What's your house like?
 

Hi :) I'm not in a sorority (about to start senior year of high school) but I really hope to get into one when I start college. I was just wondering what a sorority house is really like. How many girls to a bedroom? Are the bedrooms bigger than dorms? Is everyone using one bathroom? Do you guys have a kitchen? I'm just curious. I know all sororities are different but I just want to know the general idea or what yours is like. Thanks in advance :)

The problem with this is that it can vary widely depending on where you go to school. Granted I'm in a fraternity, but same concept. For instance my chapter we had a small three story rowhouse, yet one of our other chapters has a castle. so you see it really all depends.

Also on some campuses it can vary widely between different organizations on the campus.

It depends so much on the school that it is not even funny. For instance, I know girls whose chapters don't even have houses, some who have houses that hold 5 or 6 girls and some who have houses that hold close to 80 women. Even at the same school, some sororities may have primarily doubles and another may have primarily quads or other differences.

So true. We had doubles, while another chapter had quads and triples. There was another who had apartment-style rooms with mini kitchens and their own bathrooms. There were 6 housed chapters and each had different arrangements.

It definitely varies based on the size of your school and the popularity of greek life, as well as the live-in policies of that school's chapters

I mean, my house personally you can have a single, double, triple, or quad...but you don't sleep in your room, so it's different. Some houses you do sleep in your rooms. Also most of our houses house 80+ girls so it really depends.

Also, I know some of the chapters at my school have 'photo house tours' on their websites, so perhaps some at your schools of interest do as well. That's a good way to see inside a few of the houses before you go into them, especially if your recruitment doesn't do house tours like mine does.

Can somebody please explain this? I don't understand what she means.

I'm guessing this is referring to what is known at my alma mater as "sleeping porches" - where the women keep their things in one room, and then sleep in a large room with bunk beds. For example, you could have a sleeping porch (which is typically a 24-hour quiet room with a bunch of beds) which sleeps 16 people, and those 16 people keep their stuff in 4 separate rooms (4 people per room). Hopefully that makes sense.

ah. That sounds like it is a really interesting arrangement. Thank You.

There's a whole thread on here somewhere dedicated to sleeping porches. You'll find them in many greek systems where everyone is required to live in. Many people grow to love them!

She's referring to a sleeping porch. Many greek houses have them to hold more people. Basically, it's a large room with rows of bunkbeds where you sleep. Then you have a room you share with someone where you keep your clothes, computer, belongings, ect.

I think it probably seems very odd to people who's schools do not have sleeping porches, but they really aren't as bad as people think. It is actually really nice. You never have to worry about trying to sleep when your roommate[s] is studying/getting ready for class/playing on the computer/ect and vice versa. The room is also kept dark 24/7 so you can nap anytime of day! It also seems like you only ever wake up to your own alarm.

Ok, this is going to sound mean, but as an ex-adviser to my organization and a high school teacher.... you're a senior in high school, concentrate on getting good grades, being active, graduating and getting in to college before you really start worrying about what living in a sorority house is like.

To answer the question, every university is different. Some chapters on some campuses don't have any housing.

We call them cold dorms at IU, but yes, they're 'sleeping porches.' You have your desk/TV/futon/clothes/everything else in your room with your roommate(s), but you sleep in bunk beds in this giant room, in which they keep the windows open at all times but it's always dark. Nice way to nap, in my opinion, and you learn the intricacies of using your cell phone as a flashlight, haha.

I have never even heard of sleeping porches before this thread! That seems so strange to me...it's one of those familiarity things I guess.

I can only speak for the DG house at UGA, but the rooms there were mostly doubles, with some three- or four-girl rooms. The house was three stories; the first floor held the chapter/dining room, the big kitchen, living room, Founder's room, and foyer. The second floor had bedrooms and one community bathroom with big "cubbies" for girls to put their toiletries and things in, and everybody's mailbox was on the second floor too. Oh and there was a study room on the second floor. Then the third floor was the same, but there was a mini-kitchen in lieu of the mailboxes, and the officer's room/guest room was in the place of the study room (although I haven't been in the house too much since its facelift so I'm not sure what they ended up doing with that room). My contribution. :)