Life in A Sorority House

[CASIGKAP]

What is it like to live in a sorority house? I plan on moving in to ours in the fall but I would like to know what to expect. Please be honest. I want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I have not shared a room with anyone in over 7 years so I tend to be a bit selfish with my personal space. I know I'll have to make adjustments so any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thank You All for Helping Me Out!

[CardinalSM]

How many girls live in your house? Do you share rooms or have your own? Do you have access to a kitchen, laundry, common area? Do you have a house parent or staff or no-one other than sisters?

We all have different experiences living in our houses. If you give just a leetle more detail about what your house is like we can probably give you a better picture!

[xonikki]

I'm living in my house next year too! It'll be the third year in a row (at school) that I've shared a room, but no matter how small the room is, it'll be a lot better than the tiny rooms I've had the past two years now! I think there's around 36 girls or so that live in, most are double rooms except the president is the only one guaranteed a single (some girls get singles second semester when others go abroad, but it's rare) and there is a room or two that could be quads or triples, depending on how many girls want to live in. There's 2 floors of bedrooms with a communal bathroom on each floor. The main floor has the formal sitting room and tv room, and also our house mother's office thing (I've never been back there, so I don't know exactly what's there). Downstairs is our kitchen, study room, and laundry. We have a cook and a small waitstaff and I think they have cleaning people too every once in a while.

I'm a little nervous since I don't know a lot of the girls all that well (considering they're from my lil sis's pledge class) and the house rules are sometimes stricter than the dorms even (when I've lived in an apt pretty freely for a year now). But I think it's an experience that you have to have if it's possible and it's a great way to get to know more of the girls better! Plus, I'm looking forward to living closer to more greeks and closer to a lot of things around campus.

[bruinaphi]

I lived in for three years in a house with 55 other women. My mantra was "you have the rest of your life to live in an apartment. When else can you live with 55 of your closest friends?" It was an awesome experience and I'd recommend it to anyone. We only had one single and it was the President's room. We had quite a few 2 and 3 girl rooms, two four girl rooms, one five girl and one six girl. We got rid of our sleeping porch the year before I moved in so we thought we were really fortunate to get to sleep in our rooms as sophomores.

As for sharing space, it really depends on your chapter house. There are some houses where you can find spaces that are all yours. Mine wasn't really one of them. Of course there were people who we knew needed more personal space and we tried to give it to them but they knew that the house was not the optimal place to find it.

The greatest thing about living in (in a large chapter particularly) was how you got to know people when you all had papers due on the same day or had similar midterm schedules. Also, we had to change rooms each quarter, so I got to live with people who I didn't know as well and became very close to people I might not otherwise have taken the time to get to know.

Good luck!

[TigerLilly]

Originally posted by bruinaphi
(snip)Also, we had to change rooms each quarter, so I got to live with people who I didn't know as well and became very close to people I might not otherwise have taken the time to get to know.

Wow, so you had to change rooms 4 times a year? Pack up all your stuff and move it all into a different room? How much havoc did that create? I see how it would be good to live with a number of girls, but wasn't it stressful to have to move all the time?

[bruinaphi]

We lived in 3 different rooms each year (the fourth quarter is summer quarter and you can't live in). It didn't cause that much chaos b/c we were used to dealing with it. After a number of years it becomes campus culture. You arranged with the people who were in the room you were moving to and made sure your stuff was out of your room and either in the hallway or in your new room by the time the house closed after finals. It was a pain, but it wasn't impossible (otherwise half the chapters on campus wouldn't have this policy).

I did manage to live in one room and get 3 sets of roomies my second year. I really enjoyed not having to move but it is kind of fun to live in different rooms with different personalities.

[ISUKappa]

If you're used to having a room to yourself, it's going to be different and it's going to be difficult--especially at first. You now have two or more personalities, schedules and preferences to live with that may be completely different than your own. Don't expect things to be perfect; you're not going to be watching chick flicks and giving each other manicures every night of the week. Expect there to be compromises, from you and from your roommates. Be courteous, be respectful. And always remember you're living in a houseful of women. There are going to be hormones flying about everywhere. There are going to be catty statements made and feelings will sometimes be hurt. But there will also always be someone there to understand, someone there to listen and someone there who will always call you sister and friend. Also keep an open mind. Someone who you are best friends with may not be a great roommate and someone who you don't necessarily know well may be the best roommate you ever have.

I lived in my house for 3.5 years (moved in second semester my freshman year) and switched roommates every semester. I loved living in. I loved having 60-64 other girls (house capacity was 65) there to borrow clothes from, to watch movies with, to go on a Dairy Queen run, to go out with or to do whatever. BUT it wasn't always sunshine and lollipops. There were a few occasions I got into screaming fights with one of my roommates. I wasn't necessarily BFF with all my sisters, and thats OKAY. That's human nature. Your personality isn't going to mesh 100% perfectly with everyone elses' in your chapter. That's one of the best advantages to living in a sorority house--you learn how to live and be around people who you aren't always going to get along or agree with and how to deal courteously with them.

[honeychile]

We had a suite, not a house, but I still would highly recommend that everyone in a sorority tries living in at least one semester! You'll see everyone at their best and at their worst, and strangely, it will be some of the worst times that you'll remember fondly in the years to come.

I had never shared a room in my life, and was able to adjust with a minimum of stress.

The biggest stressor I can remember was during Recruitment, when people wouldn't show up for decorating beforehand, so those who were already there got stuck with doing it - again and again!

Have fun!

[KDKatie318]

Originally posted by CASIGKAP
What is it like to live in a sorority house? I plan on moving in to ours in the fall but I would like to know what to expect. Please be honest. I want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I didn't live in a house, I lived on a sorority hall. I absolutely loved living with my sisters and it was a wonderful chance to get to know them better, but everyone borrowed stuff and never returned it, especially clothes! I'd do it again though, even with my missing clothing!

[LionTamer]

One of the high points of living with your sisters is the fun of getting ready for formals and parties together.
"Does anyone know how to shorten a dress in 5 minutes?"
"Anyone have a black handbag they're not using?"
"Are you wearing that pink dress? Do you think anyone would recogmize it if I wore it?"

One of the few advantages to not having a house, but living on a sorority floor in a dorm and having a chapter suite in the same building: you could eat meals with friends outside the sorority (male and female) when you needed some space.

[chideltjen]

i give you ladies a lot of credit. there is no way in HELL I could handle 35+ roommates.

Houses here are a foreign concept. There is one sorority that actually has a house and it fits like 6 girls.

i wish you the best.

[AchtungBaby80]

I loved the sorority house--I wish I could go back! Just kidding...well, sometimes I really miss it because there were always people around and I never got lonely. If I needed help with something, anything, there was usually someone there who could help me out. I also felt more "in the loop" with sorority business, because living in the house it was hard to get away from it and I always knew if there was something going on, where and what time. It was awesome! I would recommend it, even if it's just for one year. I lived there only 2 years, but I wish it had been longer. Plus, the house was a lot nicer than the dorms, oh yes.

Some stuff you might want to try and prepare yourself for, though, is the fact that there are so many people around 24/7. That can be good, but it can also be a little annoying sometimes if you're like me--I need my space. I generally got along OK as long as everyone stayed out of my stuff, and the girls I lived with were pretty good about that. I never had anyone rooting around in my closet without permission or anything. Also, the house rules were a little more strict than dorm rules...and our kitchen was locked after 9 pm. That really sucked, because if you came in from a night class and were hungry, you'd better have some popcorn in your room or something because you weren't getting into the kitchen. I went hungry a lot my first year because there were some girls who were hogs with the food, and when I had to miss dinner because of class, there were never any leftovers when I came back. It was OK after they moved out, though.

[gphib_95]

I lived in the my sorority house two years. We were required to live there at least one year. The house can hold anywhere from 15 to 30 girls depending on how many girls wanted single rooms. I had a roommate both years. Upstairs we had a laundry room with two washers and dryers, a TV room (which didn't get a lot of use because everyone had a TV in their room), the computer room, and a communal bathroom with four showers, one tub and 6 toilets. Downstairs we had the formal living room, the informal living room (where everyone gathered at lunch to watch Days of our lives ), the mailroom, the dinning room, the housemothers living quarters and a guest suite. We had a full time wait staff that cooked us three meals a day and cleaned the house everyday (except our rooms). It was nice to always have a sister around when you need someone. And there was always plenty to do. Looking back now, I didn't realize how good I had it!

[CardinalSM]

I live in right now and I love it. Our house is different from typical sorority houses though. We have 10 single rooms arranged suite style (6 upstairs 4 down). Each suite has a full bathroom, 2 sinks, tub, shower, cabinets, huge mirror, the works. Our rooms are a pretty decent size, plenty big for one person. We have a kitchen, laundry room, guest bathroom, office, storage closets, and a chapter/living/den sort of room. The house is definitely big enough for 10 girls. We don't have any sort of staff other than the campus cleaning ladies who come on Fridays and "clean" the common areas (at least I think that's what they do, you cant really tell). We also do not have an RA or a house mother. Other than the standing house rules we set our own as a house at the beginning of every semester and every one is expected ot abide by them. We also have weekly chores on a rotation basis that we are responsible for. I guess our house is probably a little quieter than the bigger ones. I guess it depends on the personality of the girls in here. Upstairs are us loud ones (except for one studious suite) and the more reserved girls are downstairs this semester. Next fall the only suite moving out/graduating is the studious suite which is being replaced by 2 more loud ones! Occasionally we all freak out on each other but this normally occurs at about the same time every month when our hormones hate us so we hate everyone else! But we get plenty of alone time having our own rooms, but together time whenever we need it. The good thing about being in the house is that it is the central location for sorority activities and info so there are always the other 65 sisters coming in and out. I love living in the house, I have lived there this half of my soph year and will be in it definitely next fall and possibly next spring. I think everyone who gets the opportunity to live in should go for it!

[PhiPsiRuss]

This thread needs testimonies, and pictures, of the pillow fights.