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You are correct that Watermarginals have the most fun. Well noted. But the sad thing is that 90% of the people on campus don't know what Watermargin is. Which is the whole problem with the runaway hype machines and culture of obsession surrounding the Greek system on campus.
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<p>Well, I never said that one group or another had the most fun. Now I know where your loyalties lie...</p>
<p>And I doubt that only 10 percent of the campus is familiar with the co-op system. I bet that at least 75 percent of the campus could tell you that a co-op system exists, and close to 40 percent could tell you the names of a couple of the big ones -- e.g. Telluride, Watermargin, 660. </p>
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Which is the whole problem with the runaway hype machines and culture of obsession surrounding the Greek system on campus.
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<p>I do think you are exaggerating here in terms of a "culture of obsession" here. Perhaps among the most vain frat brothers and girls and fickle sorority members, sure, but plenty of underclassmen are perfectly able to get over the posturing of the "top" houses, to say nothing of upperclassmen.</p>
<p>If you don't go Greek, you'll definitely save a lot of money. From what I've seen, the dues are about $4500 per year if you don't live in, about $11,000 plus if you do.</p>
<p>"You are correct that Watermarginals have the most fun. Well noted. But the sad thing is that 90% of the people on campus don't know what Watermargin is."</p>
<p>is rush week too late to be making first connections with frats? if i don't know already know people in frats, do I have a chance of getting into a popular one?</p>
<p>kdmom mentioned cost in an earlier post, but I was wondering if someone could expand on this a little. I know living in the house is usually cheaper than living on campus, so if our financial aid this year covered housing, and we don't live on campus, does Cornell give us that money for off campus housing (which we could then use for housing at a fraternity) or does it go away? Also, does anyone know around how much dues cost for the spring semester freshman year (when we're pledging)?</p>
<p>as far as all of the dues go, this will be explained to you during rush week. during pledging, you would pay the amount of dues for a member who isnt living in the house (which is a lot less than the people living in) the amount of dues is subject to change every year based on how many are in your pledge class and how many are living in. obviously if you have a bigger class with everyone living in, your dues will be a lot less. for the sororities, they run from mid $3000 to mid $4000 a semester (for living in) which is A LOT cheaper than living any where on campus or in collegetown. plus you have a meal plan at the house so you really only need brbs for when you are on campus. i dont know how financial aid with housing transfers over to off campus housing, so if you need a specific answer, i would call cornell's fin.aid office (i would assume it goes away though). if you need help financially, you can always come up with a plan if you talk to the president/treasurer of the chapter. they are always very understanding and accommodating. and they wont kick you out or not give you a bid if you cant afford to pay 100% of the dues</p>
<p>For all of your years at Cornell...whether you live on campus, off campus in Greek housing or off campus in an apartment...the cost of a double room and the standard meal plan will be factored into your cost of attendance and will be covered by your FA. If you decide to live off campus....you will only be billed for tuition + university fees. You will then have a refund equal to the amount of room + board issued to your bank account and you may use that money to pay for your rent. You will get one refund each semester.....I had a refund of about $7,000 each semester during my senior year when I lived off campus.</p>
<p>You may also request an increase in aid to cover any living costs (rent, internet, electric, heat) that exceed what Cornell budgeted for room + board in your FA package.</p>
<p>This is how I was able to pay for my apartment last year....I'm pretty good at navigating the loops of FA in this way....feel free to PM me if you need more clarification.</p>
<p>the people on this message board make going greek seem like a bad thing. i am very involved on campus outside of the greek community and i have noticed that many of the most involved kids in organizations like the sa amongst others are greek. </p>
<p>my point is not that you must go greek, but rather that you can still be very active in campus activities outside of the greek circle to enrich your education. Most kids who join a house are involved for their freshmen spring and sophomore fall and then start to drift away as they get older and move away from the greek social scene. For me joining a house was a great way to make friends, and since the bars are very strict, as a freshman and sophomore, it was a great way to have an active social life.</p>
<p>also, to reflect on cayugareds comment about having a marginally worse upperclassmen experience, i would disagree. I know very few upperclassmen greeks that actually go back to their fraternity or sorority more than a few times per semester. Most usually hang out with a wide network of people they have met from greek life in Collegetown (similar to independents who hang out in collegetown and dont "truck back to the house as a junior or senior to participate in some lame activities").</p>
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I know very few upperclassmen greeks that actually go back to their fraternity or sorority more than a few times per semester.
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<p>Fair enough, perhaps I've been influenced by some recent interactions I've had. One friend (current student) was just lamenting to me about having to go back for sorority rush. And I just had dinner with another friend ('08 grad) who was complaining about how her senior year was too Greek-oriented. (Although her boyfriend at the time was president of his fraternity, so there you go.)</p>
<p>Greek life seems like a funnel - it appears so much larger and more rewarding as an outsider than as an insider. Most folks feel the urge to try it at some point in their 4 years. And most who try it seem to move on to other social circles after a semester or two of life in it, as jcas323 said. And I believe the reason for that is that anything is always going to be a let-down when it's so overhyped to begin with. If Greek life weren't so overhyped, it would be just another (mostly decent) social option on campus. But Cornell is one of those schools where people will look you in the eye and say with a straight face "Greek life is at the center of social life on campus" or even "There isn't much social life outside the Greek system".</p>
<p>Question: So if you live in the Greek housing, it would be approximately $10,000 a year. Wouldn't that be the same if you just lived in the regular dorms?
and You can't live in Greek housing freshman year, right?</p>
<p>I have fees from a recent bursar statement here (student does not live in):</p>
<p>Room - $400 (helps pay for upkeep, I assume)
Board - $800 (student is required to eat there on weeknights)
Dues - $500<br>
Social - $300 (I assume this is for liquor, though I don’t really want to know)</p>
<p>These are charged each semester, so double them for the year.</p>