<p>Oh, I also regularly give thanks son doesn’t want to do frat, too. Even at a fraction of that price! Reference (non-UA) son #1 who won national awards for his frat service but paid the price with less than Dean’s List grades.</p>
<p>And the boys don’t carry $400 handbags</p>
<p>(Even though I got Dd’s on sale, it was still two bills)</p>
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<p>Or wear Lillies! Although my son’s wardrobe could use an upgrade from his jeans and tees.</p>
<p>It’s official. I will never have money ever again! Ha! I really do appreciate all if you taking the time to post all of this information. It is so helpful!</p>
<p>MSUBAMA - i think you’re right! we’re in the same boat!</p>
<p>between two kids in college and weddings (whenever those happen) … ugh!</p>
<p>Yep. I have a junior at MSU, one starting at Bama in the fall and one 2 years behind. The last 2 being girls. Ay yi yi</p>
<p>Ok, I had this same question last year, minus the NMF part ;). My D just pledged this fall and I pulled out my sheet that I got on Bid Day, our dues for 1st and second semester combined were $8314. I know that each sorority is different, but this is the cost BEFORE we start tearing down the old house and building a new one! I know that these fees never go down, so I will expect the same or a bit more for next year. We did get money back from the meal plan and my D decided to forgo the dining hall experience, so we paid $199 each semester to not have any meal plan. My reasoning was that we could put the $$ we save from the Greek 50 toward her weekend meals. </p>
<p>Our dues do cover EVERYTHING. I was shocked on bid day when they loaded all of our pledges on busses and headed to the beach for several days for their pledge retreat and we sent no money with our D! Our pin was covered and ALL functions have been covered. Now,she has been to NOLA for one formal and has another in NOLA (why do they do this to us moms?)in Feb, but she just wore a dress that she already had and took some cash along, but never spent a dime (date wouldn’t let her). Of course that doesn’t include her calling home and telling us she got her iphone stolen while on Bourbon St 
Dad was not too sympathetic, and not replacing the iPhone).</p>
<p>Reads $60k total for 4 years of a sorority</p>
<p>That is way too much.</p>
<p>More like $25k.</p>
<p>That said, there’s a reason why a good number of students do not remain Active for all 4 years. Some of their families can’t keep paying.</p>
<p>I agree, boys can be cheaper. My H swears that he’s never going to be able to retire because once we have grand-daughters I’m going to need a special allowance just for them. (I can’t wait to shop in some pink sections in the children’s clothing depts. The boys clothing areas are about 1/10 the size.)</p>
<p>$8314 living out? WOW!</p>
<p>Don’t forget cowboy boots they HAVE to have to wear with the little strapless gameday dresses.
There are extraordinary numbers of T shirts for everything. Explain to daughter that she does NOT need EVERY T shirt! Once daughter got past her freshman year, things got a little cheaper. She had all those clothes she just HAD to have, and we only did some replacements and a few updates every year. She did ruin her car on one of those NOLA trips (“Oil? What’s that?”) and we had to buy a new (used) car.
But during her year in the sorority house, the cost was actually cheaper than living in Tutwiler. No duplicate meal plan and sorority meal expense. She always had a part-time job for her spending, gas, and cell phone (this was pre-smart phones).
I checked her Dining Dollars and other accounts regularly to make sure she wasn’t frittering it all away. She wasn’t, but the boyfriend sure ate well.</p>
<p>Boy howdy!!!</p>
<p>WE ALREADY HAVE COWBOY BOOTS!</p>
<p>I feel better now. Lol</p>
<p>I will be honest- I am STUNNED at the costs listed on here. I was in a sorority back in the day and lived in the house and had to pay for it myself- but the costs weren’t anything like this! My older son just graduated from college in 2011 and was in a frat and paid for it himself. I don’t know what it costs but I know he couldn’t have afforded anything like this! His total summer earnings were usually only around $3000 and he had to use that for all of his spending money including frat stuff. I am pretty sure that counting dues and pitches, his was less than $1000 a year. We did pay for his frat housing as it was the same as the dorm, but still!!</p>
<p>What is it that causes the costs to be so high? I can’t imagine my younger son rushing, but I also know that you never know. My older one wouldn’t even look at Washington & Lee as it was “too fratty” for him and yet he pledged a frat freshman year- much to our shock!</p>
<p>I cannot see my younger son, who is a HS junior, getting involved in a fraternity, because he knows our rules. You want to be part of Greek life, you pay for it. He’s a kid who does not part with his money so willingly. That said, our older son did not pledge until his sophomore year. He has been responsible for his dues. He also belongs to a fraternity that offers various incentives so he can regain some of his dues – for example, holding a leadership position or earning a particular GPA.</p>
<p>I am also shocked by these costs and am glad my son isn’t showing any interest in Greek life. That could change once he reaches college but he will have to pay those additional costs himself.</p>
<p>I’m sure my HS freshman daughter will also pass on sororities. She gets annoyed in the presence of groups of girls.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that the costs being reported for sororities all include a full meal plan within the cost and some also include housing, so while the cost is still steep, it isn’t quite as bad as it might appear at first glance.</p>
<p>That does make a huge difference. So if it is $15,000 a year (I am assuming that based on the $60,000 tab someone mentioned), and you subtract the regular housing costs and food costs, then the difference is about $4000? Still seems like a lot to me, but certainly better than $15,000.</p>
<p>So this $4000 covers dues and what else?</p>
<p>Our dues cover a full meal plan. The girls can eat at the house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday except for weekends. I wish that the sororities would publish REAL numbers for dues. Your D really has little control over which sorority she will pledge, therefore it is nice to know any fees that you will be responsible for (from the low to the high). After doing some research, last year, I just went in with the expectaton of dues being around $10,000 or less (depending on where your D lands). That way, if I expected the worse and it turned out less, I would be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>From speaking with lots of friends with girls at other schools, it is the inclusion of the meal plan that really drives the price up.</p>
<p>Speaking of the meals…is it Buffett, plated or Family style? What do they eat? Is it one choice per meal or a couple???</p>
<p>the sorority meal plan is comparable in price to the meal plan freshman are required to buy.</p>
<p>if they did publish actual costs (and by this i mean required costs like dues and the meal plan, not extra things like tshirts etc), girls could steer clear of the more expensive groups by not having recs for them. as it is now, the true costs for many groups aren’t revealed until a girl is extended a bid.</p>
<p>i really think they should just publish this info.</p>
<p>i did research it a bit last fall when there was a discussion on another forum. there was some info out there, but you would have to hunt to find it. even then, the costs listed were not uniform across the board. i don’t remember the differences right now, but things like one group included the cost of the meal plan and then another didn’t, so it was hard to figure out the total cost even with “the info” in front of you.</p>
<p>I think most of the houses are buffet style. At my D’s house, the days are a bit themed (she loves fried Fridays). She says that the food is very good but not the healthiest…there is always a salad bar, though!</p>