<p>Throughout high school I've always wanted to join a sorority and now I've been researching the typical events/social outings/philanthropy/housing but how much time does greek life really take up? Does joining a sorority isolate you from the rest of the campus and will you be less likely to associate with people who aren't part of it or is it more like a "club" rather than a close knit group of friends? Or does it just depend? :)</p>
<p>it depends on the individual chapter as well as your role within the chapter</p>
<p>My sister is in a sorority at a christian school, so there’s not much of the partying and all that. She loves it. She has plenty of friends outside of the sorority, and she has a part time job on top of her classes. She gets stressed out, but she can manage it. They have chapter meetings once a week, I believe, and events, but her life isn’t completely consumed by the sorority.</p>
<p>It depends on both the chapter and the individual. If your school has a decent to amazing Greek life, your involvement is probably going to take up a good chunk of your time. It’s up to you individually how involved you want to get. For my chapter (our school is like 10% Greek life, by the way), I have a mandatory event about three times a semester. The rest are voluntary for points for formal and just depends on the student. Some girls are still active members and only go to the mandatory events and that’s it. Some girls do 75% of the things or more. We have chapter once a week as well.</p>
<p>I would say that whether or not you choose to disassociate yourself with non-Greeks is up to you and how your school is. My school is a commuter school and many people who attend our uni happen to be locals. I do have a very close group of friends both within Greek life and outside of it. I try to make time for both. I do know some girls who do disassociate themselves, though, or actually mostly hang out with non-Greeks. It’s really up to you and your chapter.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a way to make friends, a way to be involved on campus, and/or a good way to meet new people and do good services, Greek life is a great stepping stone. I definitely say its less like a “club” and more like a way to make friends AND be involved on campus. 
I don’t feel like it is a club at all.</p>
<p>If your college has houses that some of the members live in, more than likely you’ll look around your junior year and realize that most of your friends are in the sorority, or, if you have a boyfriend in a fraternity, his fraternity. It’s just who you’re around the most. But it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to branch out. Your busiest sorority semester will be your first, when you’re going to both member meetings and new member meetings, plus some other new member activities. After that, there will be certain times that are sorority-intensive, such as recruitment, homecoming, or Greek Week. But you should have time to get involved in other stuff, too.</p>