The Cost of Pledging for a Fraternity
The biggest cost will definitely be gas money. Depending on the size of your pledge class you will usually use two or three cars to drive you to various places. The gas money will really add up because some places are really far to drive to and in the course of a single day you might do through half a tank of gas. While the cost is split between everyone, gas will be a huge expense. If someone drives an SUV the cost will skyrocket even more because it uses so much gas for each mile more than a normal car would.
Another huge cost is the fraternity paddles. The really big fraternity paddle that is sold in hardware stores will cost you around $60-$70. The size of this paddle is about 4 feet in length. If you can't find a fraternity paddle in stores and have to buy it online, the cost of shipping alone will be around $60. Then there are the pledge master and assistant pledge master paddles that you have to buy. These will cost around $30-$40 each so a total of $60 to $80 you will spend on the two of these. The cost of these three paddles you will split among all the members of your pledge class. Still, the costs will continue to climb. The final paddle you will have to make is the paddle for your mentor. This will be around $20-$30. However the are even more costs. You will probably have to buy wood letters from a hardware store to put on your paddle. Each letter will be slightly less than a dollar but you will have to buy many letters and enough so that you have wood letter to put on the Mentor paddles, the pledgemaster paddles and the fraternity paddle. You will also need to buy paint, paint brushes, superglue or wood glue, glitter, and little designs like stars or hearts that go on the paddle.
Another huge cost will be food. Instead of eating the cheaper food on a college campus, the traveling involved will make you buy food in restaurants and the cost of taxes, tips and food will make you withdraw a lot of money out of your bank account.
Then there is the cost of clothing. You will have to buy certain clothing fabrics and colors and that will add up the cost totals.
Then there are also the costs of going to a party or a formal or other fraternity related ceremonies.
In total, you should expect to pay for at least $200-$300 more than what the initial dues are
Published by The Outlaw
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7 Comments
Post a CommentThis is completely inaccurate, the actual cost of a fraternity (at least at a big school with lots of parties) is ~$2000 - $4500. The writer obviously has no clue what they are talking about. Fraternities have to pay for their house, the house staff, parties, rush, food, etc. Do not believe what was written in this article. If the most expensive thing I have to buy is a $60 paddle then that would be great, but however that is completely inaccurate. There are a tremendous amount of fees for fraternities. Also, most fraternities require pledges to wear certain clothes so that is another huge fee to buy lots of new clothes and certain types of shoes, belts, hats, ties, etc. Hope this helped clear up any questions about this article as this writer obviously was never in a fraternity or one that did not ever do anything and did not have a house.
The costs are high. In reality they have their hands in the student's parent's pocket. No student, especially a freshman, has that kind of money.
This is absolutely incorrect, unless they are talking about some fraternities at random schools in the north. New member costs average around 1000 dollars. On the low end dues for someone living out of the house are 1500 and and somewhere between 2 and 4000 to live in the house. I don't know how the writer came up with gas and paddles as major costs associated with being in a fraternity. That is absolutely ridiculous. Recruitment, social events, and housing or parlor fees are easily the biggest components of fraternity costs.
I do not think they are wrong at all. I think this past year I paid close to $200 dollars to my fraternity. But I also know that I am on the cheap end of the greek world. I have friends in other frats that have to pay sometimes three times as much as me.
I believe that whoever wrote this is correct. In order to pledge it is very costly. I probably spent double what they are saying! To me they are being lenient. But you know if thats what i have to pay for the experience, the involvment, and the truly lifelong friendships then im ok with that. Yes it has cost me and still is. But its a steady cost its not all at once and you also can host fundraisers. Therefor if you have a steady job, making the dues and other costs is just a small detail.
i know what u mean susan..when i pledged a frat..it only cost me around $450 bucks...whoever wrote this information is dead wrong..
Where in the world do you get this stuff? Talk about negative bias!!! Ninety percent of it is absolutely wrong!