POLL: Have you lived in your chapters' house/dorm/suite/residential facility?
 

I lived in our house which was basically a made-over family house that held 14 girls. I lived there for 2 years and over a summer and loved it.

I had a single for a semester cause my roomie flunked out, which was good since I had a long distance boyfriend and didn't have to play "can I have the room" every 2 weeks.

The biggest thing I would advise is to make sure you have a place to escape to - a friend's apartment, a little cafe you've found that no one knows about, whatever. No matter how much you love your sisters they are going to drive you nucking futs sometimes.

I lived in our house for two summers - the summer after sophomore year and the summer after junior year. It was fun, especially for summer, and I had really no complaints while living there.

My advice would be to make sure you have a place you can go to study, get homework done, etc. That's not always easy in a house full of other people.

I lived at Frat Row for three years, begining when it first opened.

Fall 02-Spring 03: Second floor of the apartments. The chapter house hadn't been completed, so the four guys that were supposed to live there lived in the apartments with us. Many things were still missing: drawers, blinds, window screens. The row was supposed to be completed in July 02, but wasn't done until Feb 03, and they built it so shitty they had to completely renovate after two years. Water balloon fights ensue in courtyard

Fall 03-Spring 04: First floor apartments. Because I live in first floor and right next to the courtyard, I hear every single noise that comes in, and since the guys break stuff, it sucks. Water balloons gone, now everyone bought pellet guns. You can't walk in courtyard without being ambushed from 4th floor.

Fall 04-Spring 05: The weight of living around a bunch of spoiled rich kids starts to burden. Little bro blasts Rocafella 24 7. Pellet guns end; random throwing of property into courtyard begins. 4th floor throws trash from bbalcony to courtyard, in front of apartment, to "save time".

I now live at Talmadge Canyon. You really have no idea the weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. Frat Row sucks.

I lived in our sorority house for a year and it was a good experience. I was rough for me (only child) who had never had to share a room OR a bathroom to suddenly share a house with 40 girls, a room with 3 other girls and a bathroom with 20 of them. YIKES!!!

But, it did help me get to know my pledge class better, as well as the executive officers (they were required to live in the house).

My recommendation: If you move into the house, try to get a room that is a single or double. I wouldn't recommend sharing a room with more than one other person unless they are your very bestest friends!!! :)

That would be my advice, too.

I lived in our suite for three years, half of the time in a double, half in a single. I found that my grades improved (believe it or not - there was a higher push for academics), which went over big with the parental units!

Downside: unless you have a housecleaner, you will be spending more time keeping the suite/house clean, since you live there.

I lived in our house for a semester. It was fun and I would do it again.

That being said, I lived with somebody I didn't know very well that I slowly became closer with, and I ended up standing up in her wedding. I think that was good, because I love my best friend (who is a sister) to death, but if we lived together I think it would ruin our friendship.

I also had a lot of escapes - I moved out of the dorms early, so all my friends from classes were still stuck in the dorms for another semester. It was nice to be able to go back and visit.

My boyfriend at the time also had a single in the dorms, so I could escape there.

I lived in house with 85 women during my sophomore and junior year.

It was a great experience, and it taught me a lot about how to live with people -- some you really like, and others you don't.

If I had advice for anyone, I would tell a freshman that you should never commit yourself to living in a sorority house for your entire four years of school -- you should learn to live on your own by your senior year.

I would say there are some things you should learn right away: get good earplugs, accept that not everyone is going to be as clean/messy as you, clean up after yourself to avoid fights, address issues right away in a respectful manner instead of letting them fester, realize that you won't always be able to get a full-night's sleep, someone at some point will take your clothes/makeup without asking, learn to share, and not everyone will like you.

On the other hand, there are benefits: you can find always someone to help you with math problems or writing a paper, you always find someone who wants to stay in and watch a movie or go out and party, there is always someone to pick you up in emergency situations, your sister may be willing to loan you a fabulous outfit for a date that you otherwise couldn't afford, and you will always have someone to share your ups and downs with.

Bottom line is: you will never be lonely, even when you want to be :)

I lived in our house last summer and this summer. Our house it a little bit of a different situation, since only 3 girls live there at a time. I enjoyed it this summer, as I had two of my good friends living there with me. Last summer was not very fun. The girls living with me were VERY messy(boarding on dirty at times) so I spent 3 1/2 months trying to pick up their grossness so the house would be presentable if anyone came by.

Overall though, I'm glad I lived there. Especially this summer. I'm the treasurer now, so it gave me a lot of time to get things in order and get alot accomplished.

I lived in my sorority house from Fall 2002-Spring 2005. I lived in a double room with beds in the room the whole time I was in the house. I would highly recommend living in the house if you have an escape place to get away and get some "me" time. It can be the library, your boyfriend's place, a friend's house or a computer lab. I would love the excitement but sometimes you just want alone time and even in a huge house it's hard to do that with 49 other women around!

I loved living in the house as I was never bored and I always had people to go buy a big diet coke with at 1AM!

Yes it was, and I was lucky that I was able to live in all three years!

I lived-in for 2 years. All our rooms are doubles.

My best advice is to move in and enjoy it. Living in the house is like living in an all-female residence hall. You'll be deluged with fun activities and ways to be involved in the sorority-- and the first to hear all the gossip!

Warning: Manage your time wisely. Utilize the school library for study time. It's not that the chapter house isn't suitable enough for study, it is that many cannot resist hanging out or going out all the time. Find your "Away Place."

Don't live-in if you can't live without alcohol and boys in your room.

Keep your room door locked when you're not in it, even when you are physically in the chapter house. Purchase a safe and place all valuables, cash, jewelry, etc., in a safe, as well as setting computer passwords and locking your computer access. Keep your printer and toner locked up.

Valuables have a way of walking away anonymously when you don't lock your doors in a residence hall or sorority house-- whether it's members, their guests or house employees.... just be warned.

Have a good meeting with your roommate-to-be about your lifestyles and your pet peeves so you go into this experience with realistic expectations.

Tidy up after yourself.

Make sure you understand your lease before you sign it-- can you get out of it? How? When you move out, what specific things do you need to do to ensure you get your security deposit back (IE: One year, my roomie and I cleaned like mad, spackled any picture holes in the walls, etc.... and then lost our entire deposit because we left a bag of trash outside our room in the hall... because we had been told by a sister that the maid would take it out. No one got their deposits back because of the darn trash!)

We didn't have one.

No, and I really have no intention of doing so. I keep odd hours...12 am bed, 5 am wake up, mid day nap, lots of banging of cycling equipment in between. My living habits would probably drive my poor sisters nuts. There's only room for 5 people to live in the house too. Plus, in my campus suite, I don't have to pay utilities, which is a plus because I don't work when I'm in school. I hang ou tthere a lot, as much as I can, really. Last year I spent the night there a lot on the sleeper couch because it was so effing hot in the dorm and the house has AC.

Jocelyn, I definitely think that living in the house brings you closer to your sisters, especially some that you never really knew. I moved in during the middle of my sophmore year, and it really helped me get to know everyone. Before that I would only be at the house during the day, I had no idea what I was missing out on. All the bonding goes on at night, ordering pizza at 11pm, gossiping in someone's room, that type of thing. There are definitely negatives like loud music, loud people, random guys walking around sometimes (be very careful who you let in!), but the good outweighs the negatives by so much. I lived in the house for the rest of my time at college, and I loved every minute of it.

I lived there for a year & it was the best & worst thing I could have done. The best b/c my roommate & became really close whereas before, we knew each other but not about each other. There was always someone to talk to & bitch with.

The worst is that a bunch of girls together for long periods of time create a lot of drama that you think is stupid.

I wouldn't trade my sorority house experience for anything in the world but one year was more than enough.
Incidentally, 15 girls can live in our house at the same time. It's 2 girls to a room except the President gets her own room.

Back in my day :) -- the early 1970's at Mizzou -- everyone but town girls had to live in the house. That applied to all the NPC groups on campus. About the only exception was second semester seniors when the chapter house was full. House capacity was 60-70 and chapter total was about 90.

I moved in the second semester of freshman year and lived in the house until I graduated -- a total of 3-1/2 years. (I had apartments the two summers I was in school, since the house was closed then.)

Our house was new, compared to the others in Greektown, built in 1964 and very modern. The rooms were built as quads but because our chapter was small (alas) we had mostly triples. Had the house been full we would have used the shared rooms (formal and informal living rooms, the two study rooms, even the chapter room) a lot more, because a four-person room is crowded. Since we were 2 and 3 to a room we could hole up in them more comfortably.

We changed rooms and roommates three times a year (that is, September, end of October, mid-February). I managed to be in a different room every single time (11 rooms out of 16).

It's hard to image Greek life without a chapter house. I know that's not the situation for many of you. The way your campus/chapter does it becomes your norm.

AGDAlum

I lived in our house for 3 semesters (and that's enough for me). For 2 semesters I had a double and for one I had a singel.

Advise:

1) Try to get along with your roommate (if you have one) or give it a chance and if it doesn't work talk to your exec. and asked to be moved.

2) Make sure to follow your houses "man hours"(hours in which guys are allowed at the house)

3) Talk to everyone in the house. Don't segergate yourselves into little groups.

4) Enjoy it. Living in the house is so much fun. You do a lot of stuff with the other sisters.

5) If you like to drink, do it outside of the house. Don't take the risk of taking some into the house.

6) Respect the other girls and don't be to loud after a night of fun.

I lived in my chapter house for three and a half years -- from second semester Freshman year until I graduated my senior year. I lived one semester in a four-man, one semester in a three-man and all other semesters in two-mans (we slept in our rooms as opposed to having cold-airs). Our house could hold a total of 65 girls.

I absolutely loved living in the house. We had a housekeeper, so we were only responsible for the cleaning of our personal rooms and general tidying of the house, (like we couldn't leave a million pizza boxes and late-night snacks out for housekeeping to clean up). We had a cook, so I only had to worry about meals from Friday night to Sunday (and there were usually tons of leftovers in the kitchen for the weekends--which is where we would gather around 11-12 the next morning to hear all the stories from the night before). We had a beautiful, spacious house that was literally across the street from campus and two blocks from campustown.

I loved that I could walk down the halls and find someone who was always willing to make a Target run with me, always willing to walk down to DQ for a snack, always willing to go smoke (yeah, I know, but that's where we had some of the best conversations), always willing to watch Friends or 90210 (not the ones in syndication--boy, that dates when I was active) and most of the time, it was always someone different.

Definitely have a place outside the house to escape to, and know that it's okay to have your door shut even when you're in the room. Lock up or hide your important things (like jewelry) and mark things like CDs, DVDs and sometimes even clothes (on the tags) with your initals.

I really feel I got to know almost everyone living in the house, some better than others. Even though I wasn't bestest friends with them all, we were all on first-name, friendly terms. I don't think there wasn't anyone I didn't feel comfortable with while living in the house. And I definitely learned more about myself, how I interacted with people and how I handled different situations.

When I started the Local, We didnt have a House. I got us one for the second Sem. and everyone was able to get out of their contracts and moved in. A rental house only but we worked our rears off to get it nice looking. The fartherest one from Campus and We walked. No Big Deal, it was ours.:)

Had 3 other Roomies, blocked off a Nook to make a bedroom. Built a room in the basement for a room. 16 guys and two bath tubed rooms. We built a shower in the dungeon.

Lived there 1 1/2 years till I got married but was at the House as much as I was at the little peice of crap She and I rented.

Different then, yepper, We had a Mission to Join a National Fraternity so We all worked our rears off. We had a ball working, playing, and studying together even though most had various Vocations of study. House rules, quiet Hours, We had to get our Grades.:D

I would not have missed any moment of it. It was Our Focal Point. Hey where is so and so, at the House!!:cool:

Live in the House and enjoy, then get out as You get older and let someone else have the fun.:D

We all slept in our suite one night for a retreat, does that count?
:D

Sure. :)

I'm still living in the chapter house and plan on it for all my undergard years.

I moved onto the chapter dorm hall the Spring of my freshman year..then fresh were required to live in a separate dorm, thank goodness.

I lived the rest of my time in various rooms. One semester I lived up on the third floor cause at that time we only had 5 sororities...now it's the AXiD hall;) but IHQ said I was an EC officer so I had to live on the Alpha Gam hall....12 steps down.

Didn't want to move out because I didn't want to give up my parking space plus I knew that I'd feel lonlier living in an apt with 2-3 more people.

This is why the new proposed Greek dorms should be interesting...not sure which concept I like..too bad they can't build a new dorm like they have now...with more individual bathrooms, lol.

jocelyn, i lived in the house officially for three years and unofficially for 4(dorm roommate and i did not get along). i loved it! your college years are the only time you will have the opportunity to live in a sorority house(unless you become a housemother later in life).take advantage of that privelege!

I lived in the Chapter Suite for 2 years.

I LOVED IT!!!

I was involved in EVERYTHING.

I never got "pulled up" on any ethics violations, cause, everyone took care of everyone else in the chapter room. I never got behind on my "points" cause I was always the one people called to get things done. (again cause I loved being involved) My grades were better cause I didn't want to not be able to do stuff.

Those were the best two years of my college career.

HAVE A GREAT TIME

Jocelyn, best of luck, wahtever you decide. Just wanted to mention something that I'll bet you're taking ino consideration -- more for others reading this than for you -- You've mentioned that you have a disability, so you may want to do a thorough walk-through of the house. If applicable, you may want to be sure that all the places you'll need or want to be in, and anything you'll want or need to use is (reasonably) accessible, or at least can be made accessible.

I've talked about this with Housing Corp before. That's honestly not much of a problem because they've told me that I could have a first floor SINGLE bedroom. Everything I'd need in the house is on that floor (accessible bathroom, kitchen, etc). There are a few stairs leading upstairs to other rooms and downstairs to the chapter room/game room/study area. But honestly, it's nothing I can't handle. :)

wow, no

I'm like borderlin OCD...I would go nuts living in our house (we don't have an official house--just an incredibly old one that we managed to afford to rent that was built in the 1940s as a barn, then made into a home, then was a crackhouse until the mid 90s)...it's got some issues)

I lived in my sorority house for two years and it's a huge house that sleeps over 100 girls (most of the houses here sleep anywhere from like 60-100 or so girls). I lived in the house for three semesters and the annex for one. Our house had just been remodeled my first year living there, but I somehow wound up on the 4th floor in a room that has now become our COSTUME closet (to give you an idea of the size). My best friend and I at the time, thought it'd be fun to live up in the attic, we just didn't realize how TINY our room really was. Luckily she moved out before the semester was over so I got the place to myself. The only good parts about the room though were the bathroom (I had my own) and the view into Farmhouse. ;)

I have positive and negative things I could say about living in the house, sharing a room with 4 girls one semester was hard, and moving every single semester sucked. The food could be completely awful sometimes, we had a heinous beeyatch of a housemom one year, and there were a lot of rules that I felt were stupid but had to follow anyway. But there were good things too like always having someone to watch a movie with, go out with, borrow clothes from, or just gossip with. I live by myself now and though I'm happy I do, it does get kind of lonely sometimes. Plus, it's totally true what everyone says about people living in the house feeling more connected/involved. I lived there my sophomore and junior years, which were the two years I was most involved in positions and activities within my chapter.

There is absolutely no part of me that regrets living there for those two years, it might have been difficult, but it was an experience that I always dreamed of having when I went to college and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

That is exaclty how I feel. I figured I have the rest of my life to live alone, why not have the time of my life in college and epxerience something so unique!

I lived in our house for 2 semesters and loved it! Wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

And hey, single room on the first floor sounds like a great thing to me......:D You get to live in the house and have your privacy.

I loved living in the sorority house! I stayed for two years, and it was wonderful...we had a housekeeper, a chef, and the house was right in the middle of campus so I never had to walk far to get to class. Plus, when you live in the house, you're right where the action is. I only lived in the double rooms, but our house also had 4-person rooms...I'm not so sure about that, 'cause I like my space sometimes.

I lived in my sorority house from Fall 1998 through Fall 2001 (7 semesters) and I absolutely loved it! Our house was set up in suites and we usually had 5 or 6 girls living in each suite. The suites each had a study room, bedroom, living room, and bathroom. We had the opportunity to personalize our space and do what we wanted with each room. Every semester I lived with different women and got to know each of them on a personal level. We had a housemom, cook, housekeeper, fraternity men who worked as waiters, and other staff so we lived very comfortably! The house was two blocks from campus and two blocks from the bars which was very convenient. Bottom line: I loved living in the house and don't regret it at all. I have lots of fond memories that I'll never forget. :)

Were you a member at Iowa State? That sounds exactly like the setup there (suites/apartment style house, fraternity waiters, proximity to campus/campustown)...

If we had fraternity boys as waiters...I'd be beating people up to move into the house. :D

Oh that was one of the best reasons to eat at the house! Some of the guys we had were waiters all the years they were in school. In fact, one of our waiters ended up marrying a girl who was in the house when he waitered (they were also IFC/CPC presidents together, but they originally met when he was a waiter.) We loved our waiters.

I lived in the Greek Residence hall for 2 years... I loved the time I was there and would not give it up for anything, but I do have to agree with others that finding an escape can be very helpful... Just some place to get away...