cost of dues

for fraternities or sororities?

There is a range usually given in recruitment book you get when you get to rush orientation in the winter. From what I know its usually in the range of 1000 to 1500 for the YEAR. please keep in mind, most chapters have a higher "new member dues" payment and this is because there are some fees you only have to pay for once like for for administrative stuff.
As for housing, no freshmen do not live in the houses of the chapters for 2 reasons. 1 being rush isnt til winter so you have already paid to live in a dorm for the whole year and the houses already have upper classmen living in them. The second being that most houses on campus do not have room for all their new members to live in. The only house big enough for that is alpha phi. Gamma phi and sigma kappa fit only 4, chi o, theta and asa and now adpi I suppose (they just got a house) fit 15 and are in a little sorority complex on laird campus, azd fits 14, and dg fits 11. Not all sororities have houses, although I think the only ones left without a hiuse now are AEPhi and phi sig.

For most houses the executive board (or some positions) are required to live in house. The APhi house "requires" you to live in but from what I've seen, most people can get out of it as long as their house is full. If the house you get is big (ie on sorority row or alpha phi house) then I highly recommend it. It's a great experience.

New members dues are more expensive like it was said above, but i know mine included the cost of my pin! some chapters dont order your pin for you and you pay for it yourself later.

Is there anything like financial aid for a sorority or like loans you can take? My parents said i could join one but I may need to pay for some of it myself.

This is the first post about sororities that isn't completely negative and doesn't make me feel embarassed to be a part of greek life... To go off of what the person above said about going to open house, I think it will be really great for those of you interested in living in a house and rushing to see what the houses look like inside and ask questions about dues and costs and such. As a freshman I went to every open house and I really enjoyed it! You get an idea of who you think you may want to join before recruitment, a little practice before recruitment of what it will be like (you can see what it will be like and if it's for you), and it's the only time you will really get to see every sorority house! I think going to these was helpful because it was before I knew any of the stereotypes so I made my own mind up about each of them as well as got to ask any questions, like the ones everyone is posting above, before paying the 65 dollars to rush in the spring

I completely agree that checking out the Open Houses is a great way to start figuring out your plans for during Rush. Each chapter has a local website as well that can give you an initial impression and more information too!

Just to add on finances... I personally paid a ONE time fee of (much) less that 1000 as my new member dues. From then on it has been a little over 400 a semester... and I have heard this is a normal fee but it can range up to 700 dollars. Many chapters have a scholarship fund that can be applied for, but these are questions you can ask each individual chapter during rush or at the Open Houses. Don't feel weird taking the initiative to ask questions, especially during Open House that is supposed to be a more laid back informal get to know you.

As most girls in Greek Life at UD will agree, the bottom line is to RUSH and the rest will work itself out.