this makes me not want to join greek life

I’m sorry, but it really is all true. Please don’t believe the lies the sororities are telling everyone.

I graduated Columbia a few years ago and my little sister just went through rush and decided to join AOPi because the girls were very authentic. I would not suggest you listen to a lot of the negativity on this board because is not reflective of some of the sororities. To paint a broad brush over all sororities is unfair and inaccurate. I don't even think a lot of the girls feel this way about each other. I not discounting anything that anyone has to say on this forum but in my experience it just isn't that bad. My little sister had a great rush experience and chose the house that she thought best matched who she was as a person. She received 4 bids. Keep an open heart and open mind and good luck. I promise I you will make life long friends.

Sadly the only people who have a positive experience with greek life are the wealthy, privledged people it benefits. Recruitment, which most sorority sisters will say is their favorite time of year, is just an opportunity to judge their female peers based on their connections, appereance, wealth, and race. It’s toxic and is truly just another outlet for this already intensely competitive culture to tear away at people’s individuality. You might have a good experience. You might get dg/theta but there’s always a reason why and if you didn’t have that defining characteristic (usually wealth, instagram followers, appereance) your “sisters” wouldn’t wouldn’t even give you the time of day. It’s not about frienship, it’s a watered down caste system.

I mean Greekrank is not at all a good representation of Greeklife because by nature cattier people frequent this site and Greekrank focuses very heavily on recruitment, which is the cattiest sorority activity, just by nature of how there are fewer slots than the number of girls who want them and the sisters have to make cuts. As a sorority sister, it is up to you how involved you want to be in recruitment (like you can just decorate instead). In terms of racism, there is absolutely no denying it exists, but there’s plenty of racism in every other avenue at Columbia and also just America as a whole. It’s up to you to judge if the racism in Greeklife is beyond repair or if you could contribute to helping fix the problem by joining idk?

there are definitely chapters where these things are true and girl prioritize things like appearance and wealth and superficial relationships but there are other chapters (gphi, aopi) that really prioritize a welcoming, inclusive, diverse environment and genuinely support each other.. both chapters have wonderful officers and sisters who really care!!

In all fairness, it’s important to remember that everything on Greek rank comes from a self selected minority of the school population. Most people who like and/or don’t have a problem with Greek aren’t represented.

I would advise against making any decisions before you set foot on campus and actually start meeting the people in sororities in your everyday life on campus. Base your opinions off of your own experience, not what someone else wrote on Greek rank.