costs of sororities at university of alabama - Page 8

baci · #1 08-19-2009, 12:42 PM

From my experience, girls drop the most for the following "main" reasons:

1)transfer to different institution for various reasons
2)money issues
3)grades
4)bad fit (for lack of better words)

baci · #2 08-19-2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baci

From my experience, girls drop the most for the following "main" reasons:

1)transfer to different institution for various reasons
2)money issues
3)grades
4)bad fit (for lack of better words)

In my post I also meant members.

margretlee · #3 08-19-2009, 01:42 PM

I meant members, not rushees. I have two friends that are alums who are very actively involved with their chapters, and they told me that grades & financial are the two main reasons that they see girls drop out.

No, I did not want her to choose one based on price rather than how she felt. I wanted her to find a good fit that was affordable for us. There is a difference. If we were merely shopping for price, I would have been seeking out the lowest priced one. That is absoultely not true. I doubt the old row houses that she took off of her list would have kept her in the end anyway, as they pretty much took their own legacies first. My daughter is intelligent enough to know that if she got in over her head financially, that she would look back and regret that. I think that for you to call what I did unfair is really a good indicator of your total lack of grasp of the situation. You apparently would rather see a really wonderful girl sit off to the side and always and forever wonder what sorority life would have been like, than to see her in a place where she is very happy. Because that is exactly what would happen if she pledged one and we got a bill for $6K per semester. She would have had to withdraw, and I wanted to spare her that embarrassment. This way, she is happy, we are happy, and the sorority is very happy to have her. Why on earth would you want to deprive someone of that experience, just because they cannot afford the most expensive one? That makes zero sense to me. BTW, the only person that matters in this issue is my daughter, and she recognizes the current economic climate, and has never once acted like I was being unfair to her. Besides that, "Life is not always fair." It's a sad fact, but we all have to deal with it at some point or another. Learning to compromise is an essential life skill and I am most proud of my daughter for going through this excercise with grace and dignity.

MysticCat · #4 08-19-2009, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by margretlee

I think that for you to call what I did unfair is really a good indicator of your total lack of grasp of the situation.

Or perhaps a good indicator that your explanations of the situation in your first posts didn't come across quite the way you meant them to, maybe? Just maybe?

honeychile · #5 08-19-2009, 02:22 PM

I haven't read this whole thread, but I did want to assure the OP that most schools with a greek system do offer a financial breakdown, either prior to or at the beginning of recruitment. Maybe your daughter can become involved with the Panhellenic system, and push for that type of information to be distributed in the future.

LatinaAlumna · #6 08-19-2009, 05:14 PM

Margretlee:

I am really glad, for your daughter's sake, that this endeavor worked out. It could have turned out very badly for her. What you should have done, from the BEGINNING, is tell her: "Honey, we have X amount of dollars to give you each year for your sorority membership and expenses. If you join a house that is more expensive, you will need to come up with the difference on your own." Several people told you this, and it is great advice that makes complete sense.

I hope that with your other daughters, you will rethink the approach you took with the first one. It really was not fair to put that kind of pressure on her during recruitment.

margretlee · #7 08-19-2009, 02:02 PM

OK, so we have seen the "average" costs on the UA Panhellenic website. On Panhellenic weekend, some sororities gave out cost sheets. However, not all of them did. We can defintiely afford a sorority, especially one of the "average" cost ones. However, we would prefer to stay in that range, so that she will have plenty of money for clothes, tshirts, etc. Is there anyone here that can tell us which ones are the most expensive ones, or rank them according to approximate
cost?
================================================== =============

We have money allotted for this, so don't need a payment plan, but would love to stay within a certain range, as we have two other kids coming up right behind her!

================================================== ==============
IDK how I could have been any clearer. We have some money set aside, but don't want to exceed it, so we wanted to make sure and stay in that range????????

Nanners52674 · #8 08-19-2009, 04:34 PM

So what house did she join?

Nanners52674 · #9 08-19-2009, 05:15 PM

I've been on GC for a year and I still don't understand the whole "Old Row" thing.

OleMissGlitter · #10 08-19-2009, 05:18 PM

I still don't understand why she couldn't get a job to help offset costs...plenty of sorority girls in the SEC have jobs.

VandalSquirrel · #11 08-19-2009, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OleMissGlitter

I still don't understand why she couldn't get a job to help offset costs...plenty of sorority girls in the SEC have jobs.

This, for eternity!

33girl · #12 08-19-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nanners52674

I've been on GC for a year and I still don't understand the whole "Old Row" thing.

This might help:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...t=32105&page=5

cbm · #13 08-19-2009, 05:42 PM

I cut a good house for $ issues. On house tour day, when there was a Prada bag hanging off every single bed, I knew I would never be able to keep up materialistically, so to speak. I complimented the dress of one of the girls who rushed me. She thanked me and told me that she bought it in Italy because her parents sent her to Italy to go shopping for school clothes every summer.

Although I could have afforded the chapter, I knew I would never be comfortable spending all of my spending money on designer shoes and bags. On the other hand, I wouldn't be comfortable not fitting in with my sisters.

I guess I can agree with the point that you can actually choose to not join a house that you really like due to the costs. If it's a scrape for you to pay the dues and you don't get to do any of the extras, like spring break, game roadtrips, etc., what is the point of joining? I'm glad MargaretLee's daughter found a middle of the road (costwise) house and hope that she will fit in and be happy.

33girl · #14 08-19-2009, 05:48 PM

That's not really the same thing at all. The OP's questions were about housing costs and dues, not what the sisters choose to spend on their own. There's a possibility the chapter with the lowest dues and rent is also the one where the sisters have a Prada bag for every day of the week.

Cgoynehome · #15 05-27-2012, 11:35 PM

I'm a mom and agree with everything you said. Just curious, how did it all turn out? Ie, how does your daughter rate the experience of greeklife at UA and what do you know about the costs?