hahahahahaha

Congrats, you're already learning. :)

In all seriousness...every single NPC has a chapter or 2 or 10 or 40 that are at the top of the heap on their respective campuses. Every single NPC has a chapter or 2 or 10 or 40 that are at the bottom of the heap on their campuses that girls would rather drop out than join. Even if you look at things like campus awards or the national sorority awards - they may have absolutely zero to do with that chapter's standing on campus.

It's tough to weed through everything when all you see is "Sisterhood! Scholastics! Service!" Coming from the inside I've taken a look and have sometimes gotten unfamiliar chapters from other campuses all blurred together.

Do go through Formal, that will give you a chance to meet each chapter face to face, and you'll get a better feel. Take copious notes.

As you look at each chapter, try to pick out what's different. Maybe their philanthropy? Maybe one leans toward general community service while another is specifically service to children? If the chapters include their fraternal history (if not, national websites commonly do), is there a difference in the purposes or the reasons the founders came together? You'll come up a few differences, and it'll get you in the gear of looking for them. Don't feel like you have to figure it all out beforehand - the people make all the difference in a chapter, and you'll meet them during recruitment.

They pretty much are all the same, underneath it all, and conceivably... you could be happy in any of them!

They're all devoted to scholarship, service and friendship. The members in any chapter have diverse interests and backgrounds.

But at recruitment, there may be a few that stand out to you above the others because you just feel like you really click with them. That's what you should look for-- don't go in with any preconceived notions and don't listen to what anyone else tells you about which sororities are "the best." You will get lots of opinions once you get to school.

You've got to hang out with these ladies for the next 4 years, so ignore the comments of others and just go with what clicks for you when choosing the right sorority.

Also, don't write any of them off-- stay in recruitment the entire week and see how it plays out.

If you go into recruitment with the goal to find a few sororities you enjoy after each round, than mentally committing yourself to just one, you'll end up a lot happier than other girls who play into stereotypes. Those girls will be really disappointed when they either drop out of recruitment b/c the house they thought was the place for them dropped them and they won't have any sorority experience at all -OR- they will end up joining a sorority for the wrong reasons-- and possibly a place where they find they don't fit in at all.

Keep us posted!

and remember, it's your decision. these girls will be your sisters. and just because one chapter is FAH-BUH-LOUS one or two or ten years, one year can send a chapter in the hole. as long as you feel comfortable with the girls, then the chapter can and should work for you. my chapter was arguably one of the bottom tiered when i went through recruitment...i heard the rumors, i did research -- and i still preffed them number one, and couldn't be been happier. my sorority, in the course of a year, became one of the top on campus, and still is (and i'm not saying that because i'm in it). go with what your heart feels -- being in the "smart and hot" house doesn't mean a thing if you don't have a bond with the girls. and the closer you feel to your particular chapter, the stronger (and more successful) your chapter will be.

This is beautiful. Seriously. I feel like printing it out and framing it, then pointing to it everytime someone asks about sorority women!

Seconded!

I third!

Stereotypes...
 

There is no way to generally stereotype sororities! You can listen to the media or watch TV shows about Greek Life, but really you won't be able to understand what a sorority is until you become a part of one. I never thought I would join a sorority when I was in college, but then I decided that I had nothing to lose and rushed my junior year. It really adds so much to your collegiate career as well as to your own personal character. A sorority, in a general sense, is a group of girls that have some underlying common denominator that brings them together. Each sorority may have some sort of stereotype, whether it be campus-wide or nation-wide, but I promise you that it does not apply to every single woman that is part of that organization. If you really want to know more about a sorority, please visit my sorority, Kappa Delta's website at www.kappadelta.org to get a sense of one, or take a chance and go through recruitment! Hope that this helps! :)

we are all rich snobs who have to pay for our friends. we would never even speak to someone who wasn't in our sorority, much less no sorority at all......gdi's. we also drink heavily, use massive amounts of drugs and sleep with the all the cute frat guys on campus. we only wear designer clothes, even when we work out, which we do constantly b/c we are obsessed with our appearance.


how's that for a stereotype? i could continue, but i think the above is probably sufficient.

LOL.. love it

To the OP,

You may find all of the sorority websites similar, because we all believe in the same noble things. Scholarship, charity, community service, sisterhood...those are all wonderful ideals that every organization trumpets. What makes each sorority different and each chapter in each sorority different is the women that choose and are chosen to join. Each chapter and each sister has their own personality that fits in under the general ideals listed on their websites. We just all get to share in a tradition that has special meaning for us. I think expecting more uniformity is to expect every woman in the world to be the exact same. We all know that isn't true, so why buy into any stereotypes about sororities.

Sincerely,

A very individual and proud AOII

This is very well put.