College applications are not much fun but once you’ve accepted an offer from a school, that’s where the interesting stuff begins.  A big fat package arrives in the mail and you get to fill out forms deciding if you want to live in a suite or a regular dorm, who you want your roommate to be, what type of meal plan to get, insurance forms, letters of acceptance, welcome packages…

One of the bigger decisions after you’ve decided which residence hall you want to live in is to decide if you want to get a random roommate assigned to you or to request a friend.  When I had to make this decision 5 years ago, I chose to room with a friend because I needed some reassurance 8000 miles from home.  Generally, rooming with a good friend is a good idea too because its nice to be able to come back from a day at school and be completely at ease with the person who’s sharing a really, really tiny space with you.  There are plenty of opportunities to socialize with new people on the same floor and building.

Knowing your roommate can have other advantages too.  If either of you are particularly messy people, or if one of you lets your dirty laundry pile up, it is probably less awkward to ask a friend to be tidier.  If any problems escalated into an argument, its also easier to resolve things with established friends than with a new acquaintance.

But whether or not you know your roommate before hand, here are some tips to keep the friction at a minimum:

1. Tidy up on a regular basis.  Once every two weeks at least.
2. Don’t keep hitting the snooze button on your alarm if your roommate is still sleeping.  It’s really irritating to keep hearing the alarm go off.
3. If you’re a girl, try not to use the hairdryer in your room if your roommate is trying to sleep or study.
4. Don’t use your roommates stuff without asking.
   
5. Ask if you’re going to have your significant other sleep over or spend inordinate amounts of time in your room.
6. If you’re up late working, try to keep the clackety-clack of your keyboard at a minimum if your roommate’s a light sleeper.  Get some earphones if you want to play music too
7. Put some time aside to hang out with your roommate: make plans to get dinner, watch your favorite show together, play boardgames…
8. You can’t get your way all the time so learn to compromise.
9. If you have a problem, talk about it instead of taking the passive-aggressive route.  That generally just makes things worse.
   
10. Don’t do stupid things like putting forks in your roommates’ bed.  (true story)

The people you meet your freshman year are pretty important so try not to step on their toes.  They are the people that you will likely end up renting a place with your sophomore year and people who will be a big part of your college social life.

Sororities and Fraternities differ by reputation, size, activities and cost from campus to campus. However, there are some common points that link all the different houses all across the country

Greek Activities

Most sororities and fraternities hold both social and charitable functions throughout the year. Generally, each semester, at least, a house will hold a dance somewhere offsite, where each member gets to invite the date of his or her choice. These dances can be semi-formal, formal, or themed (think Famous Couples, Superheroes, Opposites Attract…the possibilities are endless). A lot of houses will do specific social events with another fraternity or sorority (so a sorority would do an event with a fraternity and vice-versa), with specific themes or going to a fun venue, such as 70’s Themed Roller Disco. All of these events are normally optional, but they are fun!

Other events are held throughout the year. Greek houses also want to provide you with the opportunity to connect with your “brothers” or “sisters”. Events, such as “bro nights”, where you party as a house, will allow you for a safe environment to enjoy yourself and also make life-long connections. Homecoming is also a great time to be greek. Different schools hold parades, where each house decorates their own float, hold BBQs and Toga Parties, and Homecoming themed shirts.

The College Greek Community also likes to help out their communities. Each Greek house has their own charity, which they will hold an event for to raise money, or ask their members to volunteer there throughout the semester. It differs from house to house, but most of the time, these events are optional. However, they provide a nice opportunity to give back.

Size

Bigger colleges, especially state schools, tend to have more involved and bigger Greek houses. Sororities tend to be bigger than fraternities: 150-300 girls vs. 15-100 guys. These houses will have formal rush either in the fall or the spring. Make sure to look into your school’s specific rush if you are thinking about joining a sorority or fraternity, because sometimes rush takes place before school begins (especially schools in the South).

Smaller colleges tend to have smaller greek houses because of the limitations of the student population. For the most part, Greeks account for no more than 20% of the student population. These numbers can vary greatly though, so check with your university.

Cost

As with the size of Greek house, costs can differ just as drastically. Big sororities or fraternities, where you have the opportunity of living in the house and all members can take advantage of perks such as a chef who serves meals throughout the week, maids, security guards, ect, can cost upwards of $1000-$3000 per semester (sororities tend to cost more than fraternities). These costs, though, would offset the need to buy extra meal plans on campus or to buy food on your own. Each college will have a board for sororities and fraternities that will publish the costs of joining each house before you rush. The costs of joining a greek house at a smaller school or in a smaller greek house at a larger school will be less expensive,  around $200-$1000, because they will most likely not serve meals or have to maintain such a large member house.

Networking

Membership in a Greek house extends further than your 4 years at college. Fraternities and Sororities are connected through national offices, and provide great networking tools for finding internships in college and jobs after college. Alumni events are held at least once a year, so graduated members can come back and see what the house has been up to, and you can mingle with the alumni.

A little bit about me: I am a member of Alpha Delta Pi at the University of Southern California. I graduated in 2008 and was in charge of recruitment activities in my last two years in the house. If you have any specific questions about Greek life, feel free to ask!

Everyone wants to say they know someone famous. Sadly, most of us can’t actually say that we do.  In this blog I present to you the next best thing to knowing a celebrity- going to the same school as someone famous! Below is a list of universities and the now famous people that once walked their halls.

Wherever you end up going to school there is likely someone famous who sat in the same lecture halls, ate at the same cafeterias, and enjoyed the same college hangouts as you! Who knows, maybe someday your name will make it on this list.