Okay, here is an update/a little more information:
Grades=the sorority I want to join is ranked 4th out of 20ish houses at my school, and their GPA average is a 3.1, maybe slightly higher. Plus, while I was at the house for recruitment activites, I noticed that a lot of the girls would drop by and chat for a little bit and then say, "Okay, well, I need to go study now!" which made me feel better about that. Also, I was involved in a LOT of activites in high school (choir, theatre, dance team, National Honor Society), so it's been really strange for me NOT to be involved in some sort of activity. Actually, it's really made me lazy as far as doing my homework because I think I'm the type of person that has to schedule out my time, etc. My major is speech, language, and hearing sciences, so it's not an "easy major" but it isn't engineering or anything extremely time consuming. I've been through one round of exams/projects and have come out with mostly Bs and a few As, but I think this has a lot to do with adjusting to college-level work, and I think my grades will improve in time.
Money=I think my dad was just worried about extra costs coming up, but I talked to a girl in the house today while we were tailgating and she said everything is included in the "in-house active fee" like food, room and board, dues, etc. so I think it will be fine.
My mom=Yeah...I think she was just worried that I was making a sudden decision and that I was being influenced by other people (I know 3 girls from my high school in the house right now) and she just wanted to make sure I was thinking for myself. The fact is, all 3 of those girls pretty much told me to make my own decision, rather than the 1000 or so people that discouraged me! Anyway, I'm not a huge party-girl anyway so I don't think I'd get sucked into that lifestyle. My biggest personal fear was that I wouldn't see any of my old friends again.
If you've read this far, congratulations! Haha...I feel like I've written a book, but it's been a crazy emotional roller coaster. Last night I had a complete breakdown while hanging out with some friends, so one of my best friends took me off to the side and we actually wrote out a pro/con list about joining a sorority. (FYI, there were many, many more pros
) Plus, I just get a happy feeling when I reread my bid card (which I have done like a million times!). I've dragged it out long enough so I'll just tell you all: I'm an ALPHA GAMMA DELTA! Yay!
(Oh, and I forgot to mention...my 19th birthday was on Thursday...talk about a sweet birthday present!)