| I haven't read the article but does that author provide some basis for asserting that families in Alabama don't have money? With the very LCOL and generational family wealth, city jobs, etc I'm not surprised at all. Especially if this is a priority over what DCUM would value like international travel, private school, etc. |
NO way. My dh went to a big school like the ones you named and was in a fraternity. I visited him from my SEC school where I was in a sorority. Those sororities were so laid back. Nothing like what mine was like with a specified dress code for every day of rush. |
Are you on the wrong thread? |
Why is it shocking? Because the underlying assumption is that rich people should go somewhere else? Or that you're shocked to know that everyone in Alabama isn't a dirt poor hick? |
Would you tell us more about what was great about the experience? I think a lot of us on this board don't have experience with sorority life and are basing our fears off of assumptions. |
More than the outfits these girls are wearing are akin to large homes in the DMV mortgages. Like 5-10k. Its OBSCENE. Again, not the location but the obvious wealth disparity we have in this coutry. But I am sure all those kids believe they get hired or their future husbands will get hired because of merit, and not connections. |
I moved very far away and went to a university where I knew no one. Back then no social media. I maybe talked to my parents 1-2x a month. I visited home for Xmas break only. And then only after freshman summer. After rushing, I found a group of socially minded, active student leaders - women active in many campus organizations with leadership roles. Seniors who had jobs in banking, consulting, and were headed to law school and grad school. Very accomplished people who helped underclassmen join clubs, find internship opportunities, and advised on professors and classes. Things my 1st gen parents couldn't help with. We had "date parties" with fraternities and fundraisers for St. Jude's - when I look at my photos, we weren't scantily clad - if anything, we were covered in LL Bean flannels and barn coats. From head to toe. Yes, it was a different time, but those close friendships endure today (I still text/talk with my closest friends from my "sorority" a few times a week!! and we don't live in the same city). It's a bond that you form at age 18-20, which can be so formative and enduring. You are learning who you are. And who you want to be. Many of those women are very successful and accomplished businesspeople (in private equity, consulting, banking, law, PR, communications, academia, and more). Some have retired. But the friendships and our memories in that house are more than drinking (which was a minuscule part of it) - it's dancing in your PJs in a house of 60 girls, eating together, face masks, watching soap operas, and Friends in the TV room. While every "sister" wasn't a best friend, the house was welcoming and felt like my home away from home. Where I could just be me. No makeup. If you come from a big family, I'd describe it as being with a lot of female cousins all the time. I ended up with a leadership opportunity in Greek life at university. All in all, it was one of the best experiences of my life. And showed me how to maintain female friends for decades. It had very little to do with the "boys" or fraternities, except for freshman year parties, and then date parties every month or so in sophomore/junior year. By senior year, we hung with the seniors and had leadership roles. Didn't attend most of the parties with the frats. |
How old are you and how do you still recall "exactly what you wore"? I cannot recall what I wore to work last week, let alone what I wore when I was 18 for 10 days I have more important things to put in my memory with great details |
They don’t care if they are hired on merit, that’s not their culture. Not everyone is obsessed with meritocracy like Panicking Class people are. OF COURSE you get a job or the right spouse on connections, that’s why the right Greek House is important. Socially, these outfits are the equivalent of paying for a tutor or college counselor. Did you really think people are plowing money into this with zero ROI? |
the outfits/clothes/jewelry are not unique to greek houses. its a product of social media. Everyone knows about VCA, Cartier, Goyard, GG, Alo, etc now. Even schools without Greek houses tend to have an overabundance of "showy" influencer types. hell, Yale is actively recruiting for these types. |
what’s a sugaring arrangement? |
I think there's a difference between "no judgment if a college woman wants to join a sorority" and "it seems insane to plan around going to a specific college, getting into a specific sorority, and having your parents spend a quarter mill on clothes, makeup, and other costs associated with your social life so that you can meet someone from the right social strata and be set up for a wealthy life." |
Sugar Daddy. Sugar Baby. Pay for play. (Just clarifying - not the OP) |
Look at your neighbors forking over tens or thousands for private schools. What do you think the point of that is? Surely they are driving past crumbling schools to get to their private bubble. Do you ignore what's in front of your own eyes? Everyone uses connections, you're a liar if you say you don't. |
That’s just how any decent college is in the US. |