<p>D is at an LAC in the northeast. From time to time she mentions joining a sorority. How much should one budget for sorority membership? (This will be for her budget, not her parents').</p>
<p>She should have no difficulty finding out the sorority costs herself. When our daughter asked us the same question, we didn’t even offer to help. Since this was going to come out of her earnings, it was up to her to determine if she really could afford it and wanted to pay for it.</p>
<p>thumper1 is right, of course. It’s easy to find on her college website, I bet. Just fyi, at my daughter’s school total costs are about $2K / year. Frat costs are about $5K (not sure why…higher insurance premiums?!) This includes at least one meal a week at the house, all activities and all the dues the chapter pays to the national. It does NOT include the endless number of T-shirts that are bought commemorating Every. Single. Event. sponsored by the chapter…apparently if a T-shirt isn’t created, the event never really happened.</p>
<p>Mom22039, I am not familiar with sorority costs, but I can tell you that my son’s fraternity costs varied in a big way between freshman and sophomore years. Last year I believe that my son spent about $1700. His fraternity does not have Greek housing, so there were no expenses for that.</p>
<p>I know that this year he is only paying $500 for the year. There were big changes within Greek life this year that accounts for this large swing in costs. It will probably cost more next year, but I am not sure about what those expenses will cost each member. </p>
<p>Many expenses can change that a house has little control over, and that is why there could be wide swings in costs. My son’s share for insurance was $500 for last year, at least that was the amount he paid out of pocket. This year his fraternity had enough money to pay this fee for all members. Last year the fraternity had to cover certain utilities and they are being paid by the university for this year. There are reasons for this change, but I won’t go into them on this thread. All I can say is that the changes this year made a huge difference for the costs associated with Greek life.</p>
<p>Also factor in the clothing needed for all of the dances…that can rally add up.</p>
<p>At my D’s the cost of sorority dues varies with each of them. Her sorority had a $75 new member fee, and an annual fee of $400, which goes to local and national dues. One of the sororities cost over $1000 per year, since they are new and are saving up for a house. She also had to buy a badge (pin), and the cost varied depending upon silver or gold and diamonds. If she lives in the house, the cost is probably comparable to a dorm.</p>
<p>Thank you all. I was able to Google [school name ] sorority fees and landed on the college’s page describing fees - and caveats! Now I have a better idea. We will still cover room and board but the rest is hers.</p>
<p>I hope she has a great experience! Please let us know how it goes for her.</p>
<p>D1’s sorority fees were very consistent every year, her T-shirts were were covered. When she lived at the house, her room&board&sorority dues were less than living on campus. Fraternity fees are higher because they have parties at their house.</p>
<p>At some colleges, when you join a sorority, it’s almost automatic that you will live in the sorority house until graduation.</p>
<p>At other colleges, many sorority members do not live in the house. There may not be room for all of them, or some may choose to live elsewhere by preference.</p>
<p>And at still other colleges, the Greek organizations don’t have their own residential facilities.</p>
<p>It may be helpful to figure out which of these situations applies to your student. The total cost of living for a year in the sorority house may differ from the cost of being a sorority member for the year while living elsewhere either on or off campus.</p>
<p>At her school the sororities are in campus owned buildings and regular room fees are charged. I mail email a mom friend (whom I am not embarrassed to ask about costs) to see what their experiences have been. It’s her daughter who has been couraging mine!</p>
<p>Mom22039…my daughter is in a sorority and she loves it, but it is expensive. Like some other posters have talked about, the T-Shirt bill alone can make your eyes cross. We are at a large state school and dues alone the first year have topped $4K. If she could get a spot in the house; room, board and dues combined is far cheaper than her R & B now plus dues. Only a handful of spots opened this year and she did not get one, so back to the dorm for one more year and then hopefully the house. The experience in her case, has been wonderful and she has developed some very nice “sisterhood” relationships with some very dynamic and interesting young women.</p>
<p>A note on dresses for events. D’s sorority, especially for Frat semi formals and formals, simply dress swap for events. It is nice that all the homecoming dresses we bought through HS are getting repeat performances.</p>
<p>It varies by school. D1’s dues when not living at the house was ~$1500/year. She was able to have few meals there, and she did most of her laundry there.
They required all sophomores to live at the house, and others to live off campus. It gave the new class an opportunity to form a very strong bond by living together for a year. I don’t recall D1 asking for extra money.</p>
<p>It’s so school-by-school specific that there really is no one right answer. Where I went to school, living in the sorority house was essentially the same cost as living in the dorms. At other schools, living in the sorority house may be far more expensive. Also, whether the cost of “dressing for sorority life” is expensive depends on someone’s overall clothing budget and tastes. For the girl who would never wear anything but jeans who has to go buy nicer clothing for events, it’s an expense. For the girl who already has / always keeps several dressy dresses, nice outfits, etc. in her closet - it’s really not an extra expense at all.</p>
<p>I will piggyback with what pizzagirl said and add not only is it “school-by-school specific” but also sorority-by-sorority specific within each school. Our D’s sorority is more expensive than the other sororities on campus primarily because of the catering company. (D’s sorority has private chefs vs. corporate owned caterers.) The cost difference is not that significant. Of course, you won’t know exactly what you’ll be paying until recruitment is over and your D knows which sorority (if any) she pledges. I know at our D’s school 800+ went through rush and around 515 accepted bids. Some girls decide during the process it’s simply not for them, or recruitment didn’t pan out the way they hoped.</p>
<p>The national council that covers national sororities strongly encourage houses to disclose dues, costs during recruitment and for expensive schools, many will discuss fees at the informational meetings. Generally calling the Greek Life office of a school can get you the ballpark.</p>
<p>Also, some chapters that look more expensive on paper, may be charging an all inclusive fee that includes socials/mixers/some tee shirts etc etc, whereas others that look cheaper then ask for more money on top of regular dues as these things aren’t included</p>
<p>Questions about what is included in dues/fees, payment plans, scholarships, etc are all perfectly sensible questions for her to ask the girls about before/during rush. One of the biggest bug bears I had as an active were rushees who DIDN’T ask, accepted the bid, then found out it was too expensive and dropped a few weeks into the semester…</p>
<p>(and if you are worried that asking about fees means that some girls will look down their noses at your daughter because she has to ask, well, quite frankly, there are some who will - but who would want those idiots as their sister anyway!)</p>
<p>My daughter’s sorority fees in California covered all the exchanges, party buses, sisterhood events, once a week dinners, etc… She did pay extra for t-shirts but it was reasonable. For her, living in the house was significantly CHEAPER than living in the dorms.</p>