Question
 

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Re: Question
 

VERY interesting question! For me personally, I would join AAA...coming from the Northeast, where people enter college much less aware of the "reputations" of GLOs on a national level then say, people in the South, I would pick the chapter the would enable me to have the best status during school. I wouldn't want to endure 4 years of ridicule on the off chance that after graduation I would be heavily involved with my GLO or, for that matter, would care what people thought of the org. I was in!

for guys of course its different:

There were a couple of groups I was interested in and that were interested in me (I only posted about one or two, but there were more) but I went on the basis of "if some one calls me at 4am, or if i needed to call someone at 4am, who would I want to be on the other end of that call." Realize that you'd be talking to the person you get along with/know each other the least in the chapter. It came down to which chapter was tighter with each other. I joined Theta Chi.

That is an interesting question especially since it can be applied to the Uof Arizona. There are a couple of chapters here who have great national reps but on this campus they aren't the most popular, let's say. I always wondered if girls who join them think about that at all....

well it would depend on the amount of riducule I received for being a BBB..... I mean I can't really imagine people being out right rude about being in a certain sorority because at my school greek life is so small you pretty much have to be nice to the people in the other GLOs or your screwed anyway.... so depending on if I was going to get Isht talked about me ALL the time hard core...... I MAY just join AAA... but if I was just going to get some what good naturedly teased I'd be a BBB and try to better my chapter and bring it up to the rest of the chapters nationally because its' easier to change a chapter than it is to change nationally...

Re: Question
 

This is an awesome question! It depends. As a female knowing the importance of which sorority you are in while at college, I would want to choose AAA. But I don't know how important being a graduate and being able to say "I was a BBB" is? I mean while you're an Alumni, how important is that? That sounds really snobby....but I've just never personally been around alumni discussing sororities before. :confused:

Well, it all depends what you want to do with your GLO membership after college.

Do you want to work with your GLO on a national level? If so, I would pick AAA. You'll be the big fish in a small pond; your chapter will be named a top chapter every year; you'll probably get a foot in the door for national positions more quickly. If you would pick BBB, they know your position in your school's pecking order. You would always be trying to prove yourself and overcome your chapter's reputation.

If you want networking, name recognition, and probably more alum chapters, go with BBB.

and again, it depends what you mean by "ridicule" - if it's one of those things where you don't get to do anything unless you're in a top group, I would join AAA and have fun.

Interesting question.

I enjoy a challenge, so I would probably join BBB and try to turn their reputation around and get them, if not into the top tier, then at least firmly in the middle. Then I'd reap the benefits of the alum network.

That, of course, is assuming all other things are equal. National and chapter reputations factored into my decision a lot less than the sisters and the sisterhood. That's a big part of why I dropped out of formal rush with 4 strong national sororities, joined a brand-new local sorority whose reputation boiled down to "Who are they?", and helped make it a force to be reckoned with. :D

Wow, great question!

I would choose AAA because in college you are defined more by the organizations you belong to than you are after college. When I went through rush, the two houses I preffed were very strong on my campus and that was one of the things I liked most about them. Turns out they are both strong nationally, but that is just a coincidence and had nothing to do with my preffing them.

I am aware that some sororities are stronger nationally than others, but there is honestly no way I would ever think, "Eeeew, so-and-so was an AAA in college. How gross!" Conversely, right now, I am a fairly active alumna and I don't really care about the national reputation of my organization.

That's a tough one!

I think the informed choice I'd make today might be different from the one I'd have made at 18. When I went away to college I assumed that all sororities were the same nationally as the chapters I'd grown up seeing at LSU.

When I went through rush (over 20 years ago), I discovered that:

One of the so-called "Top Four" was a group whose chapter had closed at LSU the year before. I cut them early on, since I didn't want the chance to like them or the horror of being seen in the letters at home in Baton Rouge.

The smallest group was one of LSU's best, most sought-after chapters. Still, I couldn't make myself like the group. Sadly it closed the next year.

Soooo, I suppose that if most 18-year old pnm's are as uninformed as I was, they know nothing about national reputation!

i would probably choose bbb mainly because i am not a person to care about status. if someone is going to talk crap about me because of which glo i am in, then i wouldn't have been friends with them anyway!

on a side note, i really didn't know ANYTHING about any of the national orgs on my campus. my decision to be a phi mu was purely based on the women in the chapter and i wouldn't have it any other way. as an alum, no one cares if you were in the chapter that was tops at your school or not. as for my involvement as an alum, if i didn't enjoy my collegiate experience, then there is no way i would be involved now. had i gone phi sig, dz or axo (the other chapters on my campus), i probably would have been miserable and i wouldn't be involved now. it seems circular to me.

You would be amazed. A guy walked up to one of my sisters wearing letters and said, "You're not fat, why'd you join them?" People are asshats. I wouldn't say that we're unpopular, or any less popular than the other 2 sororities on campus. But some people just want to rag on Greeks for no reason (or their reason is that they're jealous ;) ), so they pick something that they view as a flaw.

OK, since I will be going throuhg rush this fall I have thought about this vaguely.


Assuming that both wanted me and I felt comft in both I would join BBB becuase they could give me the sisterhood I need now but the connections and sister hood I need later in life.



Christia

i've had someone say that to me too :( to answer your question, although i went with the BBB chapter on my campus if i could do it again with what i know now i would have joined AAA. I had too much stress and heartbreak and hurt feelings . although i love the women in my chapter and my national org, i know i'm far from the only one in my collegiate chapter that felt that way.

Assuming that I love the women in both chapters and feel that the sisterhood is equally tight...

AAA all the way. I don't give a $#*& about what people think after I graduate. I can't imagine anyone in the adult world whose opinion I care saying "Well, she was an AAA, and you know they only have 5 good chapters." From Greekchat, it sounds like maybe that happens in small towns in the South; in the professional world in NY, DC, Boston, either people don't care about Greek affiliation at all, or they have mild contempt for Greeks in general.

Now, similarly, if some asshat wanted to laugh at me on campus for wearing a BBB shirt, f#&$ him. But let's be honest...on-campus prestige is not really what's at stake. If you have to spend the whole year recruiting 24-7, if you have to struggle to get other groups to hold events with you, if no one shows up at your philanthropy events because they don't know who you are...that affects your actual college experience. Being an AAA is not just about having people seeing your letters in class and saying, "Wow!" It's about being able to focus on other issues besides chapter survival.

Having always been somewhat of a Rebel as some of you have seen, at my first school I knew and ran with members of all four of them. Joined under the table a new one tht came on campus.

Second school much the same and pledged a local that went with a Major National. Got booted there 2 weeks before school ended and lived in the House so was out trying to find a place to live.

For two weeks, I researched the Library and upon arrival home, I decided to start my own local to Affiliate with a New National.

I designed the Badge, Pledge Pin, Coat of Arms, Banner. Contacted 6 Old Line Nationals and got thanks but we are not expanding.

So off to the races, started gathering new members who felt the same way I did and started something new. Won out over another group, a small Fraternity to get on campus. Took no new members in our first formal rush. Made us work even harder,Afilliated with LXA at the end of that school year and have never looked back!:) :cool:

Have been doing this for 38 years and still love my BX Brothers Who were there and each and everyone of my current LXA Brothers.

:D

Now, I guess the question is:

Do you have the will power to go against the main stream and just join "THE GROUP", or join for the feeling you have found in another.

Is it going to be what I can do after 4-5 years of school. If you check this site out, you find that all schools and areas of the Country are different for strength of Each National GLO!

I think Few GLOS are strong through out the total N. American Hemisphere!


Join to Join or be bold and try to help make a difference! That is the question!!!:D

You have to do what is in your Heart!:)

You Won't Be Ridiculed If
 

Given that there are enough sororities on campus to create the dynamic of a "system", you won't be ridiculed if you join one of the mid tier groups. Remember, the middle tier is the largest of the three. There was actually an academic study at (I think) the University of Iowa that showed the fraternities "perceived to be" the top houses on campus tended to date heavily among the sororities "perceived to be" the top houses themselves. Not only that, but what we would call the middle tier sororities tended to date middle tier fraternities. It even extended down to the bottom tiers of fraternities and sororities interacting with each other.
One of the constants in a Greek system is that the fraternity/sorority tiers tend to associate heavily with each other. Members of the top tier houses tend to know a lot about each other and the associated groups. They don't know much, don't think much, about the groups in the middle tier. And other than being aware of who the top houses are, the groups in the middle don't spend a lot of time thinking about them.
Again, given a stable "system", sororities tend to have little movement from one tier to another. Formal rush is mostly responsible for that. Fraternities can rise or fall more dramatically, but reputation lags behind at least two years. A fraternity can have a terrific year, really spike up in membership and achievement, then fall back the next year without much notice. The standing in any tier is based in large part on reputation, but that counts for a awful lot in the college universe.

Re: You Won't Be Ridiculed If
 

I'm from a small system and what he's saying rings true. Once we started having a decent amount of sisters dating guys in "better" houses, our reputation started improving. This matters in college.

AXWoah, I was wondering which sororities at the U of A are considered upper teir on campus, and which are considered lower teir? I have a friend there in Alpha Phi, so I was wondering that. Could you PM me?

AXWoah, I was wondering which sororities at the U of A are considered upper teir on campus, and which are considered lower teir? I have a friend there in Alpha Phi, so I was wondering that. Could you PM me?

I think this also depends when you rush. I'm going through deferred recruitment so I've already been at school for a year, joined too many groups and found my own niche. I still want to be able to experience sisterhood and all of the wonderful aspects of sorority life, but I want it more to enhance who I am than to define me. Thus, I think I would choose BBB.

Re: You Won't Be Ridiculed If
 

Is that just at big schools or no? We have 6 fraternities on campus, and one of them is just constantly ridiculed for being nerds, losers, etc. because a few years back they did have a lot of them. They've really turned around since then, but it hurts their Rush every year because at Greek presentations they get ridiculed and booed by the other fraternities, and they have a hard time finding guys to rush them because no one wants to be ridiculed.

They've been different for years, but they keep being held back because the other fraternities don't want to let that stereotype go (obviously because it protects them). How is a group like this supposed to overcome that.

Re: Question
 

Any PNM going through recruitment should join a sorority for the chapter at the university, and not for any sort of "hereafter" she might experience post-college. Your opinions, perceptions and desires change dramatically post-college. Sorority Alumnae life is more of a friendship and support group than a tangible networking system that will get you a 6-figure dream job.

Collegians should join a sorority that they are compatible with at the university level. Once you're out in the real world, sorority life is not as all-consuming as in college, and you will quickly have other obligations, like a job, family and other civic memberships to occupy your time, along with alumnae opportunities (optional) you choose to be involved with.

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion on this, of course, but if I were a PNM, I'd want to join a sorority for the people who are in it NOW. I think I learned my lesson at a job I hated, thinking that if I just "stuck it out" I would eventually be in a better place. I was wrong. I can certainly apply the same logic to membership in a GLO. You have to like it now. Putting in "your time" on a resume or a membership doesn't make it any better. Live in the present. The future will be that much more rewarding, and the past something to reflect back on with warmth and affection,

It's funny that you should mention this. When thinking about this question, I realized that I was in the same situation at university and didn't even realize it. My chapter of Kappa was known as the "lesbian chapter," amont other horrible things. After I pledged, I had random people walking up to me and saying, "I didn't know you liked girls." I had no idea that Kappa was as internationally strong as it is; I chose it for the love and sisterhood. I never would have gone to any of the other chapters-- I COBed-- but even still, had I known then, I'd still be a Kappa. Would my life have been easier in college if I'd've joined one of the other two? Sure. But I'm who I am today because of what I learned in fighting to keep my chapter of Kappa alive on my campus.

I too find this a very interesting question. And I have the same answer though for different reasons. If I were answering it back when I rushed at the University of Maryland a million years ago I would join the most prestigious chapter at my school as I could. No question. I didn't realize (or really think about) the nationality of the sororities nor of the national reputations. So back when i was 17 I would definitely join AAA.

If I had known about national reputations but not really KNOWN their significance, and that surrounding schools also had sororities, etc I probably wouldn't have changed my answer.

NOW, if I knew everything about sorority life then that I know now, I probably would have still joined AAA because I feel that even though it is "less than" nationally, if I were to run into another sorority girl in another part of the country and they knew I was a AAA at my university, I think the chapters reputation would be known. Or at least a good chance of it being know.

Take for example, Phi Mu at Ole Miss. I'm by no means saying Phi Mu is not good nationally, BUT even I who is from another GLO at UMD (there is no Phi Mu at UMD) knows how GREAT Phi Mu is at Ole Miss.

I also think that even without these boards constantly stating that every sorority is different at different schools, that we all know that every sorority is different at different schools. We all know that Katie Couric is a Tri Delt. We all know she is part of one of the top tiered national sororities and we all know that Tri Delt at UVA is one of the best sororities on that campus. However, we also know that there is a "bad" Tri Delt chapter somewhere in this country!

Also, if rushed with the sole reason of becoming the national president I would still join AAA.

So, at the risk of being shallow, I would join AAA because I want to be the best.

A lot of yall are saying that by joining BBB, afterwards you would have that great national reputation to fall back on. But wouldnt all the BBBs know that particular chapters reputation and etc. I know I always play devil's advocate but its the same idea as saying AAA is better than BBB. Different chapters of BBB are going to be better than BBB.

Also something I mentioned in another thread, I know of certain chapters that look of recs differently depending on what chapter they are from. Meaning say a girl got a rec from a weak AAA chapter, and was rushing at a strong chapter of AAA. Those at the strong chapter of AAA knows what chapter the alum was from and therefore thinks the girl may not be that great because her rec was from a weak chapter of AAA. I dont think this is fair but I know it happens on my campus and it is well known....does it occur on any of yalls campuses too?

Chelly-I PMed you :)

AZSigKap

Looking as an alumna, to be in that situation, I would choose AAA, simply because rush is tiring. I think there are so many parts of sorority life, and when you are constantly rushing, like we did in my chapter, it is tiring and you loose certain aspects of intimate sisterhood. I wouldn't change my affiliation for anything, even though some people suggest it is better to belong to a strong national.

When I pledged, I had no idea whatsoever which of the five chapters were the *top* chapter(s). I do know, however, who was on top when I graduated (A-Phi, of course) and that was all that really mattered to me ... it was about the difference I could make when I was a part of the chapter. And now ... I'm certainly proud of our national reputation. I think that many PNMs are pretty clueless on this stuff. Perhaps it's different at the very traditional schools.

If AAA and BBB were both stable chapters, I don't think that it would matter so much. If you have friends in them, and they're able to recruit women (even if BBB is the "geeky/weird" chapter), you want to go where you'd have the best experience.

If I felt that BBB wasn't stable, and that they weren't as able to recruit women, I wouldn't put BBB as my first choice. Having casually worked with a now-closed chapter, there were lots of women who ended up cancelling their memberships because the strain of perpetual recruitment became a mental, physical, emotional, and social drain.

If you drop out of BBB, it won't matter how strong they are nationally, because you won't be one anymore!

Another thing that nobody really touched on is alumnae orgs. If you love your org, it's easier to keep up with it if there is a strong alumnae org near where you choose to live and work. BBB might be great nationally, and even fun for you during your four years, but others might pick AAA because it's fun on-campus and fun *regionally* (say in the northeast or midwest), even if it isn't seen in more than 10% of campuses in the west or south.

Of course, half the time you don't really pay attention to where your alumnae orgs are, because three years from today is just, like, forever far from now, y'know? ;)

I had fun with my local while we were on campus, but they had little alumnae support while on campus, and less off campus. I don't keep in touch with most of them. But I love the fact that ADPi has three alumnae chapters in the Chicagoland area! Lots of opportunities that I never thought I'd have in college...

Status isn't as important as sisterhood is to me, and considering how much closer you will be to your on campus sisters... yeah, I went with where I felt the best about personally, not status wise.