Which sororities are very active at Western/SW schools?
 

I'm aware that USC is a very Greek campus, but would appreciate if anyone can tell me other universities in the West and Southwest that are very active Greek schools. Thanks!

Berkeley and U of Washington have a lot of history with very old chapters and several of them. Arizona has a decent amount of chapters, as does UCLA and Washington State. Pepperdine seems to have a thriving young system.

I'm not from that part of the country, but from the posts we see on these boards, the Greek scene out there faces a lot of competition from other organizations and other distractions (great weather, sports, etc). There seems to be a lot of anti-Greek sentiment in that part of the counrty as well. Of course that's a gross generalization, but still.

Check out my thread here, that lists the NPC sororities at every school. You'll get an idea of where Greek life is big.

Having been Greek at a West Coast school, I can say that some of these comments are true. While the Greek system is large at UW, it's a fairly small percentage of the student body that's Greek, and there are definite "Greek-haters". That said, UW also has the largest Greek system on the West Coast (16 NPC sororities and 31 NIC fraternities, plus all of the NPHC chapters and several other types of Greek organizations) with a lot of very strong members. However, from what I've read on GC, USC has more members in their chapters (at least in NPC) and I believe has a more "southern-style" type of recruitment than other West Coast greek systems.

ETA: not sure if that what was you were looking for, but thought I would offer some info on my alma mater.

cal poly slo
 

cal poly slo has 8 sororites, big recruitment, and has added two chapters in the last 4 years. delta delta delta and chi omega are the new chapters, but i guess you can call that small because there are only 8 but then the chapters vary from around 80 to 120 members.

Why is it that your thread title asks something different than what you ask in your post?

Cal Poly does have a decent amount of sororities, given our campus size, with another affiliate sorority working towards recognition by a national NPC, with 21 IFC + affiliates and 12 cultural organizations.

San Diego State has a HUGE Greek system, across all the councils. UC Riverside, USC, UCLA, UC Berkley, UC Irvine, CSU Long Beach, Sacramento State and Fresno State are all up there too.

Is this the mother or the daughter personality posting this question? Are you/she basing her college decision for next year on the "very Greekness" of the campus?

LadyLonghorn -- If your intent is to drive a caring Mom off of GC, please be assured there are way too many gracious women here that are kind enough to answer my questions without assuming I'm a "split personality." I'm a caring Mom....not a helicopter Mom or Mom/daughter or anything else you've had the creative imagination to infer. I've fully explained my reasons for frequenting GC in another recent thread.

If the other posters want a Mom to stop posting here, please be honest with me and I'll stop. I know my daughter will get her own user name and post herself when she knows more about the specific college she's going to attend, if not well before.

Thanks everyone for listing all the colleges you're aware of in the W/SW that are active Greek schools. At this point our daughter wants to leave the southern CA area to attend college, but not at the expense of her education and career goals. She has a personal meeting set up with her college adviser this week, so that should help answer a lot of her questions, too. Thanks again!

Oregon and Oregon State also have active systems.

I, like OTW, am wondering which question you want answered. Is it "Which sororities are very active at Western/SW schools?" or "Which schools in the West/SW have active Greek systems?"

Apprently I don't know the lingo because I never joined a sorority....or because I need another cup of coffee!

Let me try to phrase it another way: Are there any schools in the West/Southwest that have great academics where you can also get a rather traditional sorority experience? I gave USC as an example, but wondered about other areas as well. I've received some great answers already, but posted this in case I confused anyone.

I totally agree with Lady Longhorn. There's something not right with the OP. :rolleyes:

Carbonbeach---
There is confusion because you've said several things (some of which are quoted above) that make it seem like YOU'RE the one rushing, rather than your daughter. But then you make a point of saying that your daughter is the one rushing and she has never used your screen name to ask questions...

A-MEN.

Now I see your point. Well, I am "just" the Mom and would like to inform myself from a parent standpoint before she heads off to rush next year. Personally, I don't believe the school websites and one rush informational meeting give parents enough info.

I don't know what to say about my posts sounding like a rushee and Mom alike. I do know some things about Greek life from having attended a very Greek school. Some of my best friends pledged sororities on my campus and we remained friends during school, but their involvement in their sororities and many years and miles have left us long out of touch.

I think what a few of you are really saying is that I sound much too interested in forum posts for a Mom? I get the point. I have to make sure I'm not trying to live what I missed out on (the sorority experience) vicariously through my daughter. I think you might be hinting at that, and if so, you would be entirely right.

However, I can assure you there's nothing more mysterious going on here. If there was, I would have left a long time ago and not chosen to defend my most honest position. Points well taken :)

My family didn't have any information about sorority recruitment, and it worked out fine for me at a So. Cal. school. It really doesn't need to be any of your business. Let your daughter do the legwork...if she doesn't care enough to do her research, so be it.

I re-read some of my posts. It may have also caused confusion that I referred to my very own mother in a post (who attended my alma mater as well), as she always had quite a few interesting stories to tell over the years about early college life when women were in the minority on campus. She has since passed away as well.

My mother always felt guilty she couldn't afford to pay for me to go to college (let alone join a sorority), but I assured her it wasn't her fault. I probably could have pursued financial aid for that as well, but didn't feel I had the time to devote to sorority life. I was overwhelmed after my father died with all I had to do for her -- teaching her to drive, write checks, etc. while attending a very difficult school.

I only tell you *that* story so you know why I tend to be too *active* in making sure my daughter has a great college experience. Even my husband has had to remind me to lay off on occasion, so I accept your wise suggestions as well. No harm was ever meant, I assure you. Thanks again to everyone!

Still confused.
:confused:

Last try: My daughter has expressed an interest in rushing next year, but has not shown enough interest to research here or anywhere else, certainly not at this point. I had hoped to gather some info here myself to help her and to help my husband and I in understanding sorority life. I think some interest is very legit, especially since we would be the ones paying for her sorority experience.

Coming from California we hear a lot of really WILD Greek stories (even from a very well respected Cali school) directly from parents of Greek students, and I wanted to be more informed before she rushed next year.

End of my story. My questions have been answered.

Yeah- what she said. If your daughter wants to be involved in the greek system as a college student, then she should be the one doing the work.

Worry about getting her out of high school and into college before what kind of recruitment experience she'll have. Your questions might be appropriate a year from now.

carbonbeach81 plays the mom on GC, but not on Yahoo: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2104255AAucHWq

OTW. I'm flattered you're intrigued enough that you're stalking me outside this forum. Your research skills parallel my own, with the sole difference that I know when to show decorum and restraint.

I don't expect you to believe me because your intent seems more to harass me, but my daughter and I sat down to write that Yahoo post together. She had the questions, wondered about colleges and the necessity of retaking the SAT, and I suggested posting it online. We worked together, side by side on the computer, that day.

It literally amazes me (meant nicely) that you think a student would try to "pose" as a Mom/student alternately or otherwise on this forum. What would be the advantage? Why wouldn't my daughter just be herself on this forum and yet remain anonymous as most students do? What's to gain from acting like a Mom if I'm not?

We're very close with our daughter. I'm not going to apologize for that because my husband and I are very proud she's grown up as a lovely, giving, intelligent, and pure-hearted young woman.

However, I have given up trying to convince you that I'm a Mom. :)

Thank you very much to all the women who helped me so graciously in the style of true sisterhood.

Google isn't stalking. Going to the Department of Health and requesting public records is stalking.

How long did it take for you to come up with this post to try to cover your ass? That's the sucky thing about lying. One lie leads to another lie that leads to another lie because eventually you have to put in the effort to cover all bases so that it isn't obvious that you lied in the first place.

A lot of fwap fwaps lie about being PNMs so they can get recruitment information without being labeled a fwap fwap. :rolleyes:

And I guess I'm puzzled why you "and your daughter" would post on yahoo questions when you have no idea who is answering you or what their level of knowledge or authority is. Don't schools have guidance counselors anymore? Your daughter can sit with her counselor, review her stats and assess what she needs for the schools she's interested in. You can justify what you're doing all you want, but like it or not, you are absolutely defining the over-involvement of a helicopter parent. You said in a past post your daughter isn't even thinking about greek life yet so YOU decided YOU need to start doing all the research for her. If she's not that interested, that's her deal. Fwap. Fwap. Fwap.

Collegeboard.com and princetonreview.com might be able to assess your daughter's chances at certain schools. You don't define "more selective", which will mean different things to different people. I think "legacy" status might mean more if said parent donates to the University in question.

Sorry, I'm not buying it either. When someone shows up out of the blue and only initiates posts about status, Greek secrets, Pledged and other things that are generally associated with negative stereotypes of Greeks, I am always going to be suspicious. When "mom" and "daughter" can't seem to keep their stories and identities straight in this and other places online, it only adds fuel to that suspicion.

If indeed this is a mom only, you need to stop being so concerned about your DD's possible Greek affiliation. Like I said in a previous post, you/she needs to concentrate on getting her SAT scores up and enjoying her senior year of high school. You are coming off as someone trying to rewrite their aborted rush and Greek experience through their DD.

And I have to say it. ARITY?

Define traditional.

Let's keep on topic folks....

USC has a "traditional" Greek experience. Many lovely traditions there.

washington state university is pretty active :]