Competitive? Or a Different Term?

[HQWest]

I think I know what you are talking about, and I guess the way to say it is as above - highly tiered. Where one tier is considered SO much more desirable that the other chapters aren't worth consideration. I have heard it before and I guess it strikes me like "if I don't get in to Harvard - I'm not going to college?"

If they really wanted to find a sisterhood - shouldn't they be able to find a home with other girls with similar ideals and interests? where they have more in common? In a big greek system - they should be able to find a connection somewhere?

The example here I guess is the chapter that has a extraordinarily large percentage of legacies in every pledge class. Wouldn't it be weird to be the 1 girl who isn't a legacy? To not have your mom or sister come to initiation? Why would you want to squeeze into something that you can't quite fit?

[33girl]

How many groups are there total?

If there are 6 or 7, I would call the campus "a living illustration of the demise of the middle class." It reminds me of something I read in a Rolling Stone article ages ago: you're either a superstar or a slave. If Greek life doesn't provide anything other than slightly increased social interaction (i.e. your living options are not appreciably nicer, Greek life in general is not viewed positively by the administration or the school, it doesn't really get you anywhere in other extracurriculars, you can have a successful social life without being Greek) and the majority of the women rushing are working-class, it may be as simple as they don't see the point of spending the money.

If there are 13 or so sororities, though, I would not put too fine a point on it and would just call it "Stupid Bitch Heaven."

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by HQWest

If they really wanted to find a sisterhood - shouldn't they be able to find a home with other girls with similar ideals and interests? where they have more in common? In a big greek system - they should be able to find a connection somewhere?

I've argued for awhile that at schools where chapters are above say 75 women, that we could probably randomly assign women to chapters and it would all work out fine. Once the chapters get to a certain size, I think "fit" is kind of a myth. Chapters are more alike than different at that point. Ex: I bet that any PNM at say UA or Ole Miss could join and be happy at any chapter. It's impossible to "not fit in" with close to 300 people.