Quote:
Originally posted by 33girl
I was going to say that my understanding had always been that the NPHC outlook was like buying couture - if you have to ask, you can't afford it - but I didn't want to ass-ume. 
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That depends on the specific organization and the campus culture. Many NPHCers will not find something wrong with someone asking for a cost--even if they can only give the person a ballpark figure if the info isn't on the national website.
I personally have never had an aspirant ask me about cost and we never discussed cost at our "so you want to be Greek" panel discussions. People express more concern with GPA, community service--mostly things that they can find on our national websites. If it isn't on our national website then it's obviously something that you don't find out about until a later time.
As far as people's readiness to pay, wise people will begin saving their money as soon as they realized they wanted to pursue an organization--hopefully a year or so before they actually get enough college credits to do so.
Other people will sell items or know who they can go to for the money--or make other exceptions, being the resourcefully intelligent college or post-college people that they are. But, it isn't like Mission Impossible where they get a mysterious phone call in which they find out the cost 24 hours before the money is due.
If they can't afford to pursue membership, they will wait until next year or the year after that or the year after that. Many of us had organizations in our hearts but had to wait patiently until the time was right for whatever reasons.