With a new school year upon us, there will be thousands of students across the country attending Rush Week at their college. Rush Week is a week at the beginning of each new semester where Greek organizations look for new members to join their organization. It is an extremely fun week for both potential new members and current members. However, the reality of joining a Greek organization can sometimes get lost in all the fun. Here are a few things to consider before joining a Greek organization.
1. Financial Obligation
All Greek organization have required dues that each member has to pay. How much they are varies from org to org. Before you join an organization, make sure you ask how much the dues are per semester and be sure you can commit to that amount. If you don't pay your dues on time, often the organization might put you on financial probation which can get you kicked out. Be sure you can pay these before you join so you can enjoy all the activities with your brothers or sisters without having to fear probation.
2. It's not just about the social scene
There are some people out there who join Greek Life just for the social events. If you are one of those people, Greek Life probably isn't the best decision. Greeks have to do a lot more events than just have a social scene. Most campuses require Greek organizations to do a certain amount of hours for community service as well as on-campus programs. Make sure you are able to commit to these events as well because it can put a chapter in bad standing with both the campus and nationals if these requirements are not met.
3. Time management is key
With all sorts of events the organization throws, plus meeting, social events, programs, and community service, make sure you are able to commit to all of these time-consuming things. Most of them are required so they have to be met. The best thing to do is keep track of all the events and your personal school work. It can sometimes become stressful to fit everything in if you have a heavy school load, so try to plan out when to get school work done as well as Greek organization requirements so you don't feel the pressure of getting everything done in a very limited amount of time.
4. School comes first
This ties into time management. Keeping on top of your school work is extremely important because most chapters have a required GPA by both the school and nationals that has to be met by each new member. This is another requirement that could land you on probation with the chapter if it is not met and can also result in expulsion from the organization.
