[crescent&pearls]

I think your instincts are probably good- the PNM and the parents probably weren't well informed about the actual costs and/or the number of women who drop out of recruitment solely because of the cost. The number of women who dropped out is probably closer to 110-120 than hundreds.

What always makes me a little crazy about that is Preference Round/Bid day is not the time to be removing yourself from the process if $$$ is an issue for you (or your parents.) Ask those questions BEFORE recruitment and at the ORIENTATION. The Greek Life Office, the Panhellenic Exec officers and the recruitment counselors should all be able to give a PNM a pretty accurate idea of what to expect- not details that are chapter specific, but a good ballpark figure. They want you to be informed, they are not trying to keep it a secret. It's not a case of "if you have to ask you can't afford it" - it's more of a matter of if you didn't get the facts it's because you weren't paying attention or you didn't bother to ask!

I would imagine that nearly every PNM at UCLA has participated in multiple HS extra and co curricular activities like cheer leading, sports, choir, drama, music etc. that involved travel expenses and uniforms etc, and went to social events such as prom and senior banquet, while maintaining a typical teenager social life i.e. going to movies, eating out etc. If you could handle that, you can probably afford to be in a sorority if you're willing to make it a priority and budget carefully.