Do you think this is because they didn't all move in sophomore year like members of the other sororities, and they got used to living out of the dorms and in their own apartments? Or do all the sororities have trouble getting members to live in?
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Probably the former. I think it's harder to go from your own apartment (with no restrictions on boys and booze) to the srat house than to go from the dorms, which is a much more similar experience. In my chapter, we never had any problem filling the house, there were always girls dying to live in.

We are talking of freshman primarily, who would be transitioning straight from the dorms. And we built our house suite style so there is a lot less "sharing" than other houses on campus.

Other sororities on campus may not have had as many beds to fill as AOII does because they don't need as many to pay their mortagages.

It is surprising, Irish, that you are struggling to get girls to live in. Has this improved over the years that the house has been finished? I really hope so! I cannot speak for all of the houses but ours has a waiting list to get in and when the move in list is posted in the spring, it always causes major angst and heartache. We sleep 94.

The house is full now, but it was a real struggle at first. We actually had several parents who had bought regular family homes for their kids to live in during college. The kid gets a couple of roommates to help with the mortgage payment, the parents get a tax break, and daughter gets to have a pet (this was actually a huge problem - students with pets), a walk-in closet, her own bathroom, etc. Considering the cost of dorms on campus (the good dorms) it is a financial no-brainer for parents. Not the college or sorority experience I would want, but it's hard to convince parents otherwise.

This is the same issue at Ole Miss. The sorority houses always end up being full but it can be like pulling teeth to get full. So many kids have their own condo or house so it can be hard to get the house full. Most of the parents purchase the condo/house before their child even comes to college. So it is not like they knew their daughter would have requirements to live in her sorority house! We have had some parents who will pay both their condo mortgages and for their daughter to live in the house. I think all 9 sororities at Ole Miss require at least their officers and cabinet to live in the house. Then after that they have different requirements to make their house full. I know when AOII at Ole Miss was developing the plans to add on to their house in 2005 we talked about adding new "suites" for the officers. However, we felt it wouldn't be in the best long term interest to add more bed spaces. Granted the chapter has double, if not tripled, in size. It would make it harder to keep it full all year round. There are many more housing options now in small college towns like Oxford, MS. So believe it or not everyone is competing to have their bed spaces occupied/leased!

gee ess, at what campus do you advise?

I am really shocked to hear that any sorority house at Ole Miss would have trouble filling up. All of them, especially the ones on Sorority Row, blew me away, and I didn't even see the insides. Shared bathrooms or not, I'll move down there and move in!
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Roxanne69

Yes like Katherine said, many parents buy the home before they know if their daughter will pledge a sorority. The nice new dorm on campus is currently charging over $7,000 for a room (not including a meal plan) so parents see that and decide the money is better spent on a mortgage.

Wow, that is high! The newest dorms at Ole Miss charge about $4500-$5000 a school year. I do wonder if the trend to live on campus will change. Ole Miss is building 3 new dorms in the next couple of years. So I wonder if that will help to encourage more students to stay on campus longer.

Currently, most sororities (not all) do require that their sophomores live on a sorority floor in one of the dorms if they aren't living in their house. However this coming school year, because of old dorms being torn down and the new ones not built yet, those sophomore sorority women will have to live off-campus or somewhere else on campus. So, that will throw another twist in the living requirements for sororities at Ole Miss. I have always had the mentalitliy, I don't care where they live as long as the house is full and rent is paid! :D

Oh and keeping your sophomores on campus I think does have a huge positive! It totally helps with recruiting! When you have 80 pledge sisters occupying an entire floor in one of the women's dorms that makes a statement!

I'd be thrilled with $7000 a year. We paid slightly over $9000 at University of Oregon for a room slightly larger than my walk in closet which daughter shared with a roommate. The room had a sink (bathrooms/showers shared by the hall) and included 19 meals a week. The deluxe singles run upwards of $15,000.

By contrast we pay around $8000 (food included) for an almost new 3 floor townhouse she shares with 3 other girls about 3 blocks off campus. She's actually closer to most of her classes there.

Her sorority house runs between $5000 and $7000 (they just remodeled, so I think it is probably around $6000 something), which includes food. It's 1/2 a block from the library and most of her classes. Needless to say, given the option - there is no problem getting girls to live in.

That is what my mom did-she purchased a townhome and my roommate paid the mortgage. I sold it for a profit once I graduated and mom got a tax break. Property was cheap in College Station-if it had been Austin this would not have happened as property is very expensive in this town.

This is why I wonder why the lodge concept has never been big. You have a smaller number of women living in to help pay the mortgage/rent, but still have the meeting and storage rooms. It can be a privilege to live there, rather a requirement. Students can have more of a choice.

I thought huge houses to have to fill, heat and cool would die out, but that has not been the case.

One of these days, enrollments will drop...and/or going Greek will NOT be a big deal, and we may regret building the mansions. Things always go in cycles. You have to be prepared for the bad times, too.

My folks bought my place and it worked out nicely for all of us. You probably have to plunk down more money up front in Austin than most places, but the price of real estate around campus continues to increase, so it's a good bet you'll still make money off the deal.