<p>I'm a transfer student for the fall 2009, and i'm thinking of joining a sorority. But the thing is, though i'm black, I don't want to join an all black sorority (but i'm not pushing the whole idea aside). I've looked at some of the sororities online at UCSB and a lot of them seem to be either all white or all asian or all black. Is there any sororities that are (and look lol) multicultural? I was looking at Tri Delta webpage, and they looked pretty cool and interesting.</p>
<p>Also could anyone tell me more about the greek system there? Which sororities are popular? Which have really bad reps? Which wouldn't you touch with a ten-foot pole?</p>
<p>I was in the fraternity system at UCSB. Basically, there’s 3 categories of Greek letter organizations: the “traditional” social (think Animal House, lol), cultural/ethnic based (Hispanic, Black, Asian, etc), and professional (these are academically focused and quite different from the other kind). </p>
<p>Many non-white students decide to join the cultural fraternities/sororities, which is why you see the lack of minorities in the traditional system. Of course, if you’re interested in the traditional system, you should still look into rush at the beginning of the quarter.</p>
<p>I think the cultural fraternities/sororities hold rush a week after the traditional ones do, so if you don’t like the traditional ones or don’t feel comfortable, you could try rushing again for one of the black sororities.</p>
<p>As far as rankings go, someone might post a link to a forum or something with reputations and what not, but I think you should join a sorority based on how you get along with the girls and how comfortable you feel, not what some random weirdo thinks on a website, so I don’t think rankings are too useful. However, I can tell you a little more about the specific sorority you mentioned via private message if you’d like.</p>
<p>Thank you for replying! would you mind private messaging me about the sororities? That would be awesome, thanks. It’s just the last thing i want (which shouldn’t matter at all actually) is someone to tell me that i joined a sorority that is well known for having a large amount of sluts lol :o. Not that there’s anything wrong with sluts hahahaha.</p>
<p>I guess i should test the traditional system…try and break some boundaries lol.</p>
<p>Is there any fee or application that i have to pay to rush, or is it a “show up if your interested” type of thing?</p>
<p>The sorority rush system is radically different than the fraternity rush (which is free and fairly informal). I don’t know too much about it, but it is $60, and I believe you start the first day by going to all the houses and then begin to narrow your choices over the next three days. I think some days may also be loosely dress coded. It’s a pretty thorough process. You can sign up here:</p>
<p>Now, this is for the traditional sororities. For the black sororities, I don’t know the exact details, but I think their process is more informal, and you would probably show up to the individual houses whenever they hold rush. I’m guessing it’s free but I’m not sure.</p>
<p>Also, a few more things to keep in mind: As a transfer student, your options may be more limited than freshman students. Some of the large houses who don’t need large pledge classes may bypass transfers in order to pick freshmen (who’d be with the house longer, pay more dues, etc). Also, I’m not sure what the dues are for sororities, but they can be pretty expensive… I’m sure they’d go over the dues and what’s expected of you financially during rush.</p>
<p>Tri delta at ucsb is a great group of girls. They are a really cool mix and not just the stereotypical airheads. Mix of pretty girls and smart girls. One of the coolest girls i know is a tri delt and rep wise there is nothing bad to say. They have really gone up popularity wise in the past few years. I’ve known a few older girls to join houses so don’t worry about it. Older guys join frats all the time. Enjoy going greek.</p>
<p>From looking at there websites, I really like these Tri Delta,Alpha Delta Pi,Gamma Phi Beta. Tri Delta looks like A LOT of fun and that i could be comfortable too! I can’t wait to go during rush week and see if i really like these sororities.</p>
<p>Could you guys tell me more about the greek life? Besides socials and parties, what else do they do? Is there specific events that everyone looks out for? Do they do community service and what are some cool examples of it?</p>
<p>For community service, each fraternity/sorority puts on a major event once a year (most in spring quarter) which is usually a sports competition among members of the Greek system. Here’s some examples:</p>
<p>This usually brings together members of all the Greek community together and is a lot of fun… and a good way to become better friends with people in your fraternity/sorority. There are also a lot of sisterhood/brotherhood events that individual chapters hold in order to help build chapter cohesion; sororities especially really get involved in their events. Most are really fun, and especially as a transfer student, it’s a good way to meet a lot of people and get involved.</p>
<p>Alphabetical Order list of house reputations:</p>
<p>Alpha Chi Omega: The girls next door. Sweet at first, but who knows what they will do behind closed doors.
Alpha Delta Pi: The diverse girls. Some are as sweet as ever, others are quite rude. Their sisterhood is questionable b/c of this.
Alpha epsilon Phi: The mystery. Know one knows what happened to this chapter.
Alpha Phi: The Bad-mannered. Caused a lot of problems for their internationals and other greeks at ucsb.
Delta Delta Delta: Your best friends. Fun girls, but not typical sorority.
Dela Gamma: The opportunitstic girls. Know how to get what they want and greeks recognize that.
Gamma Phi Beta: The party girls. Even for UCSB, they party. ALot. Causes them to Dgaf about the greek system. Still, nice girls.
Kappa Alpha Theta: The silly girls. Fun to be around, but they don’t provide strong relationships for sisters who join.
Kappa Kappa Gamma: The nice girls. Cute but quiet presence on campus. No one knows them.
Pi Beta Phi: The ditzy girls. Rich ditzes with great fashion sense.</p>
<p>Hey girl. I’m Black and I’m senior. Why would you want to join the non-Black sororities? I only know of one Black girl in one of the non-ethnic ones and no one in the Black community really likes her anyway. The Black community is so so so so small. I think it’s important to get to know us since we’ll have your back. It’s hard going to school here sometimes and being the only Black person in a room. IDK why you would want to join anyway? The usual sororities are kind of weird IMHO. They all look alike and behave like robots, but that’s just my opinion. Typical blonde look too if that’s what you’re going for.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you’re weak-minded I advise you to not join the Black sororities. It’s nothing like the other Greeks and I cannot actually tell you why. You need to be a strong person (and FYI, you have to pay a lot of money to get into any sorority). The normal sororities hold their rush during the beginning of the year. You have to dress up and visit their houses. It’s rather stupid if you ask me (every girl was wear the same dumb flowery dress with blonde hair). But it’s all about you. </p>
<p>And the Black ones are very big on volunteering, especially the Zetas which is the most popular Black soror. We also have Alpha Kappa Alpha and Sigmas, which is kinda like a paper soror. </p>
<p>IDK how the Hispanic or multiracial ones recruit (all the multiracial frats and sorors are all Hispanic, go figure). If you want to get into the Black ones you need to actually get to know them. They don’t hold their thing the same time as the other Greeks. You have to be in the know.</p>
<p>I’m bias. I love the probates (they’re held in secret locations), step-shows, etc. I think the Black and Hispanic ones are better, but that’s just my opinion.</p>
<p>If I was you, I would try to involve myself with the Black community right off the bat. It’s a close knit of people, but we all do things for each other and we hold little events for each other at the end of the year, like “Black Wo/man’s Appreciation Day”. The Black and Hispanic houses are the only ones where people actually dance. IDK, it’s up to you. I would explore your options. </p>
<p>BTW, sororities take a lot of dedication. You’re basically like their slave. You won’t have any time to do ANYTHING. Keep this in mind. I’m not in a sorority because I prefer being a free-spirit and having the choice to stay in if I want minus HAVING to do something everynight or be at meetings.</p>