<p>Those fees (not the late fee but the joining fees) are correct at some schools. The first semester is going to cost about $300 for first time fees (that go to the national organization) and then whatever the local chapter costs. It is very different for schools with a chapter house than for those that meet in university classrooms or meeting rooms. It will also depend on how many social things the chapter schedules. At some schools that have houses, the members, new and old, eat at the house so there is a big fee for meal. At some schools, you get a refund of your meal plan from the university.</p>
<p>But it’s a choice to join or not. Not for everyone and yes, some can’t afford it. Some can’t afford school in NYC either, or a room in a fancy dorm. Doesn’t make it bad.</p>
<p>It should also be noted that Alpha Phi and Gamma Phi Beta, two schools highlighted in the article, were started at Syracuse, so it may very well cost more than average to be in those ‘Alpha’ chapters since they are showcases for the national sororities. At some of the bigger greek schools, the more popular houses charge more. They seem to have no problem getting as many members as they want, and their prices are what the market will bear.</p>
<p>The article should have profiled at least one woman who doesn’t spend more than a year’s tuition on her greek chapter. Even at Southern schools, they do exist and in far greater numbers than the article seems to imply. It would have also been helpful to profile women in non panhellenic sororities but of course, this article only focused on the stereotypical sorority girl, because who wants to read about regular women in regular greek organizations spending regular amounts of money on dues and gifts?</p>
<p>If I posted, hypothetically, “my D likes to needlepoint and has made pillows for all her friends” (or knit scarves for all her friends, etc) everyone would think that was cute and sweet. Add sorority letters and all of a sudden that would be a bad thing and she must be training for homemaking 101. </p>
<p>^^ It just depends on whether meals are included. For my daughter without a house, the first semester was $526, which included her initiation costs and pin. Of the three sororities at her school, hers was the most expensive (of course!). Next semester should be about $200, just dues and program fees.</p>
<p>My other daughter’s sorority has a house and she must eat there, but we got a refund of her meal plan so it is a wash. There were about $700 in house fees I didn’t expect (for the actual house and maintenance). If she lives in the house, the ‘rent’ is only $1000, so about half the dorm cost, so in future years it will be cheaper, but for this year, yes, it is more expensive.</p>
<p>Yes, at those schools it may not include any meals or housing, although there is probably a ‘parlor fee’ to cover a lot of the meals that are provided. Most chapters with a house have everyone eat together several times a week (before meetings, brunch on Saturdays, football tailgates, etc.) and the parlor fee can also cover the added expenses of having extra people at the house - electricity, toilet paper, the cost of the meeting rooms.Some houses have a lot of parties, and all that tissue paper for the floats costs money! At other schools (like my daughter’s) they just don’t do everything that fancy. They made homecoming floats using colored paper and beach balls. They meet in university rooms and don’t serve food. Practical girls, but there is still a lot of Lilly Pulitzer as it is a southern school. All that is optional, as are shirts, trips, socials.</p>
<p>At my other daughter’s, the fee was about $1300, but included everything. Next year, when she lives in the house, the total, including social fees, will be less than the dorm and meal plan. It was a little shocking that it was that much. It was the house maintenance fee that was high,and it was a ‘hidden fee’ as no one revealed it until it was due. </p>
<p>You have to be selected for the school itself. You’d have to be selected to the student senate, the cheerleading team, the club soccer team, the school orchestra. Why do people have issues with sororities and fraternities getting to choose members but not the Princeton eating clubs, the Yale secret societies, Phi Beta Kappa or the other honor societies? It’s not youth soccer. Everyone doesn’t get a trophy.</p>
<p>Actually, most folks who have issues with fraternity/sororities due to social exclusivity have similar issues with organizations like Princeton eating clubs, Yale Secret Societies, or Harvard’s Finals Clubs. </p>
<p>Unlike selective college admissions, orchestra, soccer team, or academic honor societies like Phi Beta Kappa, the main perception is that fraternities/sororities and social clubs of that ilk select mainly on the basis of one’s higher SES status and one’s family/social connections both of which were more the product of being lucky in a genetic lottery…not one’s own merits on basis of the student’s own achievements or skills separate from one’s parents/family whether in music, sports, or academics. </p>
<p>Incidentally, this difference was the distinction my LAC and others like it used to allow academic honor societies like Phi Beta Kappa which selected membership on basis of demonstrated academic achievement by the student him/herself as opposed to fraternities/sororities/social clubs who selected on basis of social exclusivity…especially on the basis of higher SES status and one’s family and its social connections. The former was based on the student’s own bona-fide merits…the latter was based mostly on who the student and his/her family is and whom they know. </p>
<p>This was likely felt by my LAC’s 1870’s era admins as being contrary to our college community values and corrosive enough of the campus social fabric to issue a complete ban on such organizations being on campus…or students joining as members as a condition of matriculation and continuing enrollment. </p>
<p>One common derogatory phrase I kept hearing about those who joined fraternities and sororities on many campuses back in the mid-late '90s when joining them wasn’t as much in fashion* was how it was a form of “buying a set of friends” by those from higher SES backgrounds rather than going out and making them naturally. </p>
<ul>
<li>Such organizations were considered antithetical to the generations raised on grunge and pop-punk subcultures.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>However, participation in extracurriculars at a high level can be costly (e.g. traveling to state or national level competitions or events, sports or music equipment, etc.), so high SES students have more opportunity to achieve highly there. High SES students tend to find better public schools, and have more private school options that they can afford, so they have better opportunities for higher academic achievement. High SES students are more likely to have parents or counselors keeping them on top of the college application process (standardized test scheduling, asking for recommendations, ordering transcripts, knowing application deadlines, etc. – not realizing some of these deadlines may result in a student not being able to apply for a given school or scholarship). So it is not like the college admission process is one where applicants’ merits and achievements are completely separable from their SES backgrounds. Of course, admissions readers may try to consider achievement in context to background, but that can be a murky judgement call.</p>
<p>Oberlin’s application requires test scores, transcripts, counselor recommendation, and two teacher recommendations – typical for many colleges, but a lot of check list items that can be missed if a low SES first generation college student does not have good counselors at the high school keeping him/her on track for college applications. Oberlin also requires CSS Profile and non-custodial parent information for financial aid, an additional burden on many low SES students. Perhaps that may be part of the reason why Oberlin has few low SES students (12% with Pell grants).</p>
<p>I’m talking about how socially exclusive organizations like fraternities/sororities or Harvard’s Finals Clubs are perceived by many folks at large, especially from my college years when joining them was not considered as much in vogue as before or more recently. </p>
<p>While higher SES students do have more overall advantages, lower SES students do have more ways…however narrow to overcome that gap through their own efforts along with the public library/other sources. On this, I speak from some firsthand experience. </p>
<p>Incidentally, most of the lowest SES classmates at my HS who were viable elite college candidates tended to be the ones who were the most organized and gained admission to the most elite colleges including HYPSMC. Part of that was due to necessity as no one else including their parents had the language/cultural background knowledge to help them navigate the US school/college system…they had to navigate the system, achieve top grades, join and gain leadership in ECs, participate in co-curricular activities like Westinghouse or assisting Profs with actual research, and work afterschool/weekend jobs to contribute to family finances. Some of them did receive special attention from the college GCs…but that’s only if they were in the top 10% of the class which meant even many elite/Ivy admits weren’t given such special attention. </p>
<p>Also, from what I’ve seen, higher SES students can also have serious issues with keeping up with all those checklists. In fact, the HS classmates with the worst issues in that area tended to be higher SES upper-east sider kids because they “assumed it would be taken care of”. One classmate in particular ended up having to wait till January to attend a non-first choice top 20 LAC and another had to attend a local CUNY for a year because of those issues despite being from well-off families. </p>
<p>And they weren’t nearly as bad about staying on top of checklists/deadlines as far too many higher SES classmates at my LAC. And this was even with most Profs being very flexible about deadlines and generous with providing extensions.</p>
<p>Well, I guess my sorority really screwed up when they let me in as I was neither wealthy nor gorgeous. Just a struggling college student with no financial aid who worked her way through. Oh, and my children aren’t wealthy either (but are gorgeous) and they were invited to join houses. The question of SES is never even asked before bids are issued.</p>
<p>Why would I even have been interested in sorority? I was a transfer student. My father is a member of a frat and I’d known many of his brothers all my life. These men are now over 80 and are still all lifelong friends who get together several times a year. I though it would be fun, I’d meet people, get involved. It was, I did, and I enjoy it still today.</p>
<p>^ My sorority also messed up in choosing me. I was a cc transfer from a small town. Two siblings in college at the same time. I worked for every penny of my spending money and during the summer between my junior and senior years in college I worked in a factory. Neither of my parents finished college. </p>
<p>Like a few others upthread, the cost of my room/board in the sorority house was slightly less than cost of living/eating in the dorm. I was able to pay for all of the other dues, fees, etc. from my own earnings.</p>
<p>"Looking to join a sorority? You’ll need time and money to spare. "
No regrets here. D. (who did not plan originally to participate, but later decided to join) mentioned many times that sorority was one of her best experiences in UG, still in touch with many sisters, went to several weddings. She was looking for expending her social horizon beyond her regular pre-med crowd, and she was very satisfied. She was on board, turned down the nomination for president (for the lack of time), went to national convention, was a great participant in a successful conversion of colony to a chapter. Money and time greatly spent (according to her). And yes, her friend and her were the only pre-meds at her sorority, so original mission was definitely accomplished. It is true, sorority was one of the most time consuming ECs (on top of job, Research lab internship, volunteering…etc.), but D. was very involved in her sorority, while she mentioned that some were just paying fees and did not participate. There is no reason for that waste of money, that is correct.</p>
<p>My friend spent more money on her first daughter in close by off campus housing and her interest and pursuits, than she is with her second who lives in a sorority house and spends a lot of time with their activities. Could she be doing it for less? Yes, but they can afford, it 's what she wants to do, and she is enjoying it. </p>
<p>What I find most amusing about the article and its comments is the complete lack of irony. Every day the NYT publishes article after article that speaks to the conformity of its audience–the trendy fashion copycats captured on the street by Bill Cunningham…the whining pieces about how hard it is to enjoy the Hamptons anymore because “everybody” goes to the same places…the fawning adulation over the skinny society blondes who, yes, look like aging sorority girls. And of course the article doesn’t touch on the Greek networks that populate certain sectors on the economy–like the pipeline from the fraternity system at Dartmouth into Wall Street. I guess that’s “different” somehow?</p>
<h1>28 How is this different than Harvard by exclusionary, or the US Air Force, or a certain church, or the girl scouts, yet no one would think a grad or member shouldn’t wear a t-shirt with that name on it.</h1>
<p>I think sororities are sort of like HYP. I don’t think you get voted into the armed forces, most churches or the girl scouts.</p>
<p>also an answer to #49</p>
<h1>50 *You have to be selected for the school itself. You’d have to be selected to the student senate, the cheerleading team, the club soccer team, the school orchestra. Why do people have issues with sororities and fraternities getting to choose members but not the Princeton eating clubs, the Yale secret societies, Phi Beta Kappa or the other honor societies? It’s not youth soccer. Everyone doesn’t get a trophy. *</h1>
<p>Yes, some schools are exclusionary. The whole student body votes on the student senate. I am not sure how college cheerleaders, club teams, and the school orchestra are chosen. I do not think the current and alum membership select new members by voting on them. I am not getting into the eating clubs. Like sororities, they aren’t the same as what they used to be. I don’t think members of secret societies wear tee shirts. ; ) Phi Beta Kappa privileges high SES and enriched background imho. But who selects the members?</p>
I was a cc transfer from a small town. Two siblings in college at the same time. I worked for every penny of my spending money and during the summer between my junior and senior years in college I worked in a factory. Neither of my parents finished college. </p>