thinking of greek life...

[AchtungBaby80]

Ooooh, I love it when people ask these questions! I agree with everything that has been said--hazing is always blown out of proporting by the general public and odds are you won't have to give it a second thought; you do NOT have to drink; and your grades most likely won't suffer. My GPA has gone down slightly since last year, but that has nothing to do with my sorority...I think it's got more to do with the fact that I have 18 hours and a couple of really anal professors! If you should ever run into trouble with any of you classes, I guarantee there will be someone around who can help you. I learned that last semester when I had a brutal Accounting class and, as luck would have it, one of my sisters down the hall is an Accounting major and she helped me pull my grade up from an E to the class average, which was a C. As far as the other stuff goes, you really don't have to worry about being forced to drink or be hazed, so don't let that scare you!

Dues, for me, are the major thing. We pay $55.50 a month, but there always seems to be things coming up that we have to shell out more for. I've never heard of anyone from any other chapter complaining about this, though, so maybe it's just us. Really, the dues aren't that bad considering what all the money covers--we don't have to pay extra to attend our formals, we get a couple of fun date parties each semester, and we always have enough funding to do cool stuff for Greek Sing, etc. You should make allowances for little "extras," too, because everyone always ends up wanting t-shirts and cute little picture frames, window decals, and stuff. During your new member period, though, you'll probably get a lot of that stuff as gifts. Oh, and one more thing--most sororoties on my campus have payment plans where you can pay your expenses in installments...it's great.

Let's see, about recruitment week...well, you can expect to be really tired, but you won't notice it because you'll be so excited. Seriously, I thought being a PNM was better than doing recruitment as an active.

[antsmarching]

thanks guys! i will be attending bowling green state university in bowling green ohio in the fall. anyone there now??

[AZ-AlphaXi]

BGSU has a good greek life web site:

http://www.greekbgsu.com/

If you haven't checked it out yet ... that's where to start....

[antsmarching]

i am reading a lot about recommendations--which would be helpful to get--during rush? who would be a good person to go to for one?? i will be looking into my boyfriends' sisters soror. could she write one? or would that be defeating the purpose? what types of things would be appropriate to include in one? thanks!

[dzrose93]

Originally posted by antsmarching
i am reading a lot about recommendations--which would be helpful to get--during rush? who would be a good person to go to for one?? i will be looking into my boyfriends' sisters soror. could she write one? or would that be defeating the purpose? what types of things would be appropriate to include in one? thanks!

Alumnae need to write the recs. An active collegiate can speak well of you to the chapter, but only an alumna of the sorority in question may write an actual recommendation for you. (At least that's how it works in my GLO.)

The person who writes the rec will need to know things about you such as what type of extracurricular activities you participate in, what your hobbies are, what your major is and how your grades are, and basically what type of person you are.

Hope this helps!

[ZTABunny]

My bf's sister attends BGSU and says it is a great school. Good Luck! If you need any information just let me know and I can ask her.
ZLAM!

[antsmarching]

is your sister a member of a sorority at bgsu?? if you can findany inforout for me --good and bad---it would help so much!! thankyou!

[AXOLiz]

I have a friend at BG who loves it, she's in a sorority there (can't remember which one though, last time we talked was before I was in AXO, so I didn't pay attention to the letters..), and my sister just took a campus tour and LOVED it (she's graduating next year). I don't know if she's even thinking about greek life, but I'm hoping I won't be the only one on either side of the family who went greek, and she's a legacy now, so she has no excuse! Seriously though, it won't hurt to go through formal rush, even if sorority life ends up not being right for you, you'll meet a lot of awesome women. Besides, you may be older, but you're still entering your first year there, so I don't think age will be a problem. I rushed when I was 20 and really regret not doing it sooner, but I was a junior at the time. Also, would you want to be a part of a group where they didn't want you solely because of your age? If people are going to cut you because of that, you don't want to be associated with them anyway. Good luck with whatever choice you end up making, you'd be a great addition to any chapter!!

[NoShame_Gamma]

Originally posted by Tom Earp
I was 25 when I started my Local! I am still very envolved in My Chapter and My International! Try the Alum thread and see those that are being initiated after they have Graduated!

You're never to old! I was 24 when I started my group. Age doesn't matter at all. Just go for it!

[antsmarching]

ALL of you girls and guys that have responded THANK YOU SO MUCH! It's really great having so much support in an area that I'm not-so-familliar with. I can only hope that I end up having sisters like you at BG

[XOcrlstln]

Just wanted to give my 2cents. I also rushed late (I'm in my 2nd quarter as an initiate and about to be 22). I go to the University of Cincinnati, but am originally from NE ohio, where are you from?

Anyways, drinking is not an issue, and neither is hazing. Hazing does not exist, and if it does, that group is not good enough for your membership. Drinking is not mandatory, and not necessary. In fact some of our most positive and influential members drinking little or nothing. It allows them to represent themselves to the best of their abilities without alcohol interfering with their judgement.

And joining late has its perks and faults. First the perks. Though I have heard rumors of sororities not offerning bids to older girls, I didn't have any problems. I joined several student organizations in the last year, and they all sited my age for the reason I was offered membership to these orgs. Typically the older a student gets, the less involved they become. These groups were all impressed that I had taken the stance that I had taken from my university and community for three years, and that it was time I started to give something back for future generations.

Additionally, being older allows you a little more perspective on the situations you will encounter, and allows you the ability to not react to strongly to stuff that seems big to freshman, but then can be seen to be minor as you get older. Age brings wisdom and maturity, and both of these traits can be used to benefit your chapter and your life. Each of our chapters have achieved greatness through the hard work of our predecessors, hopefully you will be able to continue that tradition in any chapter. (As a side note, I gotta hype my campus and chapter!!!).

The one strong downside to joining a little later in life is that is a bit difficult to fit in at first. Your pledge sisters will be 18-19, and the bulk of your chapter will be <21. I didn't go to fraternity or house parties anymore (yeah bars!), and I didn't live in the dorms. So bonding took a little more work, and a little more time. But overall it was a great experience. I knew my experience would different from my pledge sisters when I walked in the door, and so everytime I got discouraged, I just remembered that everyone around me was a wonderful person. Some of us were just at different places in our lives.

Hope all works out great for you. If you decide to go XO (we have a chapter at BG), then let me know. Otherwise, I wish you tons and tons of luck.

XOcrlstln