Should you join a "lower tier" sorority?

[DubaiSis]

Originally Posted by BrandNewAdvisor

If all those girls that suicided decided to join my chapter it would have never gotten as bad as it did and could have turned around so much faster.

I don't necessarily agree with this. Although I definitely have said similar things here, the fact is it takes a lot of work to make those kinds of changes, and some girls just don't want to do the work.

During formal rush at the small house I ended up pledging I was told pretty much straight up, "we're small, but you can take on a leadership role much sooner with us" and that part is definitely true. I wish the smaller houses would be more straight forward in acknowledging their size. It will turn off some girls but might turn on the lightbulb for girls who might see the value in the smaller group. The girls aren't blind so you might as well just address the situation.

[BlueCarnation]

When I joined my sorority, I had some clue about who was considered "top tier" but I just wanted to be in a sorority and I preffed at the ones where I liked the girls. Looking back now, I guess my chapter would have been considered in the "lower tier," but I certainly didn't think so. We had leaders on Panhel, we were a big house, we won a lot of campus awards, and we had lots of fun parties. And we had a very close sisterhood. From what I hear now, we are considered one of the "top tier" on campus and the houses that I would have considered "top" are now "lower." It seems like it changes every year. It's so hard to keep track, and frankly I don't think it should matter.

Like others have said, I guess it depends on why you're joining a sorority. You make the experience what it is. And what may be "top" on your campus may not be elsewhere.

[blueberrymuffin]

I would like to share with you an experience I had with a "lower tier" chapter. I just transferred to a big state university as a junior and a new colony was recruiting for its first new member class. There was talk in the dorm that all the sororities made quota in formal recruitment except one and that one was a "lower tier" chapter. I thought it might be a good idea to see if this chapter would be interested in me so I spoke to a woman in Greek Life about this and she said she would contact this chapter and see if they would be interested in talking to me. I told her I did not expect them to just give me a bid but just meet with me and see if we would be a good fit for each other. They never got back to me and I joined the new colony. I am very happy being a new member of the colony and don't know or care what "tier" we are in because I really like the other new members and we are all very excited about the future of the colony but I just wonder why this "lower tier" chapter didn't even think they should even talk to me.

[littleowl33]

Originally Posted by blueberrymuffin

I would like to share with you an experience I had with a "lower tier" chapter. I just transferred to a big state university as a junior and a new colony was recruiting for its first new member class. There was talk in the dorm that all the sororities made quota in formal recruitment except one and that one was a "lower tier" chapter. I thought it might be a good idea to see if this chapter would be interested in me so I spoke to a woman in Greek Life about this and she said she would contact this chapter and see if they would be interested in talking to me. I told her I did not expect them to just give me a bid but just meet with me and see if we would be a good fit for each other. They never got back to me and I joined the new colony. I am very happy being a new member of the colony and don't know or care what "tier" we are in because I really like the other new members and we are all very excited about the future of the colony but I just wonder why this "lower tier" chapter didn't even think they should even talk to me.

It may not be that they didn't want to talk to you - it may be that the message never got to the appropriate person, or that they weren't sure what you wanted (if they were not in the recruitment period). Honestly, sometimes things fall through the cracks. We had an alum fairly upset with us because she tried to contact us about her daughter, who was a freshman interested in rushing, and we never got back to her. It turns out she was emailing an old email address that we don't use anymore. I'm glad you're happy with your new colony! Just don't be too hard on the other group.

[BrandNewAdvisor]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I don't necessarily agree with this. Although I definitely have said similar things here, the fact is it takes a lot of work to make those kinds of changes, and some girls just don't want to do the work.

During formal rush at the small house I ended up pledging I was told pretty much straight up, "we're small, but you can take on a leadership role much sooner with us" and that part is definitely true. I wish the smaller houses would be more straight forward in acknowledging their size. It will turn off some girls but might turn on the lightbulb for girls who might see the value in the smaller group. The girls aren't blind so you might as well just address the situation.

All is an exaggeration.
But my chapter was in a position that one or two more people every recruitment over the 6 or 7 year decline would have made a world of difference. If the chapter wasn't so bad it wouldn't have needed all the effort it took for a major overhaul.
The leadership angle was a selling point but it didn't override that it would be leadership in that chapter. Once in the chapter there were quite a few resignations of girls who were burnt out there was never a semester where you could not hold at least one position. It was all work and no fun and it was known around campus that that was the case. It was hard to meet people outside of the chapter because it was hard to be involved in anything else.
It's harder to make a connection with PNMs when there's one active to 3 of them. Fixing that issue greatly increased our retention rates. My school used deferred recruitment so most girls going through formal had connections with girls in other chapters. My chapters members weren't involved in other groups, and just generally didn't socialize outside of there already established circle so they didn't have advance connections. Basically we didn't connect with girls before recruitment and weren't doing a good job during.

For PNMs thinking about a lower tiered chapter: It takes a lot of work but I don't want to make it sound intimidating because it isn't. My chapter even at its smallest was incredibly loving and supportive. The sisterhood was strong we just had to let everyone else know that. Most of things we did to turn the chapter around were fun and I would have been doing them anyway. We just had to be louder about our affliation while doing it.

[Save Ferris]

Why don't we reverse the question? Should you join a "higher tier" sorority? Should that make a difference to you?

If your feelings are genuine about the sorority you hope to join, tiers aren't important. I understand that not all PNMs think like this and worry about what other people think of them.

Should you join a "lower tier" sorority? I would say yes, but only if you truly like them. If you don't like them because of lack of connection, you don't belong there and SHOULDN'T join them. If you connect with them and don't join because of worrying about what people think of you, that's stupid.


(And by "you", I'm just speaking in general)

[DubaiSis]

I think the point is moot about whether or not you should join a top tier chapter. Everyone wants to be one of the popular girls, so that's the easy decision. The tough decision is to bite the bullet and join the smaller or less impressive one. There are things that are great about joining a smaller house and as we all know joining a sorority is a great thing in general, so joining a smaller group may not get you that "top girl on campus" reputation, but you'll still get loving support, sisterhood, lifelong friendships, etc.

And I think that's where the rubber meets the road for a PNM. For some girls, like it or not, they are just never going to be comfortable being known as a member of a less than prestigious chapter. And I think that's a shame, but that's me. And I think the lightbulb comes on (am I mixing metaphors again?) when it's basically too late in their college careers to make it right.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

And I think the lightbulb comes on (am I mixing metaphors again?) when it's basically too late in their college careers to make it right.

But that's what AI is for, right?


[Running for cover]

[lyresandpearls4]

Here is my input on the tier situation. I attend a very competitive, greek-oriented SEC school and my sorority is considered "lower-tier". We have the same numbers and involvement as any other sorority, plenty of wonderful and beautiful girls, we are just not considered "top tier". As far as the sororities go, all of them pretty much have relatively the same numbers and involvement. I can tell you that the tiers are essentially made up by a few fraternity men as a "who would you rather f*ck" (excuse the inappropriateness but that really is the best way to put it). They put the sorority with the reputation for the hottest girls on top and then go down from there. They are also long-standing; they have been the same for many years and really aren't subject to change. Although the tiers do exist, many fraternity men at my school really do judge you based on you, your personality, and your appearance, and not by your sorority. The Panhellenic woman all have great relations with each other and don't care a bit about the tiers. I have friends in numerous sororities and fraternities of all tiers and which chapter I am in has never affected that. I am also part of an amazing sisterhood that I wouldn't be the same person without. Any advice I can give to PNM's is that just ignore tiers, reputations, stereotypes, etc. and just join where you fit. I am beyond happy with my chapter and couldn't see myself anywhere else. I am lucky to be a part of my sisterhood. If I had gone through rush only choosing by tiers I can guarantee you I would not be half as happy as I am today.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by lyresandpearls4

Any advice I can give to PNM's is that just ignore tiers, reputations, stereotypes, etc. and just join where you fit. I am beyond happy with my chapter and couldn't see myself anywhere else. I am lucky to be a part of my sisterhood. If I had gone through rush only choosing by tiers I can guarantee you I would not be half as happy as I am today.

Good advice for any PNM.