Time Commitment Worries
 

I've been planning on going through recruitment this fall, but lately I've been having some second thoughts. I keep hearing about the large time commitment, and I'm getting a little worried. It's not like I don't want to put a lot of time in should I receive a bid, but I'm concerned that I won't have enough time to focus on everything else. I'm sure that every chapter at every school is different, but in general, how much time could I expect to be putting in during a new member period?

I would say, in general, you're going to have a NM Meeting (1-2 Hours), Chapter Meeting (2-3 Hours), weekly NM activity, things like Big Sis Night, N exchanges with other sororities, Fashion Shows, etc (1 1/2 hours). That's going to be the mandatory stuff...plus one or two All-Greek Education per semester and 2 or so NPC wide events (NM induction, All NPC NM Mixers...). I think about 7 hours a week would be a safe estimate for a 60-80 member chapter. Of course, there will be optional stuff as well.

7 hours is a good estimate- but think about it this way- how much time would you spend just hanging out with your friends? Your sorority might have study tables for people with under a certain GPA- but you would be studying anyway so does that really take away from your time somewhere else? You will have socials, but would you go out anyway?

Sororites do take time, however we had pre-med, engineering, and theatre majors all in my chapter (all majors that take up allot of time outside of class) as well as athletes, and even a couple people in ROTC and they all had enough time to be fairly active members.

LOL, this is a common worry whether Fraternity or Sorority for a PNM.

Will there be obligations on your time, also remember that GLOs have a higher GPA than just normal students on the overall. Why, because we expect you to make your grades to:

1. Get initiated.
2. To stay active.

Yes there will times when your time will not be your own such as Homecoming or a major function such as a charity event. But, school is the major event and we all know that.:) You are there to graduate and go into the bigger world of finance, teaching, homemaking, or what ever your endevor will be.

But, in the long run, you will make friendships that will be ever lasting!

I should know, I have been doing this for 42 years and My Brothers are still some of my best friends!

I can also count many from not only my Fraternity but others from all GLOs.

That is what a GLO can do for you!:D

I think 7 hrs is a really low estimate
my chapter had study hours 5 days a week, 2 and a half hours a day
i must have spent at least 40 hrs a week on sorority things, if not actually with the sorority
however, my grades went up!

Were you required to be at a certain location for study hours? If you just had to study for 2 1/2 hours a day in your dorm room or whatever, I wouldn't really count that, as you'd probably (or should) be doing that anyway...and even if you do have to be at the house, or at the library, etc, it's just a matter of location, and I think it would be negotiable if you had another activity at that time.

I think every school is different. When I was going through my new member period I think it was about 10 hrs a week, give or take the activities that were going on (i.e. the week of greek week is a lot busier than just a plain week with no weekend mixers, etc.) but of course we had study hours too!

We had in-house study hours that had to be monitored, but it was usually done in the library & the hours were flexible. If the study monitor couldn't be there to monitor your hours you could always get a librarian to sign for you instead.

I think the Greek life time committment is manageable for just about any traditional student, in terms of the bare minimum requirements. That said, you get out of a sorority what you're willling to put into the sorority...

I spent about 15-20 hours a week on sorority stuff during my NM period. Only a fraction of this time was actual mandatory stuff (new member meetings, philanthropy, etc.) but I felt the additional time was necessary. Sometimes I spent way more than that. 15-20 hours was probably about the average that members of my NM class spent on AXO.

When you join a sorority, I actually recommend that you spend as much time as possible with your sisters in the beginning -- this is where that "big time committment" comes in. There are a few reasons for this: these are some of the best bonding times with your sisters and it shows your early dedication to the org. (which is extremely beneficial if you ever decide to pursue an executive board position).

I had sisters in my new member class that actually spent about 30hrs a week with sorority stuff on top of mandatory sorority activities. Studying at the house, hanging out with actives in their rooms or apartments, meeting up with sisters at the library, going out to dinner, shopping, going to parties or staying in with movies on the weekends, pledge class bonding activities, etc.

But you know what? It doesn't feel like a crazy time committment because all this stuff is really, really fun. A lot of the things you need to do in college (studying, extracurriculars, volunteering) is just a lot better when you have a sister to do it with you.

Yes, there were members of my NM class that spent the bare minimum in terms of time with the sorority. It can be done, as long as you do all the mandatory stuff. While these girls were happy in AXO, these were also the sisters that didn't really bond as well with everyone else, at least not right away, and they sometimes felt left out/lonely when everyone else formed really strong relationships with other sisters. Women who put in the bare minimum were also at a disadvantage when running for a position within the chapter, because members simply didn't know them as well or think they were as strong of a choice as a sister who put in more time/effort.

Like I said, I highly recommend you put in a lot of time to the sorority at the beginning. It is a time committment, but if sorority life is your thing, it's barely noticeable.

As a final aside, and just to echo what others have said: The first -- and only -- semester I earned a 4.0 was my new member semester. If you're good at time management, a sorority can only enhance your academic and social life at college.

I completely agree with you!

While it was certainly a time commitment, it never felt like a chore or something that I had to squeeze into my schedule. It was always fun and fulfilling. And like others have said, most of the things you're doing are things that you would be doing in some form or another anyway...but it's more fun, and often more efficient, to do these things with your sisters. With basic time management, it's definitely doable.

When you go through recruitment, the time committment will be discussed. By going through recruitment, you haven't committed yourself to anything. It's an opportunity to see if this would be something you would want to do.

Sororities are committed to making sure their members do well in school and get involved with non-sorority activities. It makes them look better to have members with top GPAs and campus achievements, so while sorority membership is a time committment, it's not going to prevent you from doing well in school, going home to see your family, make non-sorority friends or get involved with non-Greek organizations.

Hope this helps! Give it a try-- if it isn't something you can see yourself doing once you have all of the facts or experience of it, you aren't bound to it.

ETA: If this helps, I worked my way through college to pay for school, had a 3.5 GPA and was involved in other activities, internships, etc., outside of the sorority. I also held a few leadership positions in the sorority and lived in the house at one point, as well. There are a ton of "extras" as a member-- things you can do that are not mandatory to retaining membership like the social mixers, intramural sports games, parties, optional community service projects, etc.-- you go to a few of these, of course, but not every single one. I had to pick and choose, and it was fine.

I think it's very much that you get out of it what you put in to it.

The required stuff doesn't take that much time, especially once you are initiated (which will cover basically all the time other than the first semester), but the people who get the most out of their GLOs are the people who make it their number one activity or who live in the house.

I'll second the person who pointed out that you don't have to decide before recruitment, but remember that recruitment at some schools is even more intense that regular membership would be. (The only time that I as an out-of-house sister regularly spent 12+ hour days at the house was during recruitment.)

It'd be a perfectly appropriate recruitment question but think carefully about how you phrase it. You want to make sure you communicate that you do want to be involved.

Maybe you ask your rushers, tell me about a week in the life of an XYZ new member? (that sounds cheesy but you get the idea, I think.)

Thanks for the responses. The main reason that I'm concerned is that if I do it, I want to do it all the way. It's really important to me that I give my all in most everything that I do. It helps to hear some numbers (whether they're accurate or not) because my brain just works that way. I'm still not sure if I will have enough time for everything that I want to do, however. I'm planning on being a major, which I've heard is a pretty time consuming major. Greek life is something that I think would be really great, so I think that I would choose that over being a member of multiple clubs or something like that. I think I'm going to go through with recruitment and make my mind up from there. Thanks again.

I was a music major. My biggest time commitments for music were Marching Band (about 15-20 hours a week), Opera workshop (7 hours a week), University Singers (7 hours a week, plus practice time), and practicing for applied lessons (vocal, in my case), as well as various tech classes (piano, brass, strings, etc). Yes, obviously, I had a ton of overlapping, and had to plan things out very carefully. It can be done. Actually, my 2 biggest conflicts between music and sorority were marching band practice that overlapped with rush and chapter that overlapped with a required class one semester.

I have sisters who were music majors, and the sorority was very understanding about excusing them to miss some mandatories that conflicted with their performances, etc.

If you do get into a sorority, know that as a performance major, you're going to be someone they will want to brag about b/c it is such an accomplishment to be accepted to a vocal program! Your sisters will come to support your performances, and I have a feeling they will work with you-- we had two girls in my chapter doing musical theatre... they weren't around as much as someone in a more traditional major like business might be, but one lived in the house at one point, the other performed during recruitment, they came to social events, etc-- they had to miss some things, yes, but the sorority was understanding of this as they were legitimate school-related reasons.

I'm glad to hear you're testing the waters-- recruitment is a great week to learn what sororities are all about and to meet a lot of new people! I hope you have a great time!

Im a little confused.I will be living off campus, staying at home with my family. I see alot of mention about "study hours". Would I as a new member have to show up to the Sorority House/Library to study,or is this a requirment for girls actually living in the houses?

:)The whole idea of study hours is to make sure and help PMNs to get their GPAs.

Maybe living at home will help you having come just from HS.

But, it your GPA starts going down, then what?

By Studying with Your fellow PNMs you will get to know them better!;)

Which are you more worried about? Why not spend some time with Your PNMs and Future Sisters!;)

Study Hours are a committment for almost every sorority member. Each chapter of a particular sorority will conduct them differently. In my experience and those of my friends on other campuses, they're pretty flexible and allow you to study in the location and manner that works best for you-- you're given a set of min. (and realistic) number of hours to spend on class work and study time outside of classs each week. And you just track your hours and turn them in.

You may get some kind of incentive if you choose to study at the campus library or with a sister. It just depends on the chapter.

When you go through recruitment, you should ask each sorority about it's academic program. And throw in, "Tell me about study hours..." If you aren't satisified with the answer, add, "Where can members perform their study hours?" and so on.... Also, when you ask about the academic program, this is a great time to tell your recruiter about your academic achievements and to compliment the sorority's efforts with its academic program.

Ok, I have no problem showing up where ever I need to, I was just curious how that worked.Thanks!

I'm going to be repetitive here (what else is new?), but to all PNMs, be careful about making sure that you don't seem reluctant at recruitment.

Too many "how much time does this take?" "what events are required?" "how much does this cost?" type questions can make you seem like someone who will drop out of the group later if it gets too busy or demanding. You want to communicate that you are eager to be involved so you don't end up released in favor of a more interested girl.

You are entitled to know what you are getting into with time and money commitments, but be patient and see what the sororities disclose in second and third round and ask rho chis sometimes, rather than the members, unless you can figure out ways to ask that seem eager and positive.

Does that make sense?

It's really good that you are asking here; but be careful at the actual parties.