i have a friend who's sister could not decide if she wanted to use some money that she has to move out of her parents house & get her own apartment or join a sorority. my friend can be quite narrow minded when it comes to the subject of sororities. i used to be that way, but since i've been in college, i've learned to be more open minded about it, though they are still not for me. my friend thinks that her sister should move out of her parents house & use her money to get her own apartment b/c she thinks it would be a better use of her money. her sister wants to rush a sorority & even has a friend rushing w/ her & backing her up on the idea. my friend thinks that while she could rush a few sororities, there's still a chance that she may not get into one & then end up spending a bunch of money & gotten nothing out of it. i can see her point, though i was unaware that you had to pay to rush. i told her that i understood why she felt the way she did, but that rushing could be a good idea b/c being in sororities can open up a lot of opportunities that you wouldn't get outside of 1, that most if not all require you to maintain a certain gpa or they kick you out (which means her grades would be pretty decent), & that depending on the rules of the house, she could live there at the house. she lives close to her school, so if she did get in but couldn't live there, she could just commute from home & save money on housing. even though she hates living at home, sometimes you just have to deal w/ it b/c it could be better for you in the long run. but my friend is still mad b/c her younger sister chose to rush instead of get her own apartment.

so, here is my question. what are the rules when it comes to living in a sorority house? do they make you pay to live there? is it cheaper than living on or off campus? are there any other good qualities of being in a sorority that i could pass on to my friend that may help to make her less mad & possibly be more open minded about sororities. i'm not much of a fan of them, either, but i don't hate them. they have their good points just like everything else.