Sororities in Columbia/Barnard

I’m an Indian-American girl interested in knowing more about the sorority/social scene at Columbia (applying to Barnard)? Are the sororities open to “accepting” indian girls, or do they prefer the white, wealthy, blonde girls? Do the sororities base their decisions on looks/background/craziness factor or on personality? Are there certain types of girls they look for?

I’m super interested in joining greek life, and I’d like to think I would fit in given that I’m really friendly (but not bat**** crazy), not terrible looking, dress well, and went to HS in an practically all-white school. I’m just not sure if greek life a is worth getting my hopes up over if it’s not going to work out well

I am not familiar with the greek life specifically on the campuses you mentioned. But, I have been and am currently involved in 3 Greek organizations (an international sorority, a coed scouting fraternity, and a masonic organization). First off, most reputable Greek organizations do not rush new members until their Sophomore year. This gives prospective members time to adjust to college without worrying about pledging. This is a good system for Freshman as it gives them the opportunity to observe various organizations over the course of a few semesters. In time, you will see which organizations are “sorority” in name only, which are actual service organizations, which are like the “mean girls” movie, which value diversity, which place academics first, which have been placed on probation, etc. There is no hurry to choose so quickly. Sit back, observe and ask questions discretely. You will learn which organization is the best fit for you.

This isn’t true. It depends on the campus. At many schools recruitment is before school even starts for freshmen, while at others it is in January. At Columbia it is in February. Freshmen who have completed a semester are eligible.

@twoinanddone Notice how I said “Most” and not the word “All”. It is up to the OP to do the research, Some groups who claim to be sororities are local and not national or international. Some are also fairly new and lack the history of a 100+ year old organization. It would really suck to join a sorority as a Freshman only to realize the organization looked great but after being involved, isn’t what you thought…and now you are stuck. OP, take your time. Joining a sorority is not a decision to be taken lightly.

You said ‘reputable Greek organizations’ in your first post and now say ‘groups who claim to be sororities are local and not national or international.’ OP is talking about National Panhellenic Greek organizations. There are 6 at Columbia of that 100+ year old variety.

OP, pull up the websites of the houses. See what activities they do, look at their photos and descriptions of members and what they are up to. There is an organized recruitment in Feb. I’m sure you’ll receive a lot of info about it in the fall.

Ok @twoinanddone , I don’t know why you are taking my posts meant for the OP so personally. How was I to know that there are no “non-panhellenic greek organizations” on Columbia’s campus since you claim that the OP was only referring to National panhellenic organizations…even though the OP was not specific in her post? Most schools that allow greeks, have a combination of panhellenic and non-panhellenic organizations. I was simply trying to provide what I felt was good advice to the OP. Sorry if I somehow offended you.

@homestuckinhel

https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/reslife/fsl/chapters

Current Columbia junior in Greek life here. Columbia sororities are WAY more chill than the more “typical” sororities you might have heard about at USC, Alabama, any big school in the South, etc. There are currently 6 Panhellenic sororities: Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Omicron Pi, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Sigma Delta Tau. The girls are very diverse, all smart, and have a wide range of interests, from politics to dance to Crossfit to engineering and everything in between. I’ve found everyone in my sorority extremely down-to-Earth. The recruitment process always happens at the start of the spring semester, and basically it’s 3 days of just having conversations with girls in every sorority and narrowing down your picks of where you feel like you fit in best. They do not judge on looks (although it’s nice to be presentable and make a good impression) and it’s mainly all about connecting with people and where you had the best conversations most likely to lead to a close friendship. By the end of Day 3, it’ll be obvious where you want to be. I definitely advise going through recruitment (registration opens in November) because if you ever change your mind, you can just drop any time! It’s a great way to make friends and I’m really happy with my experience and how opposite it is from all the stereotypes I expected.