Its the most wonderful time of the year: rush week. This is the week where sorority girls are going to invite you out to their events, invite you to their houses for wine and suck up to you any chance they get. You get to dress up every night for the next two weeks practically in halloween costumes and get access to all the closed mixers that usually happen the rest of the year. But rush is so much more than the partying and free booze — it helps you find where your next chapter in life will begin, the place you will consider home.
Not every campus has the stereo-typical Greek life that they show in the movies — the sorority house that has the huge wooden letters on the front, or the mansion that comes with a chef. A lot of schools actually don't offer those luxuries at all (and if they do expect to pay $5,000 in dues.) If you do go to a school that doesn't offer the stereotypical Greek life, you should still consider joining an organization because joining a smaller sorority has so many wonderful benefits without needing a huge mansion and a chef.
10 Benefits of Joining a Smaller Sorority
1. You will know every sister
With bigger sororities, the likeliness of you knowing every sister is very slim. Imagine being in a group chat with 100+ people typing in it all day long, you would never be able to see what everyone has to say or even know who it is that is typing. Making plans is also difficult in itself, but at the end of the day, it is a lot easier to get 30 sisters together to watch the Victoria Secret Fashion show than it is to get 100+.
2. You are able to build stronger relationships with each sister
Smaller sororities are more the same than different because during recruitment each sister is able to get on a personal level with the rushes because we are recruiting usually 10-15 girls, not 100 girls. With that being said, everybody gets to know everything about each other (even the things you rather not know) because you are all sisters, and you all know each other and that's just what happens. With having 30 sorority sisters, you also always have somebody new to vent to which eventually leads to having a strong relationship with each individual sister.
3. You have more of an opportunity to hold a position
There are A LOT of positions that you can hold in a sorority. Rush chair, social chair, new member educator, finance chair — you name it, it's a position. When it is a smaller sorority, you are more likely to hold a position because the chances of you winning against 30 sisters are just better odds than you winning against 100 sisters — that's just basic math right? Being in a smaller sorority, I was able to hold 5+ positions throughout the two and a half years of being an active member.
4. You have a better chance of holding the position you desire
Some positions are more desirable than others, and there's always that one position that somebody else wants what you want. With a smaller sorority, again you have the better odds of winning against three sisters to be on Executive Board rather than against 25 sisters.
5. You will be able to hold multiple positions
Not every sister in a sorority wants to be bothered holding a position. Many sisters in my chapter went through their whole college career being an active member, when I was more ambitious and held 4 positions in a semester. I was able to do that because I was in a sorority of 30 people. Now, I am not going to lie; I had my hands full- but that was something I wanted to take upon myself. Being in a smaller sorority will allow you to face those challenges while being in a bigger sorority there's more sisters, so you probably will only be able to hold one position.
6. Your dues will be WAY cheaper
When you have a mansion that boards 20 girls and a personal chef, yeah your dues are going to be crazy expensive. Smaller sororities, usually dues are around $300-$400 a semester, when bigger sororities can range from $5,000-$10,000+ a semester (and yes that is including the house and chef).
7. Everybody in Greek life will know who you are
When all of Greek life is only around 30 members each, when you host social events you are more likely to know everyone that is there. Also when everybody knows who you are, other organizations are more likely to support your organization when it comes to a fundraiser or hosting an event on campus.
8. Every sister will have a say in how the sorority is run
From what I have heard, chapter meetings at bigger colleges consists of the executive board sending out an email to every sister explaining the rules, what needs to be done, events for the week, etc. Having a smaller sorority, each member can actually meet together once a week for a meeting and can discuss different things that they want the sorority to do and everybody can agree on it. It's a sorority, not a democracy after all.
9. Your pledge sisters will become your actual sisters
My pledge class was six girls including myself. Some of my friends in bigger schools had pledge classes of 50+ girls. When you are a pledge class of 50, cliques are formed and you don't end up being "one." My friends have said that they don't even know half of their pledge sisters. Your pledge sisters stand out from every other sister in the sorority because you joined at the same time and went through a process together. You have been through the good and the bad with each other and you will have your own individual bond and memory with each of them.
10. Every new member after you will know who you are, who you were and why you were important
I am not saying that bigger sororities don't enforce the new members know everything about active members and alumni, because what do I know? What I do know is that smaller sororities stress the importance of knowing everything about every active member and every alumni. You joined the organization for a purpose, wouldn't you want every one to know what you did for it?
At times I wished that I had the stereotypical, Greek life experience and lived in a huge mansion that had a chef and a maid. But then I think about all the amazing relationships, bonds and memories I have made with each of my sisters. I have gotten to know everything about every member that was in the sorority before me, and still continue to learn about each member in the sorority who joined after me. I like knowing that I had an impact in the future of my sorority, and I like that I will not be forgotten — even as an alumni.
No matter if you go big or go small, enjoy every minute of going Greek. Hold as many positions as you can, make as many friendships as you can, and make so many memories! Going Greek is life changing, so enjoy every moment of it.
