Pros and Cons....Dorm living vs Sorority

[asta]

The dorm/sorority situation is different at every school. I notice that you are from Georgia and if your daughter is thinking UGA, I can give you first hand information. All students live in campus dorms their freshman year but sophomore year most students move either off campus or into a dorm attached to their Greek house if they join a sorority or fraternity. For junior and senior year almost everyone is in off campus housing.

My daughter is in a sorority at UGA and loves it. At a school this big a sorority helps you find a group of close friends. There are other ways to fit in but she has had a very positive experience with greek life. The other best advice I can give regarding going thru rush and pledging a sorority is to try and make a connection with someone who is already in one of the sororities.

 

[asta]

Lots of schools don't even allow sorority living houses anymore. Few allow it before Junior year. They want their dorms full. This would be my last worry for now if I had a high school freshman. Living arrangements just don't dictate much when considering a college. I pledged a sorority my freshman year and then quit when I realized they wanted their members to be lockstep about every issue and thought. That was in the 70's and sororities took quite a beating in popularity back then.

This is definitely not the case with most of the big southeastern universities. There is a big shortage of dorm spaces but most schools make sure to fill those with freshmen. After that almost everyone is in off campus housing or in their Greek house. Theses schools are very popular and there just isn't enough space to house upper classmen on the campuses we toured. Vanderbilt University is one of the few we toured that houses most students on campus for all four years.