SoCal sororities and age limits - UPDATE
 

My sister decided to accept an admission invitiation to grad school instead of pursuing her 2nd BA. I didn't know this when I posted this thread, so it's ok if the mods want to delete it.

Thank you to everyone for answering!

Technically: There's no age limit. NPC membership is open to undergraduate women. So long as she pays any appropriate registration fees and meets minimum GPA requirements necessary to go through recruitment, she may go through recruitment. Receiving a bid is another story. That is a mutual decision to be made between the PNM and the sorority.

What school will your sister be attending?

Purely objectively... I wouldn't recommend a 32 year old woman join an undergraduate chapter of an NPC sorority. This is only my opinion, but I would really question the maturity of a 32 year old woman wanting to mix with a (predominantly) 19-20 year old new member class and a chapter composed of members in their late teens to early 20's. I don't know what she would get out of it. Sisterhood is a very generic term. She could just as easily find that in a non-collegiate women's group.

She will easily be the oldest member of the chapter; possibly older than some collegiate advisers. Her presence will confuse others, and possibly label the sorority she joins in a negative way. On the other hand, she could be a stabilizing force and leader in the chapter. But if it were me, I would take my college years at age 32 to do well in school and pursue age-appropriate activities. I don't consider joining a collegiate chapter of a sorority age-appropriate for a 32 year-old.

We've debated this issue in previous threads; it is not the norm for a 32 year old woman to be going through recruitment, but it has happened and some have gotten bids to sororities. Same goes for some married women and some women with children. Again, not the norm, but it has happened, mainly at campuses that have more of a reputation for being a commuter campus.

I wish your sister the best of luck. She might be better off in the Sandpipers or the Junior League, non-collegiate women's groups that have an emphasis on leadership, service to the community and friendship. There will be women of various ages, and at 32, she'll be among the majority. The Los Angeles Junior League is a fabulous organization that works closely with the Red Cross, LA Downtown Women's Shelter, and more. One of my favorite JLLA events a few years back was our Casino Night Fundraiser-- over $100K raised for charity and a star-studded event-- everywhere you turned there were celebrities!!! (/end shameless plug for JLLA!)

GC: Flame away.

ETA: If she wants to give the "college" thing a go in terms of campus activities, and given that a 2nd BA will not take as long as the first BA to obtain, she might find what she is looking for in getting on a committee that helps plan the university's homecoming, Dance Marathon, Orientation Team, etc. These are not intended as substitutes for a sorority, but they are types of activities that will perhaps help her to regain some of the school spirit feeling she missed out on the first time around, as well as to help her contribute something to the university and make new friends.

Re: SoCal sororities and age limits
 

Thanks for the reply. She's going to CSULB.

I told her it was bloody unlikely, but I go to UCLA, where it would be...well...bloody unlikely. CSULB is a commuter campus though, and as far as I know, Greek Life is pretty small there.

I agree with what adpiucf said, and I want to throw in that while there are no age limits for Rush, certain sororities may have by-laws against bidding a member who has already graduated and is eligible for Alumna Initiation. Even if she is going for a second BA, according to some group's definitions, she may not be considered "undergrad" for bidding purposes.

ETA: If you can list the sororities, maybe some of their members can let you know if she would be eligible for their particular org.

CSULB

NPC sororities:
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Phi
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Sigma Kappa

NPHC Sororities:
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Delta Sigma Theta
Sigma Gamma Rho
Zeta Phi Beta

Cultural Greek Council Sororities:
Chi Delta Theta
Kappa Psi Epsilon
Lambda Sigma Gamma
Lambda Theta Alpha
Sigma Lambda Gamma
Sigma Phi Omega

Co-ed Cultural Fraternity:
Delta Sigma Chi

Website: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/stude...ek/Greek_Life/

I'm not SURE, but just guessing that because she has already graduated, she would be not be eligible for collegiate status at a Sigma Kappa chapter. She would however be eligible to apply for AI.


Someone else may know if I'm exactly right or not.

That is a good point. Considering that she has been through one BA, she may not be eligible for collegiate membership in some whose broad definition of undergraduate terminates at the receipt of a BA/BS; regardless of whether you come back in later years for a future BA/BS.

It sounds like a gray area-- she would be eligible for AI, but in this case-- her wanting to experience "college life"-- AI is not suitable for her needs and the process is such that it could be many years after college before she got a substantial lead or results.

I remember (unfortunately) having this issue before - someone going back for a second undergrad asked if she could pledge. I would say yes, because she's never graduated from THAT school and as far as THAT school and THAT chapter is concerned, she is an undergrad. Theoretically, I could be a 19 year old who's completed one college degree as well.

I think there are some CSULB people on here - I would go by what they say. If the sororities there don't have a problem with it, no one else should either.

Oh and for the love of God PLEASE don't tell her to look into AI. That isn't what she's looking for at all.

I'm going to agree that she may not be eligible as an undergrad since she has already graduated and AI might be the option for her, and possibly a more enjoyable experience at 32 unless she likes hanging around 19-20 year olds.

Yeah, I'm not sure how standardized such rules are across NPC orgs. It's hard for me to imagine at 32 wanting to "hang out" with 18-22 year-olds to the extent that a sorority involves.

Clearly the cultural/co-ed groups may have other rules as well as NPHC membership if she is interested in that.

~Perhaps a non-social sorority/fraternity? (Service, Professional?) (Again, this is not a substitute for a social sorority)

Perhaps she should consider Beta Sigma Phi.

To me, this falls into "She can always AI" category. Once again, that's not what she seems to be looking for.

Perhaps you are right. But possibly she doesn't quite know what she is looking for. From the outside, she may see college sorority membership as a chance for sisterhood and tradition, and she might not have considered the discomfort that might come from trying to socialize with 19-20 year olds. If she wants sisterhood and tradition with social events and service opportunities (exactly how many people define sorority membership), she might find it in places like Beta Sigma Phi or some of the other organizations and activities already mentioned in this thread. Since we are getting the story from a secondary source, we can't begin to understand what the woman in question really wants out of sorority membership.

With all due respect, I think my comment falls more into the "keep an open mind" file than the "She can always AI" bin. ;)

I rushed at CSULB & graduated from there myself. I just sent you a PM.
Let us know how it all turns out!

I agree here, and I'd worry that a 32 year old would end up being the unofficial "Mom" (even if she'd be a cool mom).

my pledge class had 2 young mothers and a pregnant young lady as well as a 25 year old married woman (who i'm not sure if she had kids or not). I pretty sure some of the other girls who left during their pledge period had children as well, it can happen. It depends on the chapter, etc. etc. etc. We also had a pregnant older sister. And NOT ONE OF THEM had a girl! Darn! (No legacies)

I can see being active in campus life period in your mid or even late 20's, there's several of us at my school....but 32? I don't think she knows what she is getting herself into.

the fact that she already has an undergraduate degree and is going back for her second BA is going to severelly limit her options. Only a very few sororities allow members who already have an undergraduate degree to continue to participate on the collegiate level. Look through the rush forum, i'm sure there are some threads identifying which.

CSULB
 

ITo tell you the truth...you never know @ CSULB...I go here and I was a tranfer when I rush...I am a fraternity...just for the record...and I see many girls that rush when they were 25 and they get into a good house...It all depends on the house

Re: CSULB
 

But a transfer is different from someone who is getting a 2nd bachelor's degree.

oldies but goodies
 

While this thread seems to deal mostly with sororities, let me
yinvade your space a second, see what you think.
I do think, though, there would indeed be a difference between
pledging an older man than a woman, but hear me out, please, and then 'to each his own'
I pledged in the fall of '54 and there were a lot of vets on campus
a few from WWII and a lot from the recently ended Korean conflict. There were mixed feelings, the vets generally had money, were not hazing oriented, and sometimes did not mix well
with the younger ones. But on the other hand, they gave us an
image, a father figure and older brother one, and over all, a level
of maturity we needed.
We pledged a 59 year old career vet, he'd been a highly decorated hero, an officer and was nearly a scratch golfer. He
had lost his wife the year before. We loved that man; he graduated, was popular, and is still alive at 98 years of age. He
was admired by almost all the greeks.
The only thing he took with him after graduation was a lovely
housemother...she lives yet.
And we were all better for it. Another memory from the old codger who occasionally misses the bus.

Re: oldies but goodies
 

Wow! That's wonderful.

My sister has decided to go through and try to rush anyway. She was in the military and she really misses the camraderie. I think she could bring a lot of valuable life experience and guidance to the younger members and they could give her a lot of perspective on what it's like to be 19/20/21 years old again.

I personally think it's beneficial to have a good mix of ages in any group.

Re: Re: oldies but goodies
 

Make sure she fully discloses her situation (i.e.this is her second BA) and does her research on which groups would even allow her to join. If she doesn't discose it, she runs the risk of being depledged, both because she is not eligible for membership in most groups, and because she lied to her potential sisters in leaving out that very important info. Just a warning that she needs to be upfront about things!

Re: Re: Re: oldies but goodies
 

Oh, she knows that. She wouldn't lie to become part of a sorority because that would pretty much create a relationship based upon a falsehood, which is crap in her eyes and in mine.

Re: Re: Re: Re: oldies but goodies
 

I'm sure she wouldn't lie, but just advising that she should be very clear about her status.

From what has been said on GC in the past, it seems like AXiD, PhiSig and possibly DG accept grad students into their chapters. Out of those three, only DG is at your friend's school. I would advise her to do some research about the policies of the sororities at her school. And also, she should check with the school's greek life office, perhaps they may have a rule at the university that only undergrads/first BA/BS candidates may join.

Here are some other threads that may be helpful:
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ht=bachelor%2A
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ht=bachelor%2A

I would seriously question the sanity of any man or woman that joined a fraternity or sorority as an adult. I can't even believe there are people out there that are willing to put up with that stuff at this age.

-Rudey

Then consider me insane! I didn't "go Greek" until I was in my 40s, and I'm loving every minute of being in my sorority.

You're not insane. There's a big difference between NPC and NPC-style sororities and the other conferences.

In this case, a 25 year old woman is a stretch and might be successful. Again at 32, I know for myself, my chapter and the chapters I have worked with, there would be some question of her maturity, intentions and how the chapter would be perceived for taking someone who is so much older than the typical sorority program caters to.

All the luck to her. But if I were 32 and going to college, I'd have other priorities. Being stuck with a group of 20 year olds and their daily drama would make me insane.

Drama doesn't end when you stop being 20. For damn real. Sometimes I think my workplace is worse than the sorority house was.

And, is all drama bad? :p

I'll take workplace drama over sorority drama any day.

At least when you quit your job, you're not told "Well, by turning in your keys here, you can never interview and join another company ever again."

Think of the unemployment lines! :D

Re: Re: oldies but goodies
 

That's what the advisors are for though.

30 something joined a sorority
 

HI There,

First off look for past threads that I have responded too. I became a founding member of the Iota Gamma chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma at CSUDH (a sister campus to CSULB) as a graduate student at the age of 32. I didn't go party with the sisters but did participate in some of the mixers etc. Some of the mixers we had with fraternities from CSULB and they had a wide range of ages in their membership so I didn't feel uncomfortable when we did things with them. I did participate in all the community service events, etc that my chapter did.

I was a founding member of the executive board and I even was the President of my chapter the next year. Some of the "younger" sisters are my best friends now and I am so glad I did join even though others were saying "are you crazy". Other threads I've resonded go into detail about my thoughts on this.

One thing I think some of the posters on here need to realize is the make up of many of the CSU campuses in the Los Angeles area. The average age of students at CSUDH is 29. CSU Long Beach is a bit closer to a traditional campus then CSU Dominguez Hills is but it is still definitely a commuter campus with a lot of students who transfer in to it in their mid to late 20's. The average age of an undergraduate at CSULB is 25, with more then 30% of the student population over the age of 25. So you will more then likely see a bit more of an age spread in chapters on the campus.

Yes CSULB has a large traditional freshman class but it also attracts a lot of non-traditional and returning students. Also, many of the students who attend CSULB and CSUDH are the first generation to ever go to college let alone graduate. I think it can sometimes be difficult to compare experiences on the West Coast with other areas of the US. Also, the rushing experiences between the UC's and the CSU's in Southern California may be difficult to compare.

Keep us posted about how your sisters experiences go.

Honesntly...CSULB sorority rush is very open. I think anyone could honestly find somewhere to go. Even though we have many freshmen that attend our school, we also have a great transfer base as well. I say "flip" it and try it...if you dnt get into a sorority...there is many things that you can do that are non-greek related like ASI and many other clubs to join

CSULB and the So cal area is very laid back. I didnt go to CSULB , but many friends did and i think she will do fine. I agree with KDDANI and disclose everything to be up front. I truly think she will find a home with one of the chapters. If she doesnt inform her of her option of AI

What house did your friend end up

If she is looking for more of a collegiate experience, AI is NOT AN OPTION. You're an AI, you should know that it isn't for everyone and isn't something to fall back on.

UPDATE
 

My sister has decided to attend graduate school instead of pursuing a second BA, so the topic of this thread is pretty much unimportant now.

But thanks for all the info! :)

That's a wise choice if she is passionate about her field. Best wishes to her.