Houses???

[ADPiTigergurl]

Ok so this may be a very weird question, but i was wondering about sorority houses(yes like the building) and how you (or othe pnms) use them as a tool to rate a particular sorority during recruitment. I know htis seems like a random question, but I am completely the definition of a clueless NM. No one in my family is greek, and since my school is not competitive I pretty much went in very unprepared and still got a bid. I go to a university where the sorority "houses" are actually townhouses (house 9 members) and look identical, with the exception of the furniture being GLO colored (which I'd just like to add you don't even see more than the living room minus furniture add folding chairs and props during recruitment.)

So i guess I just don't understand. What goes on during House tours on formal recrutment? Is the actual house a major factor in a pnms decision making? Rooms are not private are they? OK so I guess what I an really wanting to know is how much your sorority house is that big sorority mansion? Once again sorry to sound clueless.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by ADPiTigergurl

Is the actual house a major factor in a pnms decision making? Rooms are not private are they? OK so I guess what I an really wanting to know is how much your sorority house is that big sorority mansion? Once again sorry to sound clueless.

You would need to ask every PNM that question. To some, they want a mansion, to others, they want something cute. Many girls yearn to live in houses, some want to sleep in dormers, others don't ever want to live in a house. I guess some girls join for the color of the furniture too.

You should figure out what is most important to you than to ask others what is important to them.

[33girl]

When I went through rush, there were 2 sororities with official off campus houses (one huge, one smaller), one sorority w/ an on campus suite, and 4 that didn't have anything or that had unofficial houses.

The one w/ the huge house wasn't even a possibility as far as getting along w/ the girls, etc. I joined the group w/ the smaller house. I have to say that I liked the house and it was nice and homey, and it was a LITTLE bit of a factor, but it didn't make the final decision for me. I think I liked the house because I liked the sisters, not the other way around.

And Benzgirl is right, it's different for EVERYONE. I'm sure there were some people who walked into that suite and couldn't wait to live there...to me, it was a bit claustrophobic. But again, I think that was more the girls rather than the actual physical facility.

[FSUZeta]

at the time i went thru recruitment at florida state there were 18 sororities on campus. each of them had a house. some of the houses had bedrooms, some had sleeping porches(think the barracks in gomer pyle) and some had a combination of the two. some people might have used the physical house as one of the criteria for accepting or declining an invitation, but it didn't matter to me, and i went with the chapters that i felt the greatest connection with.

[purpleparrot]

My school has 16 sororities, all with on-campus houses. Each house is very similar in what it has: living room, dining room, bedrooms(2 girls to a room with community bathrooms every house but one or two), a study room and usually an informal TV room.You go on a walk through of each house during recruitment and see all the main rooms that the chapter wants to show off but in reality the house doesn't really affect recruitment at all.They are all very pretty and have the same stuff in them. Sure, some of them are slightly nicer or newer than others, but they are so similar that what the house has is pretty much the last thing on your mind during recruitment.

[KSUViolet06]

My school does a House Tour round as well. They show the main areas and a couple of the bedrooms usually.

The chapters at my school all have different accomodations (some have all quads, all triples, suites, all doubles, etc), so housing is a factor for some PNMs. Example, if a PNM is torn between two chapters going into House Tours, the fact that XYZ has all quads and ABC has suites with bathrooms may make the difference between who is her top choice going into Pref.

[ADPiTigergurl]

Oh ok i guess that makes since Violets. Like I said at my school the houses were built as nice dorms on campus and late converted to sorority houses so they are completely identical and dont house a whole chapter. Therefore a house tours durng recruitment would be pointless, as youd see the same thng 7 times.

[gee_ess]

I think house tours on a campus where each house is unique are another way for pnms to get to know the sorority. During recruitment, the pnms do a variety of things to experience the sorority : they meet the members, hear about the philanthropy, see pics of activities, experience a type of ritual (pref) ceremony, and often they even meet the housemother. So, touring a house is just another way to "see" the sorority. But, yes, on a campus where the houses are identical, I don't think they would be as beneficial unless each house was unique once you stepped through the door...

[PallyGirl81]

Sorry for the lengthy response. And for the use of the word "rush"; recruitment takes too long to type.

I am not sure how large a part the physical houses played in a girl's selection but their general presence was intriguing and influential. Also, for some PNMs, live-in requirements played a role.

The school I went to had a beautiful sorority quad. The houses looked somewhat similar (but definitely distinguishable) from the outside. There were dorms mixed into the quads. I lived in one of these dorms has a freshman and remember passing by the houses and thinking about how gorgeous each one was. . .

I was not intending on rushing at the time (the school has a deferred rush) but remember talking about the houses to my friends who were planning on rushing. I would say things like "You should join that one. They have nice furniture. Or that one, it's in a good location."

As freshman, we would also take note of the banners that hung on the patios. The banners ranged from everything to general welcomes and welcome backs to promotions for upcoming philanthropic events. As a freshman, I thought the banners were cute and saw the "welcomes" as a personal greeting.

The insides of the homes varied in size and in decor. Some were more updated than others, some had more amenities in the kitchen area (like a cappuccino machine in addition to a juice machine, frozen yogurt machines, etc.).

When I was rushing I remember thinking about how beautiful they all were in the beginning. As the process went on, me (and some of the other PNMs) started to notice slight differences in decor and if the kitchen was on the main floor or in the basement. The downstairs kitchen was perceived as more ideal (implied a bigger house with more lounging space on the main floors) but I never really cared either way. During rush, some PNMs griped about having to sit on the floor in smaller houses.

During our informals round (the third set), the house I joined liked to show off the (then) new bathrooms. Other houses would point out their fro yo machines and/or new big screen tvs. Some PNMs made a point of asking about the smallest rooms in the house and rules surrounding how rooms were selected.

Looking back it was pretty insignificant and I can say that these were more nuances. The girls tended to focus on who they met and how comfortable they felt in the houses.


What was a factor with the more savvy PNMs was the live-in requirement and how it was handled. Most girls were required to live in for at least one full year usually during their junior year. Some houses would allow you to live in for one year, any of your years on campus. Others expected you to live in during your junior year.

And because of a preexisting leasing system with the university, the houses acted somewhat like university housing (meal plans were required and the school determined how many beds each house had). Each house was required to pay for each available bed in their house.

Some houses had trouble filling all of their beds because of overall lower membership numbers, a small pledge class and/or because of junior year being a bit of transient year. Study abroad was very popular and internships, co-ops or practicums were required for several majors. In a lot of cases, students decided to do their internships outside of our metro area and therefore could not live in for a quarter or two.

Solving the issues around having vacancies could get tricky and at times emotional. But the issues were resolved one way or another.