Hi, I’m a current college freshman who is planning on transferring next year. At the moment, the University of Delaware is my top school. So far, I love everything about UDel, but I’ve been getting some mixed views on it. I know a few students there, some of them absolutely love it, and some hate it, so I was wondering what your thoughts are? Also, I am very interested in becoming a part of the greek life at UD but I am concerned about the cost. What is the cost of joining a sorority like? I know there are new member fees to be paid, and money that goes towards letters, outfits for formals and events etc, how pricey does that stuff become? Outside of greek life, what is the social scene like?
The ongoing cost associated with being in a sorority varies by sorority. Our D was in a sorority for 31/2 years while at UD and I believe the ongoing membership cost was $400-500 per semester plus any additional costs for events/formals (outfits, etc.). She actually lived in a sorority house her sophomore year (cost about the same as dorm room cost). Some sororities with residences require members to live there for at least a year (unless enough people decide to live there so all the rooms are filled up). It is not cheap to be a sorority member at UD. I believe about 20% of UD students overall are involved in Greek Life at UD and Greek Life is very active (check out the Greek Life site on UD’s website for more details). Outside of Greek Life UD has many social/athletic activities/clubs etc. that a student can become involved with if they elect to do so. Again info on many of these things are reviewable on UD’s Main Website(there are way too many to list here). Good luck.
Thank you for the information! If you don’t mind me asking, what sorority was your daughter in and did she feel like joining greek life was a worth while investment and did she enjoy her time there?
You really can’t identify and decide for yourself which sorority you want to pledge. Rush for freshman female students is held in the Spring (I would assume transfer students can also be part of this). There is a sequence of meetings with sorority members and students get invited back to subsequent meetings with specific sororities. At the last meeting bids are given out to the students and each student then decides whether they will accept the bid or not. The sororities make the decision who they will give a bid to. There are more students that want to pledge than there are spaces available so some students will not get a bid at all. Some students will get a bid to a sorority they do not wish to attend so will decide not to pledge at all. This process and the subsequent pledging can be very time consuming so you would need to budget your time well or your grades will suffer. I don’t know whether there is some other way a transfer student can get involved with this process. You would need to check this out with UD.
Our D really enjoyed her involvement with her sorority throughout all her years at UD. She was a Nursing major (as was her roommate at the sorority where she lived her sophomore year) so she really was always very, very busy. During her 3rd and 4th years she lived in an apartment complex on East Main Street together with a number of her sorority sisters. They formed lasting friendships and she has continued to maintain contact and has continued to see and interact with many of her sorority sisters since she graduated. I believe she would tell you that in her opinion the investment was worth it for many other reasons as well. All sororities have a connection with a particular charity (our D’s sorority area was Heart Disease in Women) and sororities also provide many hours of community service in a number of areas. Just FYI sororities at UD (unlike fraternities) are not allowed to hold open parties at their houses involving other students or non-students.
Good luck.
NPC sorority recruitment at UD is a mutual selection process. Do a little research about NPC mutual selection; if a potential new member maximizes her options she is very likely to receive a bid (invitation to membership). All the sororities are UD provide a great experience, meaningful sisterhoods and focus on philanthropy.
Thank you both for your responses, they have been very helpful!