Alabama Sorority Costs...Can anyone help?

[AlphaFrog]

Ya know - sometimes life's not fair and one sibling doesn't get what another one does.

These kids are not ENTITLED for their parents to pay for ANYTHING anymore - school, sorority, and the clothes on their back are THEIR responsibility as legal adults. If this girl wants to be in a sorority bad enough, she may need to get a job (regardless of whether her major prescribes), take out a loan, or forgo this year and work and save all summer and take her chances as a sophomore.

Quit acting like this sorority is this mom's obligation. It's not. She's not a bad mom for choosing to be able to make her mortgage payments rather than fund her daughter's social life.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Ya know - sometimes life's not fair and one sibling doesn't get what another one does.

These kids are not ENTITLED for their parents to pay for ANYTHING anymore - school, sorority, and the clothes on their back are THEIR responsibility as legal adults. If this girl wants to be in a sorority bad enough, she may need to get a job (regardless of whether her major prescribes), take out a loan, or forgo this year and work and save all summer and take her chances as a sophomore.

Quit acting like this sorority is this mom's obligation. It's not. She's not a bad mom for choosing to be able to make her mortgage payments rather than fund her daughter's social life.

!!!!!

[MaggieXi]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Ya know - sometimes life's not fair and one sibling doesn't get what another one does.

These kids are not ENTITLED for their parents to pay for ANYTHING anymore - school, sorority, and the clothes on their back are THEIR responsibility as legal adults. If this girl wants to be in a sorority bad enough, she may need to get a job (regardless of whether her major prescribes), take out a loan, or forgo this year and work and save all summer and take her chances as a sophomore.

Quit acting like this sorority is this mom's obligation. It's not. She's not a bad mom for choosing to be able to make her mortgage payments rather than fund her daughter's social life.

^^^This.^^^
Sometimes things happen financially - a job loss, a recession, that bonus you thought you were getting - your company can no longer afford, unforeseen medical costs. These "kids" are adults and these are real problems that many many families face. While parents might want to give their kids everything, sometimes, other things come first - like having a roof over their head, or medical insurance.
Maybe if kids understood that they are part of the family and that they may have to make sacrifices too sometimes, we wouldn't have a generation of super special snowflakes.
I've been watching this thread and I'm angered by what some people are implying and clearly some people are projecting their own family issues on this woman who is trying to do right by her daughter. And I'm sorry, shame on any Panhellenic who does not outline approximate (notice I said "approximate" so don't get all over me by saying you can't compare the costs because every chapter includes different things) costs prior to recruitment beginning so families can make a decision about what works for them and what their adult child should be responsible for. Someone give me a good reason why Panhellenic does not require all sororities to make their financial responsibilities (and what it includes/doesn't include) available prior to recruitment registration? (And don't say "thats how it is and always been in the SEC").

[DZsis&mom]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

Someone give me a good reason why Panhellenic does not require all sororities to make their financial responsibilities (and what it includes/doesn't include) available prior to recruitment registration? (And don't say "thats how it is and always been in the SEC").

Agree. FSU publishes this on their Greek Life Page under parent information. Why is it so difficult for all Panhellenics to do the same?

http://greeklife.fsu.edu/Documents/r...20Finances.pdf

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by DZsis&mom

Agree. FSU publishes this on their Greek Life Page under parent information. Why is it so difficult for all Panhellenics to do the same?

http://greeklife.fsu.edu/Documents/r...20Finances.pdf

I'm just quoting again, because this is SO true. Ours were all in the recruitment booklet itself.

[pbear19]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Ya know - sometimes life's not fair and one sibling doesn't get what another one does.

These kids are not ENTITLED for their parents to pay for ANYTHING anymore - school, sorority, and the clothes on their back are THEIR responsibility as legal adults. If this girl wants to be in a sorority bad enough, she may need to get a job (regardless of whether her major prescribes), take out a loan, or forgo this year and work and save all summer and take her chances as a sophomore.

Quit acting like this sorority is this mom's obligation. It's not. She's not a bad mom for choosing to be able to make her mortgage payments rather than fund her daughter's social life.

Yes, yes, yes!!! There were plenty of things I wanted in college but couldn't have because my parents couldn't afford it. I didn't fault them for it. I understood that they did the best they could with the money they had, and if I wanted more, I worked for it and earned the money myself. If this mom honestly thought that the cost of being in a sorority was X and it turned out to be X*2, she's not the worst mom on the planet and shouldn't be expected to go into all kinds of debt. We aren't talking about an extra $100, we're talking about thousands. I gather that some people in this thread have never really lived on a tight budget, but for some families, thousands of dollars a year can mean the difference between eating or not eating.