pledging

There are one time fees in the first semester before initiation. Also there are membership dues that continue until you graduate or leave. If you drop out before you are initiated I don't think you get the up front fees back. If a group bids you, you can ask details about finances before you accept a bid and check it out with you parents. It can be expensive the first semester but if you move into the house you will save money because houses at Cal are cheaper than dorms. You will have a couple of hours of required meetings on most Monday nights and usually about three to five hour of some other activity or social event...so 5-10 hrs a week depending on how active or social you want to be. Do it. It is so worth it .

The length of the pledging process varies by chapter. Sororities will typically have shorter pledging periods than fraternities will. Sorority initiations may be any time between October and early November, and I think most fraternities were initiated in November.