Thanks for all the help you guys! I'll keep you posted! Wish me luck!

I love the slideshow idea! One of my friends and her husband agreed to let their daughter participate in something (sorry, I am drawing a complete blank on what it was) after she put together a "presentation". They had to admit her points were strong, plus they were impressed with her creativity! It also showed them how important it was to her.

I think you also need to find out exactly what the objections are. Is it financial? If so, then you need to figure out how you're going to pay for those dues so you can tell them that. Is it having a skewed idea of what happens in sororities because of movies/negative media? Then counteract those things. Are they worried that you need to make sure you can handle the academic load before committing yourself? If so, then you need to have points that speak to that. Was there a bad experience when he was in college that gave him a negative view? I was lucky because my mom was totally against me joining a sorority but my dad felt that being in a fraternity was the best thing he did in college. When they met in college, apparently my mom was harassed by sorority women because she was dating a fraternity man and wasn't in a sorority. That left a bad taste in her mouth. My dad was so supportive though that he overruled her objections.

After meeting my sisters at a Mother-Daughter Tea, my mom changed her tune and the summer before she died (24 years after my Initiation), she told me "You doing that sorority thing was a really good thing for you to do. I'm really impressed with your sorority."

Thanks for sharing this. What a wonderful memory of your mother affirming an important choice you made.

Good advice in the first paragraph, too. I also think that targeting the specific concerns would be helpful.

So I ended up talking to my parents last night, and while I got my mom interested and open to it, I gotta say that my dad was not receptive in the least. I don't think I'll ever know why, because the slide show that I put together was really informative and I think allayed any concerns that they would've had (I mean it worked on my mom). So I don't really know at this point what my living arrangements for next year are going to be because there's still that really small and minute possibility that he could change his mind.

However, if he doesn't, because I know that this is something that I really want to do, do you guys think that it'd be possible to go on through rush and if I do get a bid, pay for it all by myself?

I think that's going to depend on the costs at your school. If you're at a campus without housing and dues are $300/semester, you could probably do that yourself. $3000/semester? Not so much. You could try contacting your Fraternity/Sorority Life office to see if they can estimate costs for you. If not, that's something you should be able to ask chapters about during recruitment if you phrase it carefully.

Not really. The grandmothers could be born in my generation. We were born in the mid-50s. I and most of my friends and pledge sisters now have college-aged grandchildren. We graduated school, married and started families in our early 20s as did our children. We didn't postpone this the way it seems the majority of college educated women do now, but we were hardly teen moms.

There were African American NPC members in the early 70s. They were obviously very rare, but it did happen so theoretically there could be three-generation members. That's not to say I don't agree that it's a dumb visual used in a misguided attempt to convey diversity.

A lot of schools post the financial information on the website or in the recruitment booklet. Remember, that you are not always comparing apples to apples. Typically the dues include different things in different organizations.

There are many members who pay for themselves but it is a lot more difficult. Most have jobs and have very good time management skills. Remember there are certain events that are mandatory for you to attend. Sometimes that can be difficult for people without good time management skills.

Maybe you could ask your Dad what is giving him reservations about you joining a Greek Letter Organization? Good luck to you.

Hi guys!

Today, totally out of the blue, my Dad asked me if we could talk and told me that he was no longer opposed to me rushing! Apparently, the slideshow that I had made along with the discussion he had had with the Panhellenic advisor at my school during the parents orientation had convinced him that going Greek wouldn't be as bad as he previously thought. I'm SUPER pumped and just thought that I'd share because you guys have all been so helpful! :D

That's great :) Good luck with recruitment!

Wonderful! Have a great time...please come back and share your recruitment story!

Best wishes and good luck allykat!

Thanks everyone! :) I most definitely will post my recruitment story. But not gonna lie, I have tons to do in terms of getting recs and figuring out what I'm going to wear...

It's truly best to post after it's over and you've had time to reflect.