, they weren’t the stereotypically "cool" houses on campus.
2) hazing does still exist on some campuses that are hardcore, i’m sure. i never heard too much about it at my campus, i guess you could say it was just expected that you have "respect" for the older girls. i wouldn’t worry about hazing too much though until/if you are in that position.
3) yes that is true. often times with all these parties comes fees for t-shirts/sweatshirts. there is typically one for every date dash, exchange, mixer, etc and you were typically expected to buy one for anywhere from 15-25 bucks a pop. as far as new clothes go, it depends on how concerned you are with fitting in. a lot of the girls in sororities do wear designer clothes. here they are known for their designer jeans and their juicy couture hoodies/velour suits, uggs, and their burberry bags. and a lot of the girls i knew who joined that didn’t used to even know what designer clothes were, started buying and wearing these brands due to pressure to fit in and have the expensive names their sisters were wearing. but i mean there’s a lot of borrowing that goes on as well. typicaly there’s a lot of sharing of clothes, shoes,anything and everything that goes on in sorority houses.
4) it only affects your academic life if you let it. grades did drop of a lot of girls i know that joined though. if you can balance getting your homework done and taking advantage of study tables then you should be fine. it only gets in the way i’d say if you let it.
