POLL: Have you lived in your chapters' house/dorm/suite/residential facility?

KSUViolet06 · #1 08-17-2005, 10:47 AM

I couldn't find a thread like this so I'll ask here. Have you lived at your chapter's facility? How long? Did you have a double/single/etc room? Did you enjoy it? Most importantly, do you have any ADVICE for future live-ins?
I'm contemplating moving into my chapters' home in January OR August of 2006, so I'm really curious as to what other GCers experiences were in their residences.

33girl · #2 08-17-2005, 11:08 AM

I lived in our house which was basically a made-over family house that held 14 girls. I lived there for 2 years and over a summer and loved it.

I had a single for a semester cause my roomie flunked out, which was good since I had a long distance boyfriend and didn't have to play "can I have the room" every 2 weeks.

The biggest thing I would advise is to make sure you have a place to escape to - a friend's apartment, a little cafe you've found that no one knows about, whatever. No matter how much you love your sisters they are going to drive you nucking futs sometimes.

KSigkid · #3 08-17-2005, 11:13 AM

I lived in our house for two summers - the summer after sophomore year and the summer after junior year. It was fun, especially for summer, and I had really no complaints while living there.

My advice would be to make sure you have a place you can go to study, get homework done, etc. That's not always easy in a house full of other people.

TristanDSP · #4 08-17-2005, 11:42 AM

I lived at Frat Row for three years, begining when it first opened.

Fall 02-Spring 03: Second floor of the apartments. The chapter house hadn't been completed, so the four guys that were supposed to live there lived in the apartments with us. Many things were still missing: drawers, blinds, window screens. The row was supposed to be completed in July 02, but wasn't done until Feb 03, and they built it so shitty they had to completely renovate after two years. Water balloon fights ensue in courtyard

Fall 03-Spring 04: First floor apartments. Because I live in first floor and right next to the courtyard, I hear every single noise that comes in, and since the guys break stuff, it sucks. Water balloons gone, now everyone bought pellet guns. You can't walk in courtyard without being ambushed from 4th floor.

Fall 04-Spring 05: The weight of living around a bunch of spoiled rich kids starts to burden. Little bro blasts Rocafella 24 7. Pellet guns end; random throwing of property into courtyard begins. 4th floor throws trash from bbalcony to courtyard, in front of apartment, to "save time".

I now live at Talmadge Canyon. You really have no idea the weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. Frat Row sucks.

Lindz928 · #5 08-17-2005, 11:45 AM

I lived in our sorority house for a year and it was a good experience. I was rough for me (only child) who had never had to share a room OR a bathroom to suddenly share a house with 40 girls, a room with 3 other girls and a bathroom with 20 of them. YIKES!!!

But, it did help me get to know my pledge class better, as well as the executive officers (they were required to live in the house).

My recommendation: If you move into the house, try to get a room that is a single or double. I wouldn't recommend sharing a room with more than one other person unless they are your very bestest friends!!!

honeychile · #6 08-17-2005, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 33girl
The biggest thing I would advise is to make sure you have a place to escape to - a friend's apartment, a little cafe you've found that no one knows about, whatever. No matter how much you love your sisters they are going to drive you nucking futs sometimes.

That would be my advice, too.

I lived in our suite for three years, half of the time in a double, half in a single. I found that my grades improved (believe it or not - there was a higher push for academics), which went over big with the parental units!

Downside: unless you have a housecleaner, you will be spending more time keeping the suite/house clean, since you live there.

GeekyPenguin · #7 08-17-2005, 11:56 AM

I lived in our house for a semester. It was fun and I would do it again.

That being said, I lived with somebody I didn't know very well that I slowly became closer with, and I ended up standing up in her wedding. I think that was good, because I love my best friend (who is a sister) to death, but if we lived together I think it would ruin our friendship.

I also had a lot of escapes - I moved out of the dorms early, so all my friends from classes were still stuck in the dorms for another semester. It was nice to be able to go back and visit.

My boyfriend at the time also had a single in the dorms, so I could escape there.

Jhawkalum · #8 08-17-2005, 12:09 PM

I lived in house with 85 women during my sophomore and junior year.

It was a great experience, and it taught me a lot about how to live with people -- some you really like, and others you don't.

If I had advice for anyone, I would tell a freshman that you should never commit yourself to living in a sorority house for your entire four years of school -- you should learn to live on your own by your senior year.

I would say there are some things you should learn right away: get good earplugs, accept that not everyone is going to be as clean/messy as you, clean up after yourself to avoid fights, address issues right away in a respectful manner instead of letting them fester, realize that you won't always be able to get a full-night's sleep, someone at some point will take your clothes/makeup without asking, learn to share, and not everyone will like you.

On the other hand, there are benefits: you can find always someone to help you with math problems or writing a paper, you always find someone who wants to stay in and watch a movie or go out and party, there is always someone to pick you up in emergency situations, your sister may be willing to loan you a fabulous outfit for a date that you otherwise couldn't afford, and you will always have someone to share your ups and downs with.

Bottom line is: you will never be lonely, even when you want to be

TNPhiMu · #9 08-17-2005, 12:12 PM

I lived in our house last summer and this summer. Our house it a little bit of a different situation, since only 3 girls live there at a time. I enjoyed it this summer, as I had two of my good friends living there with me. Last summer was not very fun. The girls living with me were VERY messy(boarding on dirty at times) so I spent 3 1/2 months trying to pick up their grossness so the house would be presentable if anyone came by.

Overall though, I'm glad I lived there. Especially this summer. I'm the treasurer now, so it gave me a lot of time to get things in order and get alot accomplished.

jharb · #10 08-17-2005, 12:23 PM

I lived in my sorority house from Fall 2002-Spring 2005. I lived in a double room with beds in the room the whole time I was in the house. I would highly recommend living in the house if you have an escape place to get away and get some "me" time. It can be the library, your boyfriend's place, a friend's house or a computer lab. I would love the excitement but sometimes you just want alone time and even in a huge house it's hard to do that with 49 other women around!

I loved living in the house as I was never bored and I always had people to go buy a big diet coke with at 1AM!

KSUViolet06 · #11 08-17-2005, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jharb
I lived in my sorority house from Fall 2002-Spring 2005.

Wow. If my math serves me correctly, that's 3 years!

jharb · #12 08-17-2005, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JocelynC
Wow. If my math serves me correctly, that's 3 years!

Yes it was, and I was lucky that I was able to live in all three years!

KSUViolet06 · #13 08-17-2005, 12:33 PM

Some of you live with SO MANY. Do you feel like your in house experience helped you get to know more girls? That's mainly what I want to do. I graduate in Dec. 2006 and have yet to live in our house. I want to have the memories that house living can bring you. The house girls always have some good stories and I want to have some to share as an alumna.

I'm a quiet person who needs personal space, and sometimes that gets in the way of bonding with my girls. I think moving in would be a good way for me to learn to live with and share space with others, something that, as an only girl who has always had her own space, I have yet to learn.

It would also nice to live somewhere that doesn't require you to pay to wash clothes in the washing machine. And it would make my life easier because our new home is a bit closer to the building where most of my classes are. I also wouldn't have to walk to meetings and other events, which honestly isn't a big deal until wintertime. Walking in northeast Ohio winter weather to get to chapter meeting is no fun.

adpiucf · #14 08-17-2005, 12:50 PM

I lived-in for 2 years. All our rooms are doubles.

My best advice is to move in and enjoy it. Living in the house is like living in an all-female residence hall. You'll be deluged with fun activities and ways to be involved in the sorority-- and the first to hear all the gossip!

Warning: Manage your time wisely. Utilize the school library for study time. It's not that the chapter house isn't suitable enough for study, it is that many cannot resist hanging out or going out all the time. Find your "Away Place."

Don't live-in if you can't live without alcohol and boys in your room.

Keep your room door locked when you're not in it, even when you are physically in the chapter house. Purchase a safe and place all valuables, cash, jewelry, etc., in a safe, as well as setting computer passwords and locking your computer access. Keep your printer and toner locked up.

Valuables have a way of walking away anonymously when you don't lock your doors in a residence hall or sorority house-- whether it's members, their guests or house employees.... just be warned.

Have a good meeting with your roommate-to-be about your lifestyles and your pet peeves so you go into this experience with realistic expectations.

Tidy up after yourself.

Make sure you understand your lease before you sign it-- can you get out of it? How? When you move out, what specific things do you need to do to ensure you get your security deposit back (IE: One year, my roomie and I cleaned like mad, spackled any picture holes in the walls, etc.... and then lost our entire deposit because we left a bag of trash outside our room in the hall... because we had been told by a sister that the maid would take it out. No one got their deposits back because of the darn trash!)

DSTCHAOS · #15 08-17-2005, 01:31 PM

We didn't have one.