Question for GC'ers who joined their chapter as upperclassmen!
 

In my chapter, I think the few guys we've taken as upper classmen actually have missed out. I don't think they have as much opportunity to try running for an office or to take a real lead on anything due to the short time that they're active with the chapter. Also, as you get older, real world demands tend to take a toll on your activity in your chapter.

So yeah, I think they regret it. I would have had I waited.

I joined in the Fall semester of my sophomore year and I regret not having joined my freshman year. :)

I joined fall of my sophomore year. I wonder what would've been different had I rushed the year before in the fall or spring. I likely would've held a different office. Though I wonder if I would've gotten more burnt out....

Boo hoo!
 

I didn't even attempt to do anything until COB of 2005 (Spring), then they found out that they couldn't really do it because they would only let them take two of the 6/7 girls interested and you can't make a pledge class out of two people so now I have to wait until Fall but at least I've got some money saved up so I can afford to pay and not worry about fundraising too much or where the money will come from period. I'll be a junior though and it'll be sad because apparently (and this is a concern) the alumnae aren't allowed/encouraged (???) to really mingle with the collegiates(or so I've heard is the policy) so there won't be anything for me to do outside of reviving the alumnae chapter in like two years! But I'm gonna make the best of it anyways because I LOVE the org and I hope they'll take me, they are great Ladies! :) :)

-Unpatiently (LOL) Independent

Re: Boo hoo!
 

Although I can't be certain because I don't know which sorority you're attempting to join, but alot of times the reason for these policies is that they apply to events that the collegiate chapter has already budgeted for like formals, mixers, date parties, and other social events. Chapters just don't really want alumnae (who obviously don't pay collegiate dues) showing up to these things because they only budgeted money for a certain number or dues-paying collegians. It's perfectly okay to help out with other things such as recruitment however.

I wish I had joined earlier and been active for four years. However I was a transfer, so that's why I didn't join. I wish I had made a different choice of schools during my senior year and stayed at one school for four years.

This is an interesting and informative thread for me. In DST you must be at least a sophomore to seek admission. Then due to various circumstances many of our members do not gain admittance until their junior or senior years. But for us, that is not an issue because it is to be a "lifetime commitment." So in the scheme of things you still have MANY years to seek leadership roles, etc. through the alumnae chapters.

I was initiated in a collegiate chapter as were my sister and daughter. All three of us were juniors at the time. But my mother was initiated through an alumnae chapter (just three years before me.) However, in the end, it made no difference. My mother fulfilled leadership roles in Delta, as have I.

I wish I hadn't bullshitted around with pledging that Asian frat and had joined IFC sooner...

But hey, shit happens for a reason, and I needed to go thru both experiences.

There are a few things I think about, but as a whole I do not regret my decision.

I just joined Pi Phi this year, (my 3rd year of school) but I really so have 2 more years due to changing majors, etc.

I regret not having as much time to spend with my sisters in our undergrad days, and that I don't have much time to hold an office.

However, looking back to my freshmen and soph years of college I was a completely different person. I probably would have joined another sorority that I thought I wanted (because I fit a "stereotype" and knew girls from high school who were members so I would have the connection) and would have been miserable in the end. I got to meet some of the best friends of my life those two years without being in a sorority. Some of these girls are in other chapters and some are not involved with Greek life at all. I am still friends with these girls and it has helped me to be more open to the Greek community as a whole through friendships with girls in other houses.

Also, when I went through recruitment I was able to decide which house was TRULY for me and not based on apperances or where my friends were.

I have met some of the most amazing women by joining a sorority, but I am able to have a life outside of it.

I guess I don't regret it because I am extremely happy with my sisters and with my college experience as a whole. Joining a sorority was something I always wanted to do and these amazing women are my sisters for life. I might not see all of them as often when I graduate as I do know, but we share a sisterhood that is really strong and I know that many of them would be there for me for the rest of my life no matter what! I think you should focus on the present and what you DO have, instead of the hypothetical things you may or may not have missed out on.

I joined last fall as a second semester Junior. I do not regret it at all. I am not graduating until fall of 06, but that is enough for me. I am not saying anything against my sorority, but I have been in college for quite awhile and it is the most important to me. So I am ready to go. I love my sisters and all, but I am ready to move on.

Re: Question for GC'ers who joined their chapter as upperclassmen!
 

I join Sig-Tau at the beginning of my Junior Year as a transfer Student at CSU. It would haver been nice if I started as a freshman, but I have no regrets.

Absolutely!

I wished I had joined in my freshman year. I definitly think I missed out on some stuff and it's a shame, but the way I try to look at it, is "better late than never". I still have great memories and now I'm trying to make my contribution as an alum.

I transferred schools as a Junior, pledged one sorority that wasn't me fall Junior year and found DPhiE in the Spring. I wish that I had gone to New Paltz as a Freshman, but I didn't and can't change that. I think that if I had been there as a Freshman, I would have gotten closer to some of the sisters. But maybe I wouldn't have even pledged DPhiE back then so who knows. Right now I am just happy that I have an AA here in NYC to get to know some really cool DPhiE Alumnae!

I joined fall of my senior year, but my circumstances were different since Tri Delta was new to campus. My only regret is that I wish I was able to hold an office, but at the same time I'm excited about being an active alumna.

I joined as a junior & have no regrets. I wanted an office position but someone w/more experience got it so no harm done. It's what was best for the chapter. I was as active as I could possible be w/out living & breathing sorority but I enjoyed my time. Then it's time to move on.

I joined second semester of my sophomore year, and I have no regrets. I joined a colony, and it was the most amazing opportunities. I've held 3 offices, and I can't wait to be active as an alumna!

I'm another one who sort of wonders what it would've been like to have joined freshman year, since I waited until Fall of my sophomore year to rush. If I had gone through rush as a freshman I wouldn't be a Delta Zeta right now since they were a colony and didn't do formal rush that year, so I'm glad I was so anti-sorority when I entered college :p, but I do wish I had gone to some COB events. Freshman year I would see all these flyers in my dorm about COBs at the DZ house and I came an ace of going, but I was too nervous and even though by the middle of the year I had changed my mind about being Greek and wanted to do it, I didn't know how it would work out because I equated the "sorority type" with my older sister and I am not at all like them! ;) So yeah, it would've been cool if I had come out of my shell and gone because I might've been a member earlier, but hey...like someone else said, better later than never, and I ended up in the best place for me anyway.

One thing I am GLAD I missed is the common theme of burnout among 4 year members. I feel like I'm just a baby in Sigma and that I'm just getting started. Also, since I won't be burned out, I feel like I'll be more ready to immediately contribute as an alumna. I fully plan on applying to become an LC as soon as I graduate. :)

In Founding a Local, I/We became Affiliated with LXA at the end of the school year that I did this.

Actually, I ended up as an Active Undergrad. for 1 1/2 years.

But, Remember, I am still Active In LXA after 40 Years and active on GC and interacting with fellow Greeks.

So, does age really make a difference? A mix of Newbies and some oldsters isnt all bad. Helps to solidfy a Chapter.

Oh, I never felt like I was old doing this, I was just one of the Members. :)

I do regret not joining earlier, in a way. The reason I didn't join earlier because I had a boyfriend that didn't want me to be in a sorority. But in a way, it worked out because my local didn't start up until my Jr year, and we didn't affiliate with Tri Delta until the second semester of Jr year.

But I do wish I had been around longer. Le sigh.

I don't regret not joining sooner. I joined the second semester of my junior year. I was a transfer student, and had a ton of great memories from both schools I attended as an undergrad. I think joining a little later in the game made me all the more interested in being an active alumna and wanting to do more for my sorority after graduation :)

I'm not NPC so I can't really contribute to the conversation but I wanted to respond to you, ladygreek.

I find, in Theta Nu Xi, that it doesn't really matter if you go collegiate or GAP because you'll be put to work immediately. As collegiate and GAP, members are tied directly into the organization and have similar requirements.

I joined Fall of my Junior year and wish I'd joined freshman year.

Re: Question for GC'ers who joined their chapter as upperclassmen!
 

Absolutely not.

At the time women couldn't join until their second semester of freshman year anyway, and that spring I was pledging Alpha Phi Omega. There was no way I could have pledged both at once. Even if I could have joined a sorority my first semester, I'd been so sheltered in high school that there was no way I was mature enough to make such an important decision.

You can always hold one in an alumnae chapter..........:D

Re: Re: Question for GC'ers who joined their chapter as upperclassmen!
 

This was always an issue that i thought was really important in sorority rush as well as in life. I know so many women who went thru rush who were still in the "high school mind set" that i wondered how they could make a choose that would effect them the rest of their lives by the few experiences that they had while in high school.

I say also the rest of the life cause i know some people who have made choices, say like joining the military, and did not have a real view of life. And with out the experiences from being out of high school and experienceing life it amazes me how people make choices that effect the rest of their lives with this limited view of the realities that life holds.

I joined as a junior, and loved every minute of it! I do wish that I had joined earlier, however, I probably would have joined a different sorority. I was very active in other organizations on campus, though, so my time was filled! And I never did get burned out----I wish I could've done more!