I am an incoming freshman and considering rushing a sorority. I just have a couple questions I was hoping someone could answer.
What are the different reputations of the various houses. I have a friend whose sister went to Upenn and was in Alpha Chi Omega and said that the “bitchy,” blond, or “classic sorority” was Tri-Delta. Is that also true at Cornell? I don’t really care which house parties the most or is the most popular but more what kinds of girls rush specific sororities.
How many people rush? I heard Cornell has an active Greek life but to what extent? Also how many people who rush actually get into sororities/bids and how big are the pledge classes like 100 girls per sorority?
I was also told that a lot of girls don’t actually live in the house. When does one get to live there is it like juniors and seniors only how does that work?
Thanks so much!
Ps. I am not sure if I put this question in the right forum but if not please tell me where I can post this to get the most responses.
You will find that the reputation of a given sorority on one campus has no predictive value for another campus. Since you will spend fall semester at Cornell unaffiliated, you will have lots of time to get to know members in all of the houses before recruitment starts. For formal recruitment, you will start on the first day by visiting every single sorority.
As for living in, you would live the dorms your first two years and then in the sorority house your second two years.
Sororities typically maintain a chapter website and chapter Facebook pages. You might find it fun and interesting to start exploring the photos and activities. You can get a list of the sororities at Cornell from Panhellenic:
If you rush, you will most likely get a bid if you don’t have the attitude of “I need to get into top 3s or I am out.” My kid’s sorority had to increase number of pledges to take because number of girls wanted to rush. They tend to have 35-45 new girls a year, some sororities do not meet the quota.
As mentioned by blprof, you would live at the house second year and be in an off campus housing 3rd and 4th year.
One nice thing about Cornell’s rush is you don’t do it until the second semester. It will give you a chance to make friends in your dorm/class. You will get to know the Greek life better before you decide if you want to participate. You also will not need recommendation letters like many other southern schools. Even if you are not sure if you want to join, it maybe fun for you to go through rush, it is a good way to meet people you otherwise wouldn’t. Try to keep an open mind and not get too hung up on tiering of sororities. Tri Delt may have one reputation at one school and have different reputation at Cornell.
The reputations vary greatly from sorority to sorority (there are 13 in total). A lot of girls have their hearts initially set on "The Core Four" until they get cut from those houses after the first day. The Core Four is comprised of Delta Gamma (aka DG), Alpha Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta (aka Theta), and Kappa Kappa Gamma (aka Kappa). I certainly don't agree with all the reputations and stereotypes out there but here they are: DG has the reputation of being the "rich" and stuck-up sorority. People say that they don't view any other sororities as competition. Alpha Phi has the blonde hair, blue eyed, beautiful reputation, which is pretty much true. Theta has plenty of down to earth girls and is likely the consensus top pick for many girls entering sorority rush. I don't know a ton about Kappa.
The middle tier is comprised of Sigma Delta Tau (SDT), Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delt), Pi Phi, and AEPhi. SDT is stereotyped to be highly Jewish as is AEPhi. Tri Delt doesn't have that same "bitchy" reputation. They mix well and appear to be very well liked on campus.
The lower tier is comprised of Kappa Delta (KD), Alpha Chi Omega (AXO), Phi Sig Sig (Phi Sig), Alpha Xi Delta (AZD), and Phi Mu. KD has had a great reputation for a while here, but didn't have a strong mixing schedule and their pledge class wasn't as good as previous years so their rep suffered. AXO had a great incoming pledge class this year and are on the rise. AZD is the most expensive house to live-in but doesn't match up with the other sororities in other aspects. And Phi Sig isn't extraordinarily well-liked on campus - they are kind of irrelevant. Phi Mu just came to Cornell and doesn't even have a house yet. They are clearly a work in progress - they had to give bids to almost everybody.
I think over 700 girls rushed but probably around 200 dropped for various reasons. Most of the PC's were capped at 43 members.
Because there are so many girls in sororities you typically can only live in the house for one year. Most of the sororities have an annex though, which are houses in Collegetown unofficially affiliated with the sorority. Upperclassmen would live there.
Hope that gives you a better idea! (but again, this is just the campus reputation and not always an accurate representation)
To see what campus says about each house there is this website. The individual sorority pages are pretty ■■■■■■■■, but if you look at the “Discussion” tab, people vote on posts and it’s pretty accurate.
Everyone has a different opinion and I think the best way is to interact with upper class men before recruitment, although don’t let a few girls shade your opinion of the whole sorority.
I personally don’t think the order or description of what the one girl says is true for campus, so that just goes to show everyone has TOTALLY different opinions. In the end, you join for you.
Look at the tumblrs, facebooks, and websites (we made them for you!).