sophomore sorority formal rush or associate chapter??

I'm a guy but have a wide range of friends in all sororities. You'll still experience everything in phi rho and ophia that you would in other sororities. Pledging is still a huge time commitment, though most sororities understand you have schoolwork. With that said, if you're truly committed to academics and have a hard major (18 credits is a lot), I think OphiA or Phi Rho would be your best bet.

if you're worried about time commitments and your studies I would go for phi rho. I have a lot of friends in that sorority and they all study together and all take hard classes, so they're understanding of your work load. Phi rho and OphiA are both 'full' real sororities and are very involved in Greek life.

Recruitment for phi Rho and ophia is much more lenient (3 or 4 events that are about an hour) compared to a week and a half of constant formal recruitment. Recruitment is also the only difference of associate chapters. Every thing else is the same as all the Panhellenic sororities. Also if anything the girls are more diverse and the sisters are very understanding that classes should come first. In your case it sounds like a good choice.