<p>Approximately how much are monthly/annual dues for frats and sororities? If you live in the house vs. not living in the house? Thanks.</p>
<p>i would also like to know if hazing would bring permanent physical/mental scars.</p>
<ol>
<li>I'm told it's about the same as living on-campus housing.</li>
<li>Hazing is not allowed, but apparently some frats still do it. But using common sense, I would venture to guess that permanent damage is not intended to happen in any case (if word gets around, they'd be in big trouble).</li>
</ol>
<p>Where's mrnova when you need him...</p>
<p>well what are the dues if I don't live in the house? </p>
<p>This is because I am a sophomore transfer and I'm not sure if I want to live in the house junior year. Would it be totally weird if I lived in a dorm on west? Does anyone in any of the frats live on campus (in the dorms?)</p>
<p>(freshman, not in a frat but want to rush) i think that the dues are the same whether or not you live in the house. if you live in the house you have to go through the school with a housing application and such. and you pay less for housing because you are paying the fraternity? i'm pretty sure it works something like this. basically the housing system has to be done through the school and you pay less, and the dues are the same regardless (i think MAYBE about 700-800 a semester)</p>
<p>i think the dorms on west are cool, i might want to live there next year and maybe the house as a junior? i dunno but maybe because you're older you might want to think about living in the house? otherwise, west campus would be fine i guess, i mean with the new houses it's definitely a nice place to live. or you could get an off campus thing, but booooo off campus living.</p>
<p>Someone call?</p>
<p>mrnova, or anyone else. is it unheard of for someone to live on-campus (in a dorm on west) and be a member of a frat?</p>
<p>People confuse dues with cost of living. </p>
<p>When you join a fraternity you pay some onetime initiation fees for things like new member education literature and fraternity pins etc. This totals to typically less then $100. Semesterly you pay national dues which go to the national organization as well as "local" or social dues which go to your chapter to fund parties, formals, brotherhood events, pledging, rush, etc. Depending on fraternity this ranges from 200-800 a semester depending on how “active” your social calendar is, and how generous your alumni are. Now we get to cost of living. </p>
<p>If you live at the fraternity house you pay a fee for living there. If you don't live in the house sometimes you still pay a small parlor fee to help the upkeep of the house/cover the wear and tear that out of house members still generate by participating in house events (For houses that do have these fees it generally ranges from 50-200/semester). </p>
<p>Then there is the meal plan. Most houses stock their large kitchens with a variety of food and snacks. In addition, many fraternities have chefs that cook meals. Usually they do this 4-6 days a week. Some just cook dinners, others like my houses cooks breakfast and lunch from 8am-12 to order, and does dinner. For this service you pay for the meal plan. In most frats if you live in the house joining the meal plan is compulsory. For many out of house brothers are required to enroll in the meal plan as well, this is done to get people to eat together and make sure they see each other even if they don’t live together. Often for out of house brothers, fraternities have optional modified meal plans that are cheaper with the caveat that they can only come to dinner a certain number of times per week for example. </p>
<p>Overall, 95% of the time if you live in the house and enroll in their meal plan, the total cost is less then living on campus with a Cornell meal plan, and MUCH cheaper then living on your own in college town (trust me I know). This is true for the majority of houses as I was an officer in my fraternity and got to see some SMC (the Cornell billing company) billing sheets. You still have dues to pay but you generally get your moneys worth with all the (hopefully) great social activities you get to participate. Not to mention the tremendous amount of alcohol that gets purchased for you, for those not of age. </p>
<p>Avoid living on a west campus dorm at all costs. The people who live there (and I say this with intent to cause as much offense and outrage as possible) are losers who either couldn’t get into a frat, or had no friends to live with in college town.</p>
<p>newname: No it's not unheard of. Usually this happens when someone has already signed a contract or something binding them to live somewhere else, or if they are a transfer or a fall pledge (sophomores and juniors). If its your choice though, I don't see why you would want to live on campus if you were in a fraternity, its cheaper and alot more fun. Thats part of the reason why people join fraternities, so they can live in a frat.</p>
<p>yea i thought the dues thing worked something like that, i wasn't totally sure. hahaha btw guess i'll rethink west campus. i just thought that if i lived there sophomore year, i could live in a house as a junior and senior (i mean if i get into one or whatever). </p>
<p>so, basically, do most kids in a frat live in the frat the year after they join? like if you pledge as a freshman, are initiated at the end of second semester, then you basically are going to live there from sophomore year onward? (mrnova)</p>
<p>For second semester pledging, will I be eating any meals at the frat house?</p>
<p>mrnova. well it's just that i promised some friends (who are also sophomore transfers) that i would get a suite with them in the new dorm on west in fall2007 because apartment prices are ridiculously high now. and i was also probably going to start rushing/pledging this January. so now I feel bad living in the frat house and ditching my old friends i said i would live with. so would it be weird if I lived in the dorms with the friends I promised and also joined a frat house? thanks.</p>
<p>sametwo: Yeah, most but not all live in the year after they pledge. Don't live in the house senior year, unless it's right on the edge of West by Collegetown. Try to live in Collegetown senior year its the most fun. Most seniors do not live in frat houses, lots of frats have "annexes" which are basically college town houses/apartments that are occupied by members usually seniors of a frat. </p>
<p>Plmok: Most houses require you to enroll in the meal plan while pledging and usually require you to come to every dinner. So yes, you will be eating at the house alot. I advise you to either cancel or cutback on your Cornell meal plan as you won't need it as much.</p>
<p>Newname: It's not weird at all, its your preference, I'm just telling you what usually happens. Why not get your friends to pledge with you? ;)</p>
<p>is it really more expensive to live in collegetown? what if u cook urself?</p>
<p>It is more expensive JUST factoring the rent living in college town. A DECENT apartment costs 700+ a month. (with generous utilities). If you can get a total of 5 people you may find a house for 600 a month, but the heat/electrical for a house is substantially greater than for an apartment. A high-end estimate for a frat is 500 a month (this includes living in 6 months per semester I.E. living in when school is out of session plus ALL utilities) Cooking for yourself means crap prepared crappily. It's the cost of food that really eats you out like a dirty French whore, not the raw food cost. You can divvy it up any way you want, living in a frat house is cheaper then living on your own. Granted, while your choices are more limited, it'll be more bang for your buck.</p>
<p>you can definitely find houses for less than 500. maybe something on east buff or stewart. and the meal plan cost u 15 dollars a day. i think i can do better than that. theres always Hong Kong.</p>
<p>Well buff and stewart are starting to get a bit out of the ways. Don't forget to add the other costs. Cable+internet is $100 a month. Figure another $100 for heating/electric/water etc. If you have a car add 500-1500 for parking. I'm confused what meal plan your talking about for $15 a day. Do you mean the Cornell meal plan? Are you going to go to campus everyday for dinner? Go ahead and eat Hong Kong for 3 meals a day. (Min delivery order is $10 anyway). I'd like to see your waist line.</p>
<p>wireless internet is provided by the landlord. utilities are covered. 3 bed room apartment for around 1200 ill prolly go eat with my friends in eddygate who claims they can cook a few times a week. The north meal plan is 2100 dollars including BRB. that comes out to more than 15 bucks. the west is cheaper but the food is not as good. a 5 minute walk isnt that bad anyway the places are near eddy. so i dont gotta walk upslope</p>
<p>That is a fantastic deal then, actually could you PM me the location? I'm looking for a place myself. Right now we pay almost 3500/mo for 5 people, not including utilities or anything. However it's a house, one of the nicest I've seen in ctown at that, and its in excellent location. I'd live in it again, but we're seniors so some of us are graduating and others are staying for grad.</p>