Should I sign up for my school’s sorority recruitment?

I am a big proponent for Greek Life. I can rattle off all the benefits, show you all my fabulous sisters, and wear my letters till the end of time, but you’re the only one who can truly decide if it’s for you. I was talking to my friend Mckenna, who’s a year younger, about going through recruitment and I thought if there are any other indecisive, young Padawans (#sorrynotsorry, #starwarsreference) out there you could also use my advice!

1. Consider why you want to join a sorority. Is it for the t-shirts, the parties, your resume, the sisterhood? No reason is a bad reason, but if something’s holding you back think of other ways you can get what you want. This is a bit of a double-edged sword because someone who ended up joining for all the cute merch may have stayed for her sisters. Personally, I wanted the same camaraderie in college as I had on my high school dance team.

2. Can you afford it? This is typically a touchy subject. At my school, we’re told to avoid to conversation of money. However, the girls have to know what they’re getting into, so we provide them with an estimate of first-year, in-house, and out-of-house dues. Not everyone is stereotypical with “daddy pays for everything.” It is understood that some girls may be putting themselves through college. To my knowledge, most sororities have a foundation that will have scholarships you can apply for. Also, at my school, PHA has it’s own scholarships that can go towards your dues. They (meaning PHA, all Greek Life, etc.) never want cost to be a reason you decline. If this is really an issue once you’re in your sorority, talk to your financial chair and work on setting up a payment plan.

3. Think about the difficulty of your major and class schedule. Again, if you’re premed (an example of a time consuming major), this isn’t a definite “no”, but you have to decide how you’re going to manage your time. It’s certainly difficult coming in as a freshman, not really knowing how college works, and ending up overwhelmed. It’s just something to keep in mind. When you commit to a sorority, you’re going to have responsibilities. Meetings, activities, social outings, philanthropy events. Most of these are things you’re going to want to do! But if you think you’ll be so focused on school and other clubs to the point where you can’t make it to a single chapter meeting? You might want to reconsider.

4. Learn to trust the system. Don’t go looking on Greek Rank or any other articles that put your school’s sororities in order. I truthfully believe that everyone ends up where they should be. All in all, each sorority is the same: they have colors, philanthropy, symbols, letters, t-shirts, socials, you name it. They all have the same structure, so no one is better or worse. You’ll end up in a place with sisters that chose you, so don’t look too hard at it. I believe this is also true for those who go through recruitment and don’t end up joining a sorority. Your perfect fit may be outside of Greek Life and in a different type of fraternity, group, or club!

5. Don’t be afraid to go through recruitment if you’re not a freshman. Try out college for a year. Learn the ropes and be comfortable at your home away from home, then look for your sisters. You will most likely be the minority if you come in as a sophomore or referred to as a freshman. You might be asked what dorm you live in when almost all non-freshmen live off-campus. It’ll happen, but it’s nothing to be ashamed or a reason to avoid recruitment. Heck, it’ll just give you an edge within your pledge class when you already know how to work the dining halls or all the best places to study!

6. Don’t buy into the stereotypes. There will always be people that hate on Greek Life. They say you’re “buying your friends.” FALSE. There are so many great things that outweigh any comment Negative Nelly will make about you and your potential sorority. First of all, most any club, group, etc. that you join will have fees that you pay. And they exist for a reason: trips, t-shirts, scholarships, philanthropy! You don’t hand over a wad of cash to some girls who then start hanging out with you. Greek Life is a great system for networking. The alumnae are all grown up and ready to give you a push into the real world. Sisters know people/parents/family friends that can get you an internship with their company. It goes on and on! You also have many opportunities for experience (hello full resume!). Chair a committee, lead on the executive board- sisters know their sisters and are willing to trust them when put in charge. This is more likely than a company hiring someone with no experience in anything…even philanthropy hours are good just to show you care!

Honestly, that last one is such a condensed list of why being Greek is awesome. I only have so much time and you only have so much focus to read this. Anyway, I hope this gives you a good insight into why or why not you should decide to go through recruitment in college. As always, I’m open to any opinions, comments, or questions!