Sororities are great when it comes to meeting life-long friends, crucial networking, an above average social experience, and many other great things that come with participating in Greek life. Unfortunately, these things have tight strings attached. Expensive strings. As someone that went through the experience, I am here to tell you about the monetary burdens you should really expect when rushing a sorority.
It’s definitely something the girls won't tell you on your first visit to their cozy home. Many of the girls usually don’t even notice the burden of dues because it just isn't a lot of money to them if they are still members. Through experience in recruiting new members to join sororities, I can tell you that these women are given scripted answers when asked about dues. One you might hear often is that the chapter will help with monthly plans and even offers “scholarships” to some members. Another phrase potential new members will hear a lot throughout their journey rushing is that the dues are “all inclusive”.
Everything the girls say makes sense, though, right? Although It sounds tempting to join under the assumptions that your dues will pay for everything, the sorority member’s real answers to questions about the financial burden on a college student would leave them short an abundant amount of members, a loss that no 5-inch heel can save.
The average cost of sorority dues is around $1000 per semester or even more than that for new members. Beware though, this estimate fails to include the costs of corresponding recruitment outfits, dresses for formals and cocktails, presents for your big and your little, and any additional set of Greek letters you want in your closet. These things may sound like they aren’t necessary to purchase for your future life as a sorority girl, but once you are surrounded by your sister’s expectations you will begin to see the cost of being a sister.
Something that also is not included in the estimate above is the crazy fines that each chapter might issue for various reasons. Whether you’re late to recruitment, to initiation, or to one of the many mandatory social events, you are subject to a fine ranging between $20-$100. Did you have work or class? Sorry, but that just isn't a good enough excuse. You know the famous saying: time is money. You will be spending at least five hours a week on sorority obligations depending on your level of involvement in the chapter. This on top of being a full-time student with tests and assignments around the corner every week really takes a toll on your health, especially if you’re a normal college student that needs to maintain a workweek of at least 15 hours to be able to eat every day.
Don’t worry though, once you’ve had enough of watching your wallet thin before your eyes, they make it easy to deactivate from your chapter. This situation varies among sororities, but those who have left Greek life know that there are still strings attached when you try to leave. Some chapters issue a “deactivation fee”. In order to be able to stop paying dues and getting fined for absences you must pay your chapter about $100, sorry not sorry. Oh and on top of that $100, some organizations take it a step further and require you to return all your Greek letters and your badge back to the chapter. To those who aren't familiar with Greek life, a few years of the experience gets you easily 3 to 4 sets of letters, each costing you about $70 out of your pocket. (Explaining why it is necessary to buy letters is a whole other tangent I could go off on, but the overall premise is that matching letters shows important relationships within Greek Life, such as your big, little, uncle, grandbig, executive board, closest friends, etc.). They also usually want you to return the badge that probably costed you at least $100 to purchase. This puts your price to leave Greek life up to over $400.
