[FSUZeta]

flowerchild,

regarding the fsu meal plan, i believe if you search on the fsu website you can find the answer to your question. i am not sure that the school makes adjustments for greek members. after all, they lose $$ if they refund your money so you can eat at your house. some of the sororities will make slight allowances for girls who have the university meal plan, but not all .

you would begin taking your meals at the house right after bid day, and you would want to. it is one of the best ways to get the new members over to the house. it will feel awkward the first couple of weeks of your pledgeship(new membership sounded too weird!)as you get to know your new member class and the sisters, so having the excuse of dining at the house can work as a wonderful ice breaker.

you are not required to eat breakfast over there(that is just for in-house girls) but would eat lunch and dinner at the house. the sorority food is great, most houses offer a salad bar at lunch and dinner plus a hot meal & you are able to keep abreast of the upcoming events and activities and learn the "lay of the land."

People will not require you to buy designer clothes. you may be required to wear a sorority shirt on a certain day(everyone in the sorority will do the same), or dress up for class in nice clothes(referred to as "pin attire") and wear your pledge pin. again, the whole sorority will be doing this.

you may be required to purchase certain outfits, or individual items of clothing for formal recruitment-there is a certain look that the chapter is going for each day of recruitment. the chapters do try to be mindful to keep the cost down and they generally give broad guidelines-"everyone needs to get a solid pink t-shirt and a pair of khaki bermuda shorts for philanthrophy day. the shirts can be any shade of pink and can have any neckline, but should be short-sleeved." that way it doesn't matter if you buy it at a major department store or at target-as long as it fits those perimeters, you are o.k.
sometimes the sorority is able to buy in bulk, which will keep the cost down. you may be required to purchase t-shirts at certain times of the year-some sororities include those costs in your dues while others charge separately for t-shirts.

it is good that you won't have to work your first semester. that is the time to get a good gpa established. i do know plenty of girls who work, go to school, are sorority members and participate in other campus activities AND have good gpa's. it is doable-you just have to be organized.

good luck with recruitment. all the chapters at fsu have great sisterhood and lots of support and fun activities to offer their members.