Alabama Sorority Costs...Can anyone help?

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by bamamama14

My daughter's dues run about $3500.00 per semester easy!! That includes $300.00 per semester slush fund for zaps and t-shirts. Freshman year was even more, at least $4000.00 per semester. I told her if she wanted to go abroad in the future, to quit buying t-shirts.

$1500.00 a semester meal plan
$800.00 house fees
525.00 dues
$300.00 10k gold and pearl pin
$300.00 shirts and zaps
a lifetime of memories and friendship... priceless

So if they are paying for a meal plan at the house, do they get their money back from the university for that meal plan? Or are they buying two meal plans? Just curious. Because that makes a big difference. That seems less than what you pay for a dorm meal plan (at Hypo's school anyway). And, you wouldn't really count that as "sorority fees" if you have to pay it to *someone* either way. If you're paying it twice, that's a different story.

If you don't count the meal plan, got a cheaper badge (you could always upgrade it as a graduation gift or something), and reduced your shirts and photos, you could get by paying considerably less.

[UGAalum94]

I think that in our comments to the OP, some of us maybe be letting our frustrations show with all the folks that signed up for greek life, pledge and maybe got initiated, and then dropped out because of completely foreseeable costs and who we suspected/knew just preferred to spend the money differently after they got a little bored.

However, in this case, we have someone who is trying to figure out in advance if she can honor the commitment that the group expects but she can't figure out exactly what it is.

I do understand the OP's concern, and frankly, I'm surprised that the groups don't all have this published someplace. There would still be some problems because of the difference is what people count as "dues" that might not really be set, with the zaps and t-shirt stuff being one and the meals you'd have to pay for elsewhere if you didn't eat at the house being some of those things. But you could give people ball park costs.

On the other hand, folks in the thread are completely correct, jll, that even if you get the info that there not much you can do with other than maybe not accept a final bid, unless your daughter is one of the very fortunate ones who gets invited to all of the chapters.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by AGDee

So if they are paying for a meal plan at the house, do they get their money back from the university for that meal plan? Or are they buying two meal plans? Just curious. Because that makes a big difference. That seems less than what you pay for a dorm meal plan (at Hypo's school anyway). And, you wouldn't really count that as "sorority fees" if you have to pay it to *someone* either way. If you're paying it twice, that's a different story.

If you don't count the meal plan, got a cheaper badge (you could always upgrade it as a graduation gift or something), and reduced your shirts and photos, you could get by paying considerably less.

Yes, UofA offers a greek (reduced) meal plan (which does help offset the cost of the sorority meal plan):

http://bamadining.ua.edu/pages/terms...tions.html#all

So Bamamama14's costs for sorority meal plan and house fees are $2300 per semester -- which includes meals -- other costs appear to be related primarily to one-time initiation (in style), new member national fees (should drop to about $175 thereafter -- annually), and frills.

There are always "extras" for sure (t-shirts for every occasion, formal, etc). But I don't see any way a freshman would need to spend 4k per semester.

[AXOmom]

I get not wanting to nickel and dime your child to death, but it isn't going to kill them to nickel and dime it A LITTLE. The $600 to $800 in pins t-shirts and zaps (wth???) seems WAY high. I mean - these kids have digital cameras and i-phones, why do they need a professional pictures at every event? That seems like a huge waste, but if a parent has it to blow in this economy - good for them.

Jll - Speaking as a parent who doesn't have it to blow and is currently paying off some of our two children's college loans, I get that it isn't as simple as selling something or just figuring out a way to do it, and if you're like me, you gave up lattes and every other little extra you could think of just to get your child in school and help pay for it, but here are some suggestions:

a) If you/she are paying for any part of her schooling with loans and/or grants - those loans and grants will be paying for her housing one way or another, so whenever she lives in the house - they will be paying for that just as they would for a dorm (and the houses are almost always cheaper - don't even get me started on what a rip off dorm costs can be), so realize that while the first year seems like a lot of money - particularly when she is paying new member fees (which won't come up again), it will be much less if she continues.

b) She may not be able to work during the school year (although as was mentioned, my daughter has plenty of sisters with heavy schedules, internships, involvement, etc who still worked), but she can work in the summer to at least pay for the t-shirts, pins, trips, incidentals and maybe help out with some of the other fees.

c) If she can't pay it for it herself while she is in school - work out a plan for her to pay you back when she gets out. We told our daughter she would have to pay for everything sorority related that wasn't involved in her cost of living (which we would have been doing with or without the sorority). She couldn't pay it all during school, but now that she's starting her career and making money - $100 a month, every month until that amount is covered.

d) The incidentals (t-shirts, etc) are fun for them the first year and will probably run you more that year (I still think $600-800 is high and far more than we ever came close to spending, but we weren't at an SEC school). After a while, though, they start to take the attitude, "You've seen one t-shirt, you've seen them all." Mine wasn't buying many incidentals at all by junior year and none by senior (maybe one). She had t-shirts, memorbilia, pictures, you name it, coming out the ying-yang. Most of them are in boxes now.

What does she treasure most? The cards her sisters made for her, her 21-oner book, and the pictures they took on their phones and cameras that she posted on Facebook (none of which cost a dime). The pin is a one time thing and we spent nowhere close to $300 for it.

e) Clothes for recruitment were an expense - she paid for all of these with her summer work money.

I hope that gives you some ideas and helps. I know parents want to let their kids know up front what they can and can't afford. That's a good thing - but at the same time- you don't want to add more stress to an already stressful situation. You did agree to let her do this, so the only thing you can do now is help her figure out how to work it out. At the very least she will understand that you may, in fact, have to nickel and dime it a little, and she will understand she can't have every discretionary item available.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by AGDee

So if they are paying for a meal plan at the house, do they get their money back from the university for that meal plan? Or are they buying two meal plans?

Students who pledge a sorority or fraternity are allowed to change meal plans to a smaller plan, since they will be eating most meals at the house. You can eliminate it completely, but it does fill in a few of the meals for which the house is closed.