<p>I was thinking about joining a sorority. I was wondering how important greek life is at iowa. I was also wondering if in order to be in a sorority you have to be in parting and drinking because I am def. not into that at all. I was also wondering if it's really worth the costs? and are all the girls as "catty" as people tend to make them out to be on tv shows and such? Also if you recommend joining which sororities do you suggests? thanks for the help!</p>
<p>come on no input from anyone?? please help lol</p>
<p>Hi Laurens27, my daughter went through the rush process last year but wasn’t happy with the outcome. After spending a year at school she realized that even if she had pledged a house she most likely would have deactivated. </p>
<p>She is on the pre-med tract and after observing many of her friends who did pledge a house she discovered that she would never have been able to attend all of the mid-week socials that would have been required of her. Her studies came first. The girls she knew in her courses in common that pledged either deactivated or dropped out of her courses in common classes by the end of the year. </p>
<p>The Greek scene at Iowa is small, something like 10-12%. The majority of students are independent so it’s more likely that even if you do pledge a house that you will make many friends who are not part of the Greek scene. </p>
<p>My DD has always been a very independent person. She doesn’t want to be told that she has to attend a party, has to study with a group at a certain time, has to live in a house if she would rather live in an apartment, or can only wear her letters if she is wearing make-up (that’s one of the rules she read in her roommate’s sorority rule book). </p>
<p>Yes, some of the houses are very “catty,” DD said that her roommate was upset when she learned that her house sent the less attractive girls in the house into separate rooms during rush so that the potential new members wouldn’t be turned off. My neighbor and her daughter are in the same sorority at another Big 10 school and confirmed that houses do that all the time. Yuck! </p>
<p>Greek life is great for a lot of people, but not all. If you decide that it’s for you then great, but if you don’t pledge it will not make a difference in your life as a Hawkeye. </p>
<p>And, for the record, I’m not anti Greek. My husband is a life-long member of his fraternity and my DS can’t wait to pledge a house. I’m fully supportive and I’m excited for him to become a “brother” in a house.</p>
<p>I was thinking about joining a sorority. I was wondering how important greek life is at iowa. I was also wondering if in order to be in a sorority you have to be in parting and drinking because I am def. not into that at all. I was also wondering if it’s really worth the costs? and are all the girls as “catty” as people tend to make them out to be on tv shows and such? Also if you recommend joining which sororities do you suggests? thanks for the help! </p>
<p>I will try to give a quick reply.</p>
<p>The greek scene at Iowa is very small, under 10 percent but have only seen a small increase in interest due to a recent 21 ordinance in 2010. If you are in a sorority from what is known you do not have to drink at all, perhaps the " I have to drink" could be a stereotype. Parties would be more of the socials that are required within the greek houses, this is not just at Iowa but any school. I have actually overheard that some greek houses rarely have socials. Alcohol is not permitted within greek houses, which is the same for university dorm halls.
Is it worth the cost, I can not say as I am not within the greek system and this likely will depend on your particular sorority.
There are many stereotypes of sororities and fraternities played on television, but each individual is likely to be different. From my experience with those that I know that are in a sorority, none had a drastically different attitude than non greek students. However I have heard girls that are in sorority ( and those that are not) state stereotypes about girls in Alpha, Gamma, etc…</p>
<p>lovemykids2: I know you state you’re not anti-Greek, and maybe that’s true. But don’t say that the pre-med track & sororities at Iowa don’t mix. My D did it, graduated with a BS in integrative physiology 2 years ago, and is currently a 2nd-year med student. Her house cumulative GPA was around 3.3 for nearly 100 girls. Pretty impressive if you ask me.</p>
<p>Certainly, as a parent I thought the Greek social scene & the whole bid process was a bit much at times. I was in a fraternity at Iowa in the '70’s, and from what I remember about the sororities, rush & bids weren’t as refined & time-consuming then as they seem to be now.</p>
<p>Be that as it may, my D has made many lifetime friends through her house, it was an anchor when she really needed grounding, and the competitive spirit there couldn’t be denied. It was a good choice for her.</p>
<p>just out of curiosity, which sorority did your daughter join/did she have anything to say about the Greek system as a whole or just her experience?</p>
<p>PM me if you want to know the specific house. Of course, she was a proponent of the Greek system at Iowa, and I suppose she was somewhat influenced to join by listening to my experiences in a fraternity at Iowa 30 years before that.</p>
<p>What stood out for me in the '70’s and still is true is the camaraderie between the brothers & sisters, and basically ‘having a place to hang your hat’. I cannot tell you the number of times in the dead of winter, after expending so much energy in classes & studying during the course of the day, trudging through the snow & coming home to the warm house in late afternoon. I thought it was an incredibly comforting feeling to walk through the door, knowing that there would be 30-40 of your buddies there to hang with–in between studying of course–the rest of the cold evening. BS’ing, shooting pool, listening to music. </p>
<p>And my daughter found the same thing true with her sorority. Say what you want about the weirdness of the bid process & so forth, but there is no doubt that the girls had each other’s back. I would say that even though her pledge class of ~30 girls are spread around the Midwest, she still sees a good number of them on a regular basis in the Chicago area. </p>
<p>A point to be made is that most fraternity & sorority houses at Iowa are stand-alone, beautiful old buildings with character, as opposed to some other universities where they are only social organizations, with no live-in capabilities.</p>