Socieities and Teaing

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
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<p>Hello,</p>

<p>Does anyone have more information about Wellesley's society and the process of "teaing"? I'm not quite familiar with sororities and their "rushing" process either, so can anyone tell me what the differences between the two are? I also have some specific questions, too, if anyone can answer them. I am mostly interested in TZE, so any specific information concerning TZE is much appreicated. Thank you!</p>

<p>1) Is it hard to get into a society? What are the hardest societies to get into?
2) About how many people apply to be in a society, and about how many does the society accept?
3) What does the teaing and application process consist of?
4) What role do societies play on campus? How big of a role do they play? How does the rest of the campus perceive societies and their members?
5) Is there a fee for joining?
6) How much time does being in a society take up?
7) How "exclusive" are societies?</p>

<p>Any information at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you :)</p>

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<p>Aw, no replies? :frowning: I’d appreciate any information at all. One other question though – does “teaing” require one to perform embarrassing activities and such?</p>

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<p>I will answer as best I can, but you will be getting an admittedly outsider snapshot of things…</p>

<p>I know at least a little bit about most aspects of societies as they are very well advertised on campus. First of all, here are the society websites, with varying degrees of information about applying:
[Tau</a> Zeta Epsilon : Applying](<a href=“http://www.tauzetaepsilon.com/applying.php]Tau”>http://www.tauzetaepsilon.com/applying.php)
[Society</a> Zeta Alpha - Wellesley College - Established 1876](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/za/index.html]Society”>http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/za/index.html)
[Contact</a> Phi Sigma](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/phisigma/contact.html]Contact”>http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/phisigma/contact.html)
As far as I know, you can’t tea any of the societies your first semester, although I do think that interested first-years are often invited to come and observe (only the TZE website says so, but I’m 99% sure it’s true for the others as well). I believe that all of the societies accept students beginning in their second semester, although again only TZE’s website makes that explicit. I can’t say that I know for 100%, but campus opinion holds TZE as the most popular and exclusive society (and posssibly also the best house? Never been inside (houses are for society meetings and events–no one lives in any of them)), then ZA, then Phi Sig. I don’t know hard numbers about applicants and acceptances, sorry. It’s not my impression that there is a membership fee, and none of the websites refer to one, but I really don’t know. The teas are individually themed and you have to go to most of them to be eligible to apply to the society. Beyond that and the obvious schmoozing it entails, I don’t know what else goes into the application process. If you are inducted into a society, they usually come to your room in the evening/at night and drag you out to some sort of bonding and initiation (other groups on campus do their own version of this, too). Then all the new initiates have to wear a ridiculous costume around campus for some period of days. That is the limit of my knowledge about the teaing and initiation process. </p>

<p>As far as what role the societies play on campus, they mostly sponsor lectures and parties. ZA also sponsors two writing contests, which I do give them credit for. I would say the societies play a moderately large role on campus, especially in their capacity as party-throwers. Personally, I don’t have anything against people in the societies, but I find the concept a little silly and out of day. I would not choose to have societies or groups of their ilk if I was Grand Queen of the Universe, but I recognize that they do have a pretty long history at Wellesley and that they are really pretty unobnoxious on a day to day basis. I also personally think that like many similar social clubs, nowadays their cultural missions are mostly a front for a reason to exist and throw parties, and as such they are more like officially sanctioned groups of friends that hang out and drink together than they are any sort of high-minded club. That’s hardly a damning charge–my friends like to hang out and drink together, too. We just don’t make people apply for admission :). Again, I want to reiterate that these are not angry, societies are the worst things ever! comments; it’s just my honest opinion as a decided outsider (I’ve never been to a society function in my time at Wellesley) on the whole thing. I think my opinions are perhaps somewhat negative compared to what the average Wellesley student thinks about societies but not particularly out of the mainstream of opinion–that is to say, there are people who think better and who think worse of the Societies than I do and I think that few people would find my viewpoint extreme. I don’t think badly of people who are in societies/are interested in societies, it just isn’t something that I really understand. </p>

<p>I know that I’m not the ideal person to answer these questions, but I don’t like to leave people hanging if I think I can help them out, so hopefully you know a bit more than you did before.</p>

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<p>My D attends Wellesley but isn’t on College Confidential. She has mentioned that the societies are quite expensive to join and are very exclusive. I think she also mentioned that many of the events they sponsor are open to the entire campus.</p>

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<p>advantagious - Thank you very much. Your post was extremely informative, and yes, I feel like I know a lot more than I did before. Would you say that there is a specific type of girl that joins societies, more specifically TZE?</p>

<p>college_query - Thanks for the reply!</p>

<p>To both: By “exclusive” do you mean “hard to join”?</p>

<p>I just thought of a few more questions. Any input would be appreciated!</p>

<ul>
<li>The same question I asked advantagious… Is there a specific “type” of girl that joins a society, more specifically TZE? (I guess a similar question is… is there a “society girl” stereotype on campus?)</li>
<li>I’ve found out a bit more about rushing and sororities as some of my friends at other schools have been rushing. How similar is the process of teaing a society to the process of rushing a sorority?</li>
<li>How big are societies in general, as in about how many members are in each a society? Would a student feel left out if she weren’t in a society?</li>
</ul>

<p>Any other, misc. information, random input on societies would be great, also.
Thanks!</p>

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<p>I think the stereotype of society members is that of a wealthy person with lots of designer clothes who likes parties. They are also the kind of person that other kinds of people are viciously jealous of and project the worst about. If you genuinely don’t care either way, it’s amusing to watch.</p>

<p>Advantagious is missing the Shakespeare society, which is the one that sticks most closely to their mission (they put on a play per semester and do vignettes of the tragedies [Haunted Haus] and comedies [Haus of Fools]). When the class of '09 were in their first year, they decided to permit first semester first years to apply because the ones they met were apparently so cool they had to take them.</p>

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<p>I tea-ed for a semester once, my boyfriend at the time had a keen interest on me trying it out, ha (“we can hang out whenever they have mixers at my frat!!”). In the end I decided against applying, I had some friends in the society but I didn’t feel it was right for me (sports groups offer a social group enough). That said, I would definitely encourage you to at least explore the options of societies if it does interest you, as well as other clubs and groups.</p>

<p>1) Is it hard to get into a society? What are the hardest societies to get into?</p>

<p>I don’t think there’s a particular society that is harder to get into, I guess it depends on what you “fit” into?</p>

<p>2) About how many people apply to be in a society, and about how many does the society accept?</p>

<p>Ha, noooo idea. Maybe half?</p>

<p>3) What does the teaing and application process consist of?</p>

<p>I, personally, was quite disappointed that the process of tea-ing did not include actual tea. There were some yummy snacks, though. Usually tea-ing consisted of just meeting in a building or room and walking around and talking with people. You are, essentially, networking. Usually towards the end of the meeting there was some kind of ice breaker or game. Very casual.</p>

<p>I think towards the later part of the tea-ing process they take some of the interested girls to a Wellesley-MIT mixer. I ended up hanging out at one because I was already hanging out with some of my MIT friends, and it was very chill/fun.</p>

<p>4) What role do societies play on campus? How big of a role do they play? How does the rest of the campus perceive societies and their members?</p>

<p>Honestly, perhaps excluding the Shakes, I would say that the rest of the campus is somewhat wary of societies. They throw parties occasionally, and decorate their doors with cute sparkle-y Greek letters while giggling down the hallways (I envy how adorable it is) but they’re not a big part of the campus. I would say that having societies is a nice compliment to the social life at Wellesley. However, you don’t have to be in a society to be socially active, but for certain students it works.</p>

<p>5) Is there a fee for joining?</p>

<p>Yesss, I heard it’s pretty hefty.</p>

<p>6) How much time does being in a society take up?</p>

<p>Like any other extracurricular, I’m sure you’re expected to attend weekly meetings and socialize with the other members.</p>

<p>7) How “exclusive” are societies?</p>

<p>They can be pretty exclusive, but I don’t think it’s as big of a deal, really.</p>

<p>Personally, I found clubs/sports groups to be a much more fulfilling social network. You are surrounded by people who share a passion/interest with you, and for this reason it’s easier to connect with them. Perhaps I would have considered joining a sorority if I attended a larger school, but I feel that Wellesley is small enough that I am satisfied with my network of friends and peers.</p>

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<p>I have friends in all of the societies so I feel like I know a lot about them. Although I’m not a member now but I haven’t ruled out teaing in the future so I think I’m a good source. Generally I would say that societies at Wellesley are not really like sororities at big schools in terms of the people they attract, the application process, and their general atmosphere but some people still are really judgmental of people who join. </p>

<p>1) Is it hard to get into a society? What are the hardest societies to get into? &
3) What does the teaing and application process consist of?
-Each society seems to be looking for different things in its applicants and the difficulty of acceptance varies from semester to semester. For all of the four societies, the application process involves “teaing” in which potential applicants go to society houses to talk to and get to know the members and decide if the society is a right fit for them.These are usually pretty casual (and they are themed to fit the mission of the society… for example this semester the literary society Zeta Alpha had a great gatsby 20’s themed tea, TZE themed all of its teas around music festivals, and I think shakes had a tea where you dressed up like a male character from Shakespeare.) You can attend them even if you decide not to apply. I know that the formal application itself is completely different for each society. I know that ZA and Phi Sig both have anonymous long-essay portions(usually they involve some type of creative writing) to the application in addition to basic short answer questions, TZE makes its applicants do some type of art project, and Shakes requires a formal audition. </p>

<p>2) About how many people apply to be in a society, and about how many does the society accept?
-usually about 20-30 girls end up applying and anywhere between 4 and 10 are accepted </p>

<p>5) Is there a fee for joining?
-Yes, I’m pretty sure that they all require members to pay dues (for house upkeep, hosting lectures and events, and throwing parties) but I know that some of them (ZA for sure) offer some type of financial aid.</p>

<p>7) How “exclusive” are societies?
-eh…i’m not in one but most of my friends are and it’s rare that i feel uncomfortable around all of them. The big parties and lectures are open to everyone and a lot of members invite their non-member friends to the semi formals and formals. </p>

<p>8)Is there a specific “type” of girl that joins a society, more specifically TZE? (I guess a similar question is… is there a “society girl” stereotype on campus?)
-Stereotyping is probably pretty dangerous especially at Wellesley which is a pretty diverse campus but I’ll try to give you a feel for what kind of girls I think the different societies attract. I really recommend checking them out on your own and forming your own opinion before making any decisions about them though.
-Phi Sigma(lecture)- friendly, “girl next door”, maybe a little bland, very loyal to each other, really into “sisterhood”, not too crazy or exciting or interesting, nice girls, I think phi sig has the most athletes . They don’t have a house so they don’t host parties.
-Tau Zeta Epsilon(art and music)- love to party, wild, bubbly, probably have the most negative image of all the societies, hosts the most parties, girls love to shop(some would say they are materialistic), girls would probably join sororities at other schools, wealthy beautiful girls, intimidating at first but actually very friendly once you get to know them. TZE has had some wild days in the past but I think they’re getting better. They also host lectures about art and music.
-Zeta Alpha(literature)-friendly, quirky, kinda weird, clever. Usually a pretty interesting and fun group (though it has a few crazies.) ZA is pretty diverse but most of the girls are cute and middle class. All of the people I know in it are really nice. They host one party a semester, a few writing competitions, and some lectures.
-Shakespeare- weird, really into Shakespeare, sometimes condescending and stand-offish but generally very friendly and accepting, really really diverse group, very close knit, quirky, involved in lots of other things. They don’t host any open parties (they have lots of exclusive shakes-only parties) but they do put on Shakespeare productions and other open events. </p>

<p>10) How big are societies in general, as in about how many members are in each a society? Would a student feel left out if she weren’t in a society?
-most people are not in societies so you would not feel left out if you didn’t join. I think that all of them have about 40-50 members each.</p>

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<p>I’m replying pretty late, but I know that I was really curious about societies as a prospie/first year so I’m sure someone else will find it interesting to read about.</p>

<p>1) Is it hard to get into a society? What are the hardest societies to get into?
not exactly hard. If you’re good at schmoozing you’ll do pretty well. I’d say TZE is the most exclusive, then ZA, then Phi Sig. </p>

<p>2) About how many people apply to be in a society, and about how many does the society accept?
Not sure how many apply, but bouncehouse has the acceptance numbers right.</p>

<p>3) What does the teaing and application process consist of?
There are 3 teas (you have to attend two and a half–a half being staying for at least half of the tea), in which you meet all of the members and basically just talk to them. For me, it was really awkward and artificial-feeling.</p>

<p>4) What role do societies play on campus? How big of a role do they play? How does the rest of the campus perceive societies and their members?
Not a very big role at all. They have lectures but I don’t think that many people go (I’ve never been). Occasionally they get big names on campus, I think ZA is currently advertising for a lecture by Nicole Strauss. In general, the only useful thing they really do is throw parties.</p>

<p>The way they are perceived is difficult to answer. There are stereotypes, like bouncehouse mentioned, but there will always be people who defy those stereotypes, and usually if you get to know the people who appear to fit those stereotypes, you’ll find that their personalities go deeper than that.
TZE-wealthy, superficial, materialistic, party girls. I think they’re trying to get rid of this image though. Honestly, I think the most important criterion for getting into TZE is being able to party hard but responsibly. You have to show you can handle it.
ZA-artsy hipsters. The initiation for this society is the most intense. Apparently it has a reputation for being the society for TZE rejects, I’ve heard that from other people, but it seems odd to me because the stereotypical ZA girl is pretty different from the stereotypical TZE girl. I think this part of the stereotype comes from the intensity of the initiation process; the idea is that anyone who would subject themselves to that just wants to be in a society for the sake of being in a society.
Phi Sig-they’re a pretty diverse group. I’m not really sure if they even have a stereotype. I guess kind of nerdy and nice. </p>

<p>I think people tend to perceive societies as neutral to negative. I think they’re kind of dumb, which I fortunately realized at my first tea. You can find so many great friends here–I don’t understand why people have to join a society to do that. They can get kind of incestuous too sometimes; I do have friends in societies but there is a significant amount of girls who hang out with only other society members.</p>

<p>5) Is there a fee for joining?
I believe that you have to pay a fee every semester. TZE’s is the most expensive (I’ve heard), which kind of contributes to the rich girl stereotype.</p>

<p>6) How much time does being in a society take up?
A lot. During initiation, your life will be sucking up to the society members and doing their dirty work. It’s not as bad after you get through that, but you definitely won’t have as much time for athletics, extracurrics, hanging out with other friends etc.</p>

<p>7) How “exclusive” are societies?
Depends. TZE could be considered “exclusive,” but they don’t actually have that low an acceptance rate, I think exclusiveness is just part of their image. Not sure about ZA and Phi Sig.</p>

<p>8) Embarrassing activities</p>

<p>For the first couple of weeks initiates have to wear weird costumes everywhere, including going out to party in the city. I don’t really know of any other embarrassing things but I’m sure there are more.</p>

<p>edit: forgot about the Shakes. Don’t know much about them except that they’re perceived as being kinda weird.</p>

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<p>You mean Nicole Krauss, the author, right? When’s this happening?</p>

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<p>^^Yes, ZA is bringing Nicole Krauss, this Friday at 3 pm.</p>

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