Perception of sororities nationally

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by TriDeltaSallie

The other night I was reading a couple of different threads and ended up on the old Why is Rush So Cut-throat on the Sororities' End at Large Greek Schools? Very interesting thread. What struck me was the ranking of the sororities by tiers at UTexas which was shared in this comment.

As someone who went to a Big Ten school, the entire southern sorority thing is completely foreign to me. I mean I understand it and I don't understand it. But what was so interesting to me is that these girls are DYING to get into a top tier sorority and if you had given me six guesses, I would NEVER have guessed that Pi Beta Phi would have been THE top group. I mean no disrespect to the Pi Phis here. I know it is an excellent organization. It just never would have occurred to me that it would be the most sought after sorority at Texas. Most of the rest of the list I would have easily guessed, although not in the correct order.

Just an observation that our perception of sororities can vary so much based on our collegiate experience, alumna experience and geography.

You may get flamed for mentioning Pi Phi directly, but I agree with your thought. I know so many people who think that the reputation of a group on their campus is representative of the sorority as a whole which is often far from the truth.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

You may get flamed for mentioning Pi Phi directly, but I agree with your thought. I know so many people who think that the reputation of a group on their campus is representative of the sorority as a whole which is often far from the truth.

I would think that this would have lessened somewhat with the internet.

When I was in school I had NO idea of the biggest groups on my campus was one of the smallest nationally, as they were so prominent on campus and in my state in general. Nowadays, I can go online and see exactly who has how many chapters. I can see which chapters have the pretty girls and which have the not as pretty girls.

Then again, you really can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear online.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by 33girl

When I was in school I had NO idea of the biggest groups on my campus was one of the smallest nationally, as they were so prominent on campus and in my state in general.

And when I joined Tri Delta, it was not a top group on my campus. I went through informal rush and loved the girls there. That's why I joined. I had no real grasp of its strength nationally until I went to our Centennial Convention. (Yes, I'm dating myself.) But I came from a total non-Greek background so I knew very little other than I loved my sorority on my campus. The excellent national reputation was just an unexpected bonus.

[red10]

I've heard advisors on campus tell people not to put which social sorority they were in on their resume/applications for things, just to put "social sorority president", because the person reading your application may think "she was an XYZ? they were *insert stereotype* at my school." and it could affect your chances for things, sad as that is.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Well, I wasn't trying to be inflammatory and tried to word it carefully.

Maybe this would explain it better... If I met a woman and she told me she was a Pi Phi at Texas I would think... Nice organization, never met a Pi Phi I didn't like, and competitive Greek school. I wouldn't have thought "transcendent epitome of sorority membership in the state of Texas" like many women would who are more acquainted with the various reputations of schools in the south.

Again, so much of our thinking is shaped by our experiences and location. That's just the point I was trying to make.