Colony cost - cheaper??
 

I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong part of the forum, I'm new here!

Chi Omega is colonizing at my school and I am deciding to go through recruitment despite a not so positive rush experience.

I am curious though, based on what you've heard/your experience, does anyone know if the overall cost of pledging a colony is cheaper than if you were to join an established chapter of a sorority?

I couldn't find any info on this (I am waiting for a response from my school's greek rep) but my logic was that since events aren't planned as much and since you aren't given the traditional sorority experience at first, there won't be as many expenses. (I'm not referring to the fact that I would pay less because it started later in the year, that kind of a given.)

You should not be using a sorority's name in your username unless you're a member.

This.

I was in a colony; costs seemed pretty comparable when talking to friends in other, established chapters.

This is a bit of a generalization, but it's probably fair to say that when a sorority colonizes a new chapter, they want them to be successful and will set up dues accordingly to make sure that the new chapter will have the funds to do the same things that other chapters on campus do right off the bat.

It all depends. Sometimes it can actually be a little higher. If the budget was configured for a certain number of NMs and they don't get that many, dues may be higher. Also, each organization has dues that are a little different. Some groups are a little more expensive than others. The take home point is that you can't rely on cost factors when choosing a sorority. The numbers are hard to discern. They aren't fixed.

Yes and going through a colony recruitment does not guarantee membership either. The colony members chosen still have to fit the membership guidelines of the organization and they want a mixture of class standing (seniors, juniors, sophomores, & freshmen). Sometimes a colony recruitment can be harder. Don't go in with a naive outlook.

I wouldn't plan on it costing different. If you're at a school where they don't have houses, all sorority membership is probably pretty affordable and if you are at a school where the houses are massive mansions and the members pay HUGE fees to participate even if they don't live in, colony membership cost is going to be high. Part of the process of developing from a colony to a chapter is financial, and you need to get on even footing with the other chapters as soon as possible. If you are somewhere that requires housing, that means you have to start saving for it right away. Headquarters doesn't just float the cost of a $10 million dollar house. If it's a small system on your campus and you meet in classrooms and you raise $1000/year in philanthropy and formals are not a huge blow-out, then you really need to just have X amount of money in the bank, maybe several thousand dollars.

Just go through the process. They will tell you, probably on the first or second time you meet. Financial responsibility is VERY important and they don't want to pledge anyone who can't afford it so there will be no surprises.

Hold onto this username in case you do join (fingers crossed) but start a new account with a more generic user name (and please not your name) and use that until initiation and installation happen. It's (as you can see above) bad form to use a sorority name that you don't belong to.