Alabama Sorority Costs...Can anyone help?
 

Hi There
I am a mom with a daughter going thru recruitment at Alabama. She is having a great time and has a full card for skit day which is going on right now.

Here is my question...on the UA site it lists the average cost of membership for new members at around $2400 per semester. We are finding in doing a lot of digging that this is very much at the low end. Some houses are over $4000 per semester for the first year, and that is living out of house.

Honestly, I have had to advise her that she needs to cut those houses that are at $7000 to 8000 a year or more. But there are a number of houses that we cannot find the cost for online. Does anyone know what the cost is of the houses at UA? I did call UA Greek Affairs and they do not have a listing of each house.

D has been told that if she asks about costs, she can be cut because they will think that she cannot afford it. It seems like such a catch 22. I would hate for her to have her heart broken once she gets a bid if we cannot afford it.

How do we manage this? I feel like a bad mom at this point, but we did do research before it all started and were unable to find much on costs. I have the costs of only about 7 of the houses.

If anyone knows any of the real costs please PM me...I would greatly appreciate it. I also need to give this info to one of her roommates who is on a limited budget too.

Thank you for your help and understanding

My daughter just graduated from Alabama. She was in what I understood to be one of the sororities with the highest dues. Out of house they were $4000 A YEAR. In house, is actually a really good deal because the dues arent that much different and you have your housing costs taken care of. I could be way off but I have not heard of any houses being $4000 a semester. That would mean if you were an in-state student you would pay more in sorority dues than you do in tuition!! You could always call the Greek Life Office. They should be able to give you specifics. You don't have to identify yourself when you call.

There was a thread here last year or the year before on this same topic. There is NO way to tell how much it is exactly going to cost because there are too many variables:
does she want a jeweled badge or a plain one; how many tee shirts does she JUST HAVE TO BUY; how many socials can she just NOT STAND to miss; etc, etc, etc. The first year is more expensive because of pledging fees, badge fees, house corp fees andmany others that vary from chapter to chapter. Her food service will get switched to the house so that will wash out as you've already paid that....I assume.

I don't understand how parents let their daughters go thru recruitment with a dollar limit. Seriously, she visits every house and HAS to accept every invitation if she has a time slot or else she will be released. That's the system. So you want her to fall in love with a group of women and then bail? Really? Did you not think that through? If $2400 is the average, you know there are plenty out of the 17 that are higher. Let her find her place and then do whatever you have to do to pay for it. You knew the odss were it would be higher. Let her get a job to pay part of it. There are lots of ways to handle this besides making her go thru this emotional roller coaster of recruitment and then quit. Give up your lattes and pay the tab.

:eek::eek::eek:

There are definitely many add-ons that can make the experience more expensive. But when the Greek Affairs website specifically says that the avearge cost to live in is $3400 and the average cost to live out is $2100 (both figures are per semester) then I think it would be very misleading to parents to find out that the costs were 2 or 3 times that amount. Certainly, there are more people who have experience at Alabama than I do but girls from our hometown are in a number of different sororities there and I have never heard numbers like $7-8000 being discussed!

I did call the Greek Life office and they have no information. I do have info from about 7 of the houses and they are all more than $4000 a year for the first year new members.

Titchou...honestly if it was just a few 'lattes' it would not be a big deal. We did do our research before she started..unfortunately the information on the Greek Life site is inaccurate and there was no way to find that out until she was in the thick of recruitment. I am not talking about 'Extras'. I am only talking about first year fee's which I believe include parlor fee's, education, out of house fee's, new member fee's, food, etc.

Your advice 'to do whatever I need to do to pay it' is neither practical nor realistic. Thanks for taking the time to post.

If anyone at all can help me with real information on cost of houses please PM me. I have the costs for the following: Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Chi O, DG, ADPi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Chi-O, Alpha Gam and Alpha Phi.

Trust me they range from $4000 first semester to $2400 first semester costs. Second semester for each of the above is less than first semester - some are almost $600 less than first semester costs. Some are only $200 less.

Thank you

No one is going to post that information here even if they have it. You're just going to have to hang in and hope for the best and plan for the worst. The main issue is that PH only asks for the costs for certain items. Come groups have other items and therefore don't include them. For example, some groups you automatically get a badge with your initiation fee. Some groups you pay extra for it. So if PH asks for initiation costs - that's going to vary widely. Not all NPC groups bill for the same things in the same way. I've been Greek for 48 years, been a national officer and I can tell you, as hard as we try to make the same budget form fit every chapter, it just doesn't. it varies greatly in my group and even more so between groups. Sorry if you weren't well versed enough to know. You are trying to compare costs of getting married at the National Cathedral to the church in the pines without knowing what's included in each one's package. Sell something and pay the freight...seriously.

You may be able to call the national office of the missing houses and they may have the numbers you are looking for.

To find cost for each house go to the ua panhellenic site you can go under chapter profiles and find 2012 brochures for example here is phi mu's http://uapanhellenic.com/index.php?o...id=73&Itemid=4

jll - check your pm.

I have no idea about Bama costs, but many costs go down after the first semester because things like buying a pin and initiation fees are not repeated. Some chapters might have payment plans. I know my chapter did, but again, I am not familiar with Bama.

All of this information was given out at panhellenic preview weekend

jll,
I have a daughter who is a recent grad and sorority member of Alabama. I found the costs to be about $2,000 for her first semester in her sorority. Each semester after was much less due to the lack of new member fees. You can contact Campus Dining and get her meal plan reduced or eliminated because she will eat many of her meals in her sorority house. Also, the two years that she lived in the house were the cheapest of all of her years on campus. Housing, meals, dues, etc. were a great deal!! Yes, she bought t-shirts, contributed to her philanthropy and participated in the philanthropy events of other chapters, but those costs can be controlled by whoever is paying the bills. Those costs are optional. Sororities at Alabama are well worth the costs.

Many sorority members work nowadays, so your daughter might be able to find a job and help out with some of her college expenses.

Hi jll,

I just lurk, but was a little surprised by how you have been treated on this thread. It might not be a good idea for your daughter to ask about costs during the parties -- but I hope your daughter isn't worrying about this reality in addition to the stress of this exhausting week!

I know a number of parents who have greek daughters there currently, many in chapters you listed, and $2400 sounds about average (certainly not at the low end) per semester for the first year.

I have never heard of any dues approaching 4K per semester -- ever -- from any other parents. I'm not sure what effect new construction has (or will have) on member costs -- though I'm sure this hasn't doubled costs for the actives.

Now fraternities there are a different matter -- according to my friends who howl about those house bills -- the costs do far exceed the sororities. Has any of your information has come from parents of guys?

Good luck to your daughter. I think you will be okay. :)

Actually it was not. We were at Preview Weekend and only 4 or 5 of the houses had this information on their posters. When asked directly we were told that they did not give that information out and to go by the averages on UA Greek Life site. I actually took pics of the posters that listed the costs so that I could have it quickly and accurately. I was not the only parent/child doing that.

In this economy cost is a consideration. Because of her major (cannot list as it is a very small group) she has been advised not to work during the school year.

I would guess that if there are truly chapters that would drop her for asking about fees, then they would be among the ones you couldn't afford. The old adage of "if you have to ask..."

Your daughter doesn't get to "drop" chapters unless she's one of the superlative PNMs that everyone wants and has her pick. Try as she might to place the unaffordable chapters at the bottom of her rankings, if the more affordable ones don't want to invite her back she will be seeing those outside of your budget. What happens if she gets to preference and two of the three are more expensive (and she likes those better?) Are you going to demand that she SIP?

I think a more realistic option is to have a conversation with her now to discuss what you can afford and how she will be able to come up with the difference if she ends up in one of the more expensive chapters.

My daughter's dues run about $3500.00 per semester easy!! That includes $300.00 per semester slush fund for zaps and t-shirts. Freshman year was even more, at least $4000.00 per semester. I told her if she wanted to go abroad in the future, to quit buying t-shirts.

$1500.00 a semester meal plan
$800.00 house fees
525.00 dues
$300.00 10k gold and pearl pin
$300.00 shirts and zaps
a lifetime of memories and friendship... priceless

Dare I ask: WTF is a zap?

A zap is a photo taken by a professional photographer at the swaps, formals, philanthropy events, etc.

Wow!

If you don't mind me asking -- is this living in-house or elsewhere?

Doesn't the meal plan kind of wash out with what someone would pay for the university meal plan? Non-Greeks have to eat, too.

What dorm/living costs will the $1500 and $800 eliminate? And I would hope the badge is a one-time cost.

So if they are paying for a meal plan at the house, do they get their money back from the university for that meal plan? Or are they buying two meal plans? Just curious. Because that makes a big difference. That seems less than what you pay for a dorm meal plan (at Hypo's school anyway). And, you wouldn't really count that as "sorority fees" if you have to pay it to *someone* either way. If you're paying it twice, that's a different story.

If you don't count the meal plan, got a cheaper badge (you could always upgrade it as a graduation gift or something), and reduced your shirts and photos, you could get by paying considerably less.

I didn't spend $300 on t-shirts and photos in 4 years of college and I think my pin cost about $50 (it was a long time ago, but still our base pin is under $100). Using the above example of why it's too expensive to be in a sorority is kind of like saying you can't afford a car because you can't afford a Ferrari. Giving your daughter a strict limit on how much she can spend for extras is a reasonable thing to do, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say living in was more expensive than living elsewhere. The membership fees are well worth it when you factor in food and housing costs.

And, by the way, even if you had the numbers, they're so confusing that they should be disregarded anyway. Some include the pins, some don't. Some include extras like t-shirts and party favors, some don't. If sorority at some level is affordable to you, any of them probably will be; the money might just come at different times and in varying amounts. But I do think this is a good time to start teaching your daughter that STUFF costs MONEY, which she by the way is not making herself. And there are plenty of girls who manage to float the entire cost on their own without parental support. I don't know how, but I saw friends do it, even while holding executive positions and grades-based scholarships. Sorority is a good investment in her future.

I think that in our comments to the OP, some of us maybe be letting our frustrations show with all the folks that signed up for greek life, pledge and maybe got initiated, and then dropped out because of completely foreseeable costs and who we suspected/knew just preferred to spend the money differently after they got a little bored.

However, in this case, we have someone who is trying to figure out in advance if she can honor the commitment that the group expects but she can't figure out exactly what it is.

I do understand the OP's concern, and frankly, I'm surprised that the groups don't all have this published someplace. There would still be some problems because of the difference is what people count as "dues" that might not really be set, with the zaps and t-shirt stuff being one and the meals you'd have to pay for elsewhere if you didn't eat at the house being some of those things. But you could give people ball park costs.

On the other hand, folks in the thread are completely correct, jll, that even if you get the info that there not much you can do with other than maybe not accept a final bid, unless your daughter is one of the very fortunate ones who gets invited to all of the chapters.

As a new member we paid around $5200 for the year last year. This year living in the house, bill was $4700 for fall semester. Also put about $800 in purchase fund for tshirts and zaps last year, expect to spend about the same on purchase fund this year.

This is out of house, and yes it replaces the university meal plan although freshman have to keep a $300 plan for first year. My daughter loves this sorority and this is just what it cost. It is what it is, can't nickel and dime it. In house is cheaper, but UA houses can't possibly hold all the members.

Mom, my daughter recently got her masters degree from Bama and lived in a condo near campus. Her rent was $5000 per year-she was in a 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo. The $5000 did not include utilities, food or any money for fun things-movies, going out to eat, etc. My son will be in graduate housing at FSU in a week and his semester cost for his room is $3000. This does not include food. I hope these figures help make you to feel better about your daughter joining a sorority.

Most often it is less expensive to live in the sorority house. Sorority housing offers many more perks than dorm or apartment living.

Yes, UofA offers a greek (reduced) meal plan (which does help offset the cost of the sorority meal plan):

http://bamadining.ua.edu/pages/terms...tions.html#all

So Bamamama14's costs for sorority meal plan and house fees are $2300 per semester -- which includes meals -- other costs appear to be related primarily to one-time initiation (in style), new member national fees (should drop to about $175 thereafter -- annually), and frills.

There are always "extras" for sure (t-shirts for every occasion, formal, etc). But I don't see any way a freshman would need to spend 4k per semester.

Some really good information here and I sincerely want to thank everyone for your help. I told my D to talk to her Rho Chi and see what she says.

Here is an example: Online Alphi Chi O lists their costs as $4200/$3500. That is first semester/second semester. DZ lists their costs as $2900/$2400. That is a big difference!

My D cannot work, due to her major, which I cannot mention here as it would probably make it easy to identify her. I am not looking at 'extras' like T's, zap's, etc. I am only looking at living out fee's that are listed by the sorority for first year members (if they list it).

yes living in the sorority will cut costs...but that is not until next year and maybe not ever since there are way more members than available rooms. So I am not considering that...only looking at first year fee's as listed online.

I found these costs by doing a search for the sorority, using alabama and then the word cost.

Why is there such a huge difference? I am telling my D to cut houses that she LOVES because we just cannot afford $8000 a year in fee's. UA website Greek Life says that the AVERAGE is 1/2 that. I have found that the amount that they call average is really the cost of the lowest house. No way to plan for this...We want to honor our commitment long term. My older D is in a house in the midwest and I know the advantages to greek life. Trust me you are all preaching to the choir. I WANT her to be in the house of her dreams, but $8000 is more than we are paying for tuition! I have to balance this with my other two kids who are in college too.

to op I think your question is a perfectly valid one and i think a lot of other families probably need the same information. I hope the links under the chapter profiles on the ua panhellenic site are a help. Many of the brochures seem to have complete price break downs! Good luck to you and your daughter

BRAVO!!!!

Not specifically about Bama, but reasons dues differ among chapters on the same campus:

Some chapters include things that others don't. For example, formal. In my chapter, if you went to formal, you paid for formal. If you didn't, you didn't. Other chapters on my campus just included it in dues. There are pros and cons to each approach.

Some chapters have more expensive houses to maintain. Some expect the live-outs to contribute more heavily than others.

Some simply spend more during the year.

I get not wanting to nickel and dime your child to death, but it isn't going to kill them to nickel and dime it A LITTLE. The $600 to $800 in pins t-shirts and zaps (wth???) seems WAY high. I mean - these kids have digital cameras and i-phones, why do they need a professional pictures at every event? That seems like a huge waste, but if a parent has it to blow in this economy - good for them.

Jll - Speaking as a parent who doesn't have it to blow and is currently paying off some of our two children's college loans, I get that it isn't as simple as selling something or just figuring out a way to do it, and if you're like me, you gave up lattes and every other little extra you could think of just to get your child in school and help pay for it, but here are some suggestions:

a) If you/she are paying for any part of her schooling with loans and/or grants - those loans and grants will be paying for her housing one way or another, so whenever she lives in the house - they will be paying for that just as they would for a dorm (and the houses are almost always cheaper - don't even get me started on what a rip off dorm costs can be), so realize that while the first year seems like a lot of money - particularly when she is paying new member fees (which won't come up again), it will be much less if she continues.

b) She may not be able to work during the school year (although as was mentioned, my daughter has plenty of sisters with heavy schedules, internships, involvement, etc who still worked), but she can work in the summer to at least pay for the t-shirts, pins, trips, incidentals and maybe help out with some of the other fees.

c) If she can't pay it for it herself while she is in school - work out a plan for her to pay you back when she gets out. We told our daughter she would have to pay for everything sorority related that wasn't involved in her cost of living (which we would have been doing with or without the sorority). She couldn't pay it all during school, but now that she's starting her career and making money - $100 a month, every month until that amount is covered.

d) The incidentals (t-shirts, etc) are fun for them the first year and will probably run you more that year (I still think $600-800 is high and far more than we ever came close to spending, but we weren't at an SEC school). After a while, though, they start to take the attitude, "You've seen one t-shirt, you've seen them all." Mine wasn't buying many incidentals at all by junior year and none by senior (maybe one). She had t-shirts, memorbilia, pictures, you name it, coming out the ying-yang. Most of them are in boxes now.

What does she treasure most? The cards her sisters made for her, her 21-oner book, and the pictures they took on their phones and cameras that she posted on Facebook (none of which cost a dime). The pin is a one time thing and we spent nowhere close to $300 for it.

e) Clothes for recruitment were an expense - she paid for all of these with her summer work money.

I hope that gives you some ideas and helps. I know parents want to let their kids know up front what they can and can't afford. That's a good thing - but at the same time- you don't want to add more stress to an already stressful situation. You did agree to let her do this, so the only thing you can do now is help her figure out how to work it out. At the very least she will understand that you may, in fact, have to nickel and dime it a little, and she will understand she can't have every discretionary item available.

You can't base a sorority decision on the cost of membership. One, you don't have the numbers despite what appear to be valiant efforts. Two, sorority membership is like buying a pair of pants. You want the pair that fits all your needs (including price). Your daughter can't drop sororities unless her schedule allows it, as you may recall from your other daughter's recruitment.

Sit tight. It's a week of events. Let her see it through to the end and try to get the best information about dues as she can. I am sort of puzzled that the chapters don't do a basic run down during their house tours day or one of the days of recruitment. That is done at every school where I have ever assisted with recruitment. And I've helped out at schools around the country. The girls get some type of fact sheet or explanation. I think your daughter is not being clear with you or she is giving you the run around because you're pestering her to drop sororities based on supposed costs that may or may not be accurate costs. I call BS. Sorry to sound like a jerk, but I would wager your daughter is not telling you everything. The PNMs are informed of these costs-- most of them ignore the information and a few drop out after Bid Day when they realize they can't afford it.

The first semester of pledging will always be the most $$$ with one time new member fees and a badge purchase. There will be some type of immediate down payment expected before new member initiation. There are also payment plans that members can work toward.

I get that your daughter is in a difficult major, but this doesn't mean she can't work during the school year. That's an excuse. If she wants this badly enough, she can find a way to work a few hours a week. She can also find a job during the summers to help pay for the things she wants to do. I'm not really understanding why you don't let her be the young adult she is and figure this out on her own. If you can help a bit, awesome. If she later realizes she bit off more than she can chew, it is a great life lesson. You stated in an earlier post "We want to honor our commitment long term." There's no "our" here. Your daughter is an adult now. And she's afraid of getting cut for asking how much sorority dues are? If she will later have to drop out because she can't afford it, she is in the same boat either way. She doesn't need the blinged out badge or $1K in tshirts and "zaps" every semester. She can learn to budget.

It's great that you want to help your daughter, but this "our" talk sounds like typical helicopter parenting. If she later can't afford it or doesn't want to make it work, she won't stay in her hypothetical sorority. That's life.

Don't know about other houses at bama, but whatever you have seen for kkg will be pretty accurate. It is against our bylaws to fine our girls or assess.. The semester price posted is what is billed. Now, I cannot help you with incidentals - t shirts, gifts for little sisters, etc.

Like I said before, this strategy will not work. The PNM does not "cut" houses. The sororities cut PNMs!

If you can't afford the most expensive chapter, and really don't know how to budget to do so, then tell your daughter to quit now. Sororority rush is not like going to the mall. You can't see the cute dress at Nordstrom and then run down to H & M and get a lookalike for the fraction of the price.

I am probably opening up a huge can of worms here, but the mom of one of my rec girls has specifically said that her daughter could not pledge an "old row" sorority because of the cost difference. According to her "old row" costs twice as much as "new row." I don't know where she got her info but I do know that this mom really researched costs and talked to a lot of people before even allowing daughter to rush.

As far as which ones are "old row?" I have no idea, but I assume the ones that have been on campus longest. Also, would it make a difference if a chapter has a new house?