Joining a Sorority, how hard is it?

<p>How hard is it to join? I really want to join one next year because I am gonna be a freshman and I am really afraid of not being accepted and not having friends so I want to be in a sorority is it as bad as people say? Like having them make you clean floors with your toothbrush and them making your body with fat labels?</p>

<p>Lol no, I’m in a fraternity and my girlfriend is in a sorority. They won’t make you do anything like that. My suggestion is to research a couple of the sororities you may be interested in joining and ask a couple people on your campus what their reputation is. One or two chapters may have a couple hazing problems. Overall, most chapters wont haze or force their pledges to do anything against their will. There may be a few bad eggs though.</p>

<p>No, I never had to do any of that when I joined my sorority. We just had to attend several soirees, community service activities and attend any meetings the sorority held–basically, show continued interest in it.</p>

<p>You honestly, 100% have nothing to worry about. Hazing in sororities is so uncommon as to be absolutely not a concern. If it still is something you worry about, the best advice I can give you is to stay away from sorority groups that aren’t one of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference members:</p>

<p>[National</a> Panhellenic Conference: NPC NEWS](<a href=“http://www.npcwomen.org/]National”>http://www.npcwomen.org/)</p>

<p>Organizations that aren’t part of the NPC may be called “locals” and may make a big deal about how they don’t have a national organization to report to, which also means they may not have the oversight and protections for new members that the NPC groups do. </p>

<p>I don’t mean to slam local or small regional sororities, as there are definitely ones out there that are excellent, but statistically I believe they are more likely to haze…it’s still an uncommon feature, but if you show me a sorority that hazes, odds are it’s a local.</p>

<p>Going to school in the south, I have to disagree with the people who say hazing is never an issue. I don’t know where you’re going to school, but in the south, hazing can be VERY prevalent and rushing is pretty cut-throat. The stories don’t just get made up. They are sometimes true. </p>

<p>At my school, I am in a sorority and there was no hazing.</p>

<p>Ok, how about the divine nine? Does anyone know if it is generally hard to pledge there?</p>

<p>This might be naive but I really do not understand the process. First, there is rush week. Then, some girls who want to become pledges but others are turned away? How long is someone a pledge? Do pledges then sometimes fail to get in? Have I got it all wrong?</p>

<p>Is there a good FAQ somewhere that explains it all?</p>

<p>Kollegkid, go on your school’s website and there should be a Greek Information page (It may be located in the student life section). There it should tell you some answers in the FAQ. If you can’t find it, check out the link below.</p>

<p>[HowStuffWorks</a> “Sorority Recruitment”](<a href=“http://people.howstuffworks.com/sorority1.htm]HowStuffWorks”>How Sororities Work | HowStuffWorks)</p>

<p>I think most schools operate sorority recruitment very similar to one another so hopefully the above link will be relevant to your school.</p>

<p>How hard it is to get into depends on how big greek life is at your school. Obviously, places where it is much more popular (like the south) will be harder to get into. Each sorority has their rituals you have to do to get in, but none of them should hurt you.</p>

<p>Kollegkid, with most schools, there will be a rush week. They will have a night and you will go meet with every sorority. Then they decide if they want to invite you to their next event. At the end of events, they decide if they want to give you a bid to join. You can accept or deny. Then you are a pledge. Pledging periods differ. They will tell you how long it lasts during rush. I don’t really know of anyone that went thru the whole pledge time and didn’t get in. You can quit at any time if you want.</p>

<p>Rush is a mutual selection process. It consists of a week of “rounds”, in which each sorority throws a party (though there are no boys or alcohol - think cocktail party but with more peppiness). After each round of parties you rank the sororities in the other you like them and they rank the girls going through rush (called Potential New Members or PNMs). These lists are fed into a computer, and the computer spits out where you will be invited back next round. If the ones that you like also like you, perfect. If your favorites don’t like you, but others do, most likely you will only be invited back to the ones who like you. You usually have the opportunity to “cut” your least favorites, just as the groups can “cut” the girls they don’t think are a good fit. You may not end up with a bid to your favorite, but its definitely worth giving it a shot with whichever group you’re eventually matched with - at most schools, especially in the south, that is your only chance to join a sorority. If you rush again as a sophomore you usually won’t get a bid. After you accept your bid, you are a “pledge” or “new member” for 6-8 weeks, then you are initiated and become a full-fledged sister.</p>

<p>it really depends where you go, ay my school about half or so of the girls that started rush ended up not joining one And most schools are pretty strict about no hazing, but I have heard stories about other sororities, but nothing too bad. I had a lot of fun, although rush is stressful, and I absolutely love being in mine.</p>

<p>The Divine 9 is tough! (I mean that in a good way.)</p>

<p>I’ve heard it wasn’t that bad but I’ve also heard it was mentally tiresome. I hear different things coming from people who pledged back home (down South) and from up here (Boston). However, all of them say it was worth it. I never got a chance to pledge b/c BC doesn’t have greek life and the scene up here is kind of faded LOL. There was a Divine 9 orgo that didn’t get any love because their process was less than a week LMAO. (They started on Monday and by Friday night they were apart of the sorority. WHAT?!) If I were going to be apart of one, I would want to go through the real process in its entirety. Not skate by and spit on the legacy of those before me and cross without hard work. I just feel like the scene up here is kind of weak, imo.</p>

<p>Down south is where it’s at for the Divine 9. That’s just my $0.02 though. But good luck with your decision!</p>

<p>does anyone know what the UPenn sororities are like?</p>

<p>Divine 9 is a rougher than NPC sororities, generally. There’s definitely a major movement to make the process less problemsome, but that has been met with claims that new members are breezing in and aren’t true members.</p>

<p>That said, on a very primal level, the Divine 9 groups really do far more for their communities and their members. That is a life long commitment and dedication that is unmatched by the historically caucasian groups. I have a great deal of awe for the work that the D9 groups do and wish there was some way that the other groups would begin to follow their lead.</p>

<p>Totally different between northern and southern greek systems.</p>

<p>I agree completely with the post above. Generally rushing in the South is much more intense than the North or out West. Sororities and the recruitment process vary from campus to campus so it really depends where you go.</p>