I worked at the rec center full time all four years of college to pay for housing and utilities, books, dues, etc. My tuition was covered under a scholarship, and I got a scholarship from Panhel multiple times that covered my dues -- I think I only paid my dues the semester I pledged and one semester junior year, which basically enabled me to stay a member of the chapter.

I went to a school with a mostly wealthy student body -- I'd say about 1/3 of my chapter worked, mostly as bartenders or in retail. I'd say about half of the girls who worked paid their own dues.

Even from that, it was a shock to me when I first started advising...in the chapter I advise, it seems as if none of the chapter members work and that most have their parents cover dues.

Yeah she was from a southern university and I guess the girls had their parents pay for everything. My parents pay for most of my stuff but I still know that people have to work and such to pay for tuition, dues, etc... I guess it was just sort of surprising coming from a CDC lol. And we had her pretty late in the semester so I wonder what other schools she went to where it didn't come up... She was a good CDC other than that though. Our one we have this semester came from a campus much like our own so she's kind of right at home with us which is really nice.

I have a job on-campus working security in the dorms to pay dues along with any books/pocket money/anything else I need.

Yep, she's a zip.

Yup, yup :) You're at Kent right KSU? Good old rival ;p lol.

Even 25 years ago, most of the women in my chapter worked. My tuition was fully covered by my scholarship. While in the dorms, my parents paid my room & board and when I moved into an apartment, my rent. My mom would take me to Sam's club once a semester to stock up on some staples for food when I was in the apartment. I did work though, to pay for my books, sorority dues, phone bill (and other utilities when in the apartment) and the rest of my food for the apartment. I also paid my car insurance and paid for gas.
Freshman year: Used money from graduation and my high school job.
Summer: Worked at the dry cleaner's where I had worked all through high school
Sophomore year: Started out at the Dining Commons where I worked with a bunch of Lambda Chis (including my first husband). We had great fun there. Then my Sister-Mom got me a job as a campus operator. I worked Sat and Sun from 8 am-4 pm which sounds awful, but it was great. I was the only one on during that shift both days. Nobody would call the campus operator until around 11 am so I could kind of rest my head on the desk and doze. I did homework while waiting for the phone to ring the rest of the day. Not many called on weekends.
Summer: I worked at a cafeteria for GM cuz my dad knew the executive chef.
Junior year: Continued as a campus operator but also got a job as a Rehab Aide in a group home for patients with closed head injuries. Great job to go along with being in the Occupational Therapy program. After a semester of working both, I quit the campus operator job. I stayed in my apartment all summer and worked as the Rehab Aide that year and into my senior.

At the beginning of the last semester of my senior year, my dad said "You have worked very hard to keep your scholarship and pay for all of your extras, here's some money, quit your job and enjoy your last semester" :D Great graduation present, really!

I only know of 2 girls in my chapter that don't work because it doesn't really seem like an option right now for most. I work 25 to 30 hours a week and pay for my dues. Luckily, I got grants so I'm covered as far as tuition but it's still tricky when it comes to books and other expenses. My job is really flexible in terms of scheduling so I still manage to find time to get actively involved in my chapter and work/go to school.

We have brothers that work to pay dues and brothers that live off of daddy's money.

As long as you pay your dues it doesn't matter, but I can definitely say that nowadays more and more people going through rush seem to worry about financial obligations.

In some ways I was "lucky" because I pledged when I was a junior and my fees paid for my senior year. But some of my sans that pledged during their sophomore year worked during the summer and saved their money. Many of the kids that I went to school with worked. I know that during my freshman summer I worked at a camp in
B'ham and had to save what money I could in order to just get back to school and to send back home to TX to help with the family finances (my Mom at that time had just become unemployed with 2 kids in college). Then in my sophomore year, I worked on the family farm and my Grandfather helped me out at the end of the summer and my junior summer I worked at a HHA and saved my money.
It's really not that unusual to have to work and pay for school or tuition or books or rent. Sometimes sacrifices just have to be made.

I work, and it's tough. I have a great financial aid package, but I'm also responsible for 100% of my living expenses. That means medical bills, car insurance, and of course dues and house fees. Probably 25% of my sisters have jobs, though most of them just need to money to buy clothes and go out.

The hardest part is recruitment. Last year I was working on campus, and when I told them I had to miss work during the office's two busiest weeks, they fired me.

That really, really sucks. We were just told this past semester that work isn't an excuse for formal recruitment and I know a lot of the girls were really angry.

Work was never an excuse in my chapter, even though the majority of the girls had jobs. The rationale was because we got the dates for formal recruitment in like March/April, which is 7-8 months in advance, so girls should have more than enough time to request those dates off.

Yeah I think it's harder when you have a permanent work schedule. It didn't interfere with my work schedule this past semester so I wasn't worried but it sucks when you have to take time off work if you work to pay for dues. I can see both sides though so I'll just hope I don't ever have to worry about it lol. I would have had problems if we had had something on the Tuesday of recruitment week because I was the only one who worked Tuesday nights so it was almost impossible for me to try and get off of work because then I'm just relying on the fact that someone will take pity on me and take my shift lol.