im22 transfer wanting to join sorority at USC

[CourtneyA]

well it took me longer than expected to be able to transfer, and i could get in sooner if the California universities that i wanted accepted application for spring term, so i have to wait another year until i can apply to a university for fall term :/ by that time i will be 22. my top schools are USC UCSB and LMU. i will be a junior transfer at that time.
i was wondering if 22 is to old to join a sorority. i really want to, but i dont want it to be awkward either.

[AZTheta]

At 22 you will be older than essentially most of the members. Take a look at the websites, and the photos, etc. for various chapters at those schools.

That said, there are always going to be exceptions if you are a good fit for a chapter and have what they are looking for in a new member.

How about waiting to see which school or schools accept you? Are you talking about Fall 2015 or 2016?

I am a UCSB grad (also attended Cal Berkeley as an undergrad, actually while still in high school). There are other USC and UCSB alumnae here; not so sure about LMU but I have a friend who graduated from there.

[sigmagirl10]

I'm a UCSB alumna so I will address it as best I can since you mentioned wanting to transfer there--keep in mind, this is all anecdotal and coming from someone in a non-NPC social sorority, who is very familiar with UCSB's Panhellenic and has many friends who were/are members of UCSB NPCs.

UCSB does not have an official upperclassman quota, though each year sororities do take a few sophomores and juniors (I've never known a senior to be offered a bid, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen--I just don't know about it). It seems like transfer students are more likely to be offered a bid than say, a junior who has been at UCSB the whole time and just never gone through recruitment.

UCSB currently has 9 NPC sororities that would all be wonderful places to find a home. Additionally UCSB has a number of thriving multicultural and special-interest sororities and co-ed fraternities. I do not think in any way that a multicultural or special-interest group is a replacement for membership in an NPC, but if it is something that speaks to you, these sororities are perhaps more likely to bid an older transfer student (though of course this is not guaranteed).

I was 22 years old when I graduated (just before my 23rd birthday), and a year older than all but one of the graduating seniors in my sorority, because I took some time off partway through college. My age was never made an issue by any of my sisters, and although I wholeheartedly enjoyed their company and did not mind that most were younger than me...about halfway through my junior year I started to get kind of annoyed by certain shenanigans and what I perceived as immaturity. I felt "old" in the group. Just something to keep in mind.

[als463]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

At 22 you will be older than essentially most of the members. Take a look at the websites, and the photos, etc. for various chapters at those schools.

That said, there are always going to be exceptions if you are a good fit for a chapter and have what they are looking for in a new member.

How about waiting to see which school or schools accept you? Are you talking about Fall 2015 or 2016?

I am a UCSB grad (also attended Cal Berkeley as an undergrad, actually while still in high school). There are other USC and UCSB alumnae here; not so sure about LMU but I have a friend who graduated from there.

I think LtGPhiB is a USC graduate. Nope, scratch that! I know she is! Hopefully she will come and give some insight on how it works at USC.

[ChioLu]

From your post, are you having to wait until Fall '15 or did you want to transfer this Spring & have to wait until THIS Fall?

LMU will have a new GLO colonizing Fall of 2014 - Alpha Chi Omega.
A new colony/chapter will be looking for diverse ages & class years (so they don't have 100 women who started as freshmen graduate in 4 years & leave your chapter of 200 decreased by half).

As an advisor at another SoCal school - UCLA - I will say that Junior transfers with high grades & achievements seem to do well in recruitment. Since UCLA is a big transfer school, the Upperclass Quota is about 1/3 of the New Member Class total.