<p>I certainly wouldn't agree with all of eRudit3's sterotypes. Sounds like he has a few biases for/against certain houses in particular.</p>
<p>What I learned when I went through rush was that guys especially will tell you anything to a) get you to come to their rush party that night and b) if one of their friends/girlfriends that are in a certain sorority told them to spread a certain rumor. So I wouldn't much listen to anything guys tell you. Like the majority of other people that are not affiliated on this board - aka not inherently biased - have recomended, disregard any stereotypes and just go with the house where you click the best.</p>
<p>As for Shogun's remarks, that is great advice for guys, and bad adivce for girls. If you rush anything but your freshman year as a girl, it will be much more difficult for you to receive a bid. Sophomores are inherently disadvantaged.</p>
<p>And, as for pixie's question, around 700 girls rush, and i remember hearing a statistic that like 95% of all people that rushed got matched with a house. Basically, you have all these set events that you have to go to, and you end up visiting every house and then narrowing them down at the same time that the houses narrow rushees down. In the end, you wind up with the house you are <em>meant</em> to be with, or some bs like that. I got a big package about greek life in the summer before my freshman year that explained the whole thing, I assume that they still do that.</p>
<p>Can graduate students also join a sorority? By the way, I assume that after rush students go and live in the house, but where do they live before rush? Thanks!</p>
<p>Here are the stereotypes, and my experiences:
Pi Phi- top sorority, prettiest girls on campus
DG- also really popular, with lots of pretty girls
Theta- pretty, and a lot are nice
Kappa- richest girls
Tri Delt- a tad more... "open", we'll say; although I have met really nice girls, and one girl I know was hardcore Christian that joined- although I haven't really talked to her since she joined...
Alpha Phi- really nice, normal girls
Gamma Phi- basically just normal girls
A Chi O- has the reputation of doing less events than the other houses
ADPi- the nicest, most down-to-earth girls you will meet. Not all are the most gorgeous girls, but there are still pretty ones.</p>
<p>As far as living in the house, lilybel, most live in the dorms or whatnot their first year, and then move into the house their second year. Some never move in. I've never heard of grad students rushing.</p>
<p>The thing that you have to remember about rushing is that each house (with maybe the exception of AChiO, I think they are really low numbers-wise) have around 150 girls in them. And because of that, you have every type of girl in every type of house. There are beautiful girls in every house. There are average-looking girls is every house. There are people that drink and people that don't drink in every house. There are people that study their butts off and people that never crack a book in every house. </p>
<p>Moral of the story: just base your decisions on who you get along well with during rush...if you don't get along particularly well w/ the girls, and just join somewhere because you heard a stereotype about them, you probably are going to end up depledging. (like I did...long story!) </p>
<p>If I had gone in with an open mind, and based it just on my experiences with the different houses, I might still be in a sorority today!!</p>
<p>I have a silly question. When are the mandatory weekly dinners for sororities??? I want to do Thematic Option next year, which has its writing sessions on Monday and Thursday nights. Would this prevent me from joining a sorority freshman year?</p>
<p>Weekly dinners are on Mondays. I'm not sure what time they are at (5 or 6?). I doubt if you can't make it that they wouldn't let you join, but to tell you the truth, I'm really not sure.</p>
<p>Monday night dinners start at 5, if i remember correctly, and you were excused if you had class. </p>
<p>At the dinner part, the pledges from the fraternities (or the sororities if you are in a frat) bring what are called deliveries. Deliveries are just presents - flowers, alcohol, whatever - that the guys send to their friends in sororities and the girls send to their friends in the frats. </p>
<p>The dinner is followed by a chapter meeting, which is just announcements about what is going on that week. No intrusive questions, lol.</p>
<p>I'm interested in joining one but I'm hesistant because I don't know how diverse it is. To me, greek life seems more for caucasians. I'm not so I'm not sure if I'd feel out of place.</p>
<p>I don't know if you are male or female, but it seems to me, although this is no factual evidence just my personal experience, that fraternities are more diverse than sororities. Don't let the diversity stop you, though. I would recommend you feel the multiple houses out, and see what is right for you. And if they don't work for you, you can always go for the sororities/fraternities aimed at your specific race (the Asian, Latino, African-American, etc).</p>
<p>I don't think race is a big factor...my roommate from freshman year was Asian, and she is in what people on this board have called the "top" sorority at SC. She never even considered one of the strictly Asian sororities.</p>
<p>I think it depends on how you mainly see yourself and what you are looking for in a frat/sor whether you should try out the race-based groups. If your race defines who you are as a person, then you might want to go to with a race based group. But if you identify mainly with mainstream culture and you just also happen to be of a non-white race, then I certainly wouldn't think twice about rushing the real sororities and fraternities. Plus, the race based groups are less social and more service based than the regular sor/frats..so if you are planning on rushing to meet people, def. go with the regular houses.</p>
<p>SC isn't like the backwoods of alabama or kentucky, you know. It's a very racially diverse place, and you won't be excluded from the sor/frat on the row because of your race.</p>
<p>thank you so much. and i'm a girl so id join a sorority. i dont want to join one that is strictly asian if i join. When you say that they put you into the houses that they think you'll fit in, would they most likely put me into the "asian" house?</p>
<p>Rushing for an "asian" house and a regular sorority are two different things. If you want to rush for an ethnic sorority, you have to go through a different process.</p>
<p>You also aren't just placed into any sorority. You get to choose which house you'd like to join, and if the house wants you too, then it's yours.</p>
<p>OK, I just read the article and now it makes me hesitant to join one. It seems like it's still an "all-white" culture and they have themes depicting "other" cultures. Goodness, is USC fraternities and sororities somewhat mocking other ethnicities intentionally for fun or are all these simple mistakes?</p>
<p>Luckily USC does not throw any parties like the one mentioned with KKK and black-painted faces. The AEPi party was just supposed to be modeled after the movie, and they were not trying to make anything offensive. It was supposed to be about the location and movie, and not the race. Mexicans in the frat were OK with the theme and didn't see anything wrong with it. All fraternities are required to put a fence around authorized parties, also. </p>
<p>The majority of party themes aren't directed at a certain race. Just a sample of some themes: Beach n Blizzard with snow and sand, Margaritaville, Tahiti with palm trees and sand, New Year's with confetti and countdowns, 80s ski party (yes, I've heard of this one- people wore bright 80s ski gear), toga, Around the World (each room is a different place around the world and showcases a drink that they are famous for), etc.</p>
<p>You have to be very careful in what you take seriously in the Daily Trojan. The paper is incredibly biased against the greek scene, so they tend to blow stories like that one way out of control. </p>
<p>And, sororities are very different from fraternities.</p>
<p>You never really hear anything about the asian sororities...one of the asian frats has a house and sometimes throws lame parties, but other than that they tend to keep to themselves...</p>