Black Sororities: How to Play Their Difficult Admission Game

Gaining admission into one of the NPHC black sororities is arguably harder than ever. Unlike their white counterparts which have upwards of twenty and over campus sororities there are only four black sororities. NPHC sororities are more secretive. NPHC sororities do not want anyone outside their sorority knowing who the identity of their interests. Also Black sororities are quite selective and will not hold an informal or formal rush week to gain new members. They’d much rather wait until potential members have been students for a semester or a year.

Yet the increase in the number of African American women has done little to influence NPHC sororities to admit greater numbers and competition is fierce. Their emphasis has been and probably will always be quality of quantity. So in order for the average African American women to stand a chance of getting into these elite and exclusive organizations she will have to know how to play their game. She will have meet the sororities’ unwritten and unspoken expectations and those expectations start the day she sets foot on campus.

Looking the Part
Looks matter, no way around it, so its best to play up whatever you’ve got going in the looks department. It’s no shock that sororities want attractive girls to join their ranks. Keeping this in mind I would suggest that you never be caught on or around campus unless you are well put together because the minute you have a bad hair day a sorority member is going to see you and she will place you a notch lower for membership consideration.

Oh Behave
Do not under any circumstance give the impression that you are not a classy, intelligent, involved and independent young woman. So pay attention to the following do’s and dont’s

Do:
1. Appear confident, cool, nonchalant, yet engaged when around campus. You may not think others are observing you but they are judging you, they want to see if you have what it takes to represent their sorority.

2. Attend all sorority events. Sorority members will remember your face and believe that if you attend these events you will be a quality and dedicated sorority member.

3. Privately introduce yourself to one or two sorority members and tell them how much you enjoy their events. Ask them when the next events are coming up. Doing this lets them know you have a vested interest in the sorority’s future. You don’t want to go introducing yourself to all the sorority members at once or even at all because that reeks of desperation. Trust me if you tell one sorority member you tell them all.

4. Work for the highest GPA possible. If you don’t have a GPA over a 3.0 you’re only hurting yourself. The lower your GPA the more the sorority members have to like you, and they may not like you enough to bring you into the sisterhood if your grade point average is weak.

Don’t:
1. Appear to be a fraternity groupie. Don’t hang out with too many fraternity members or attend a lot of fraternity parties. The last impression you want to give is that you are desperate for guys’ attention or that you want to join the sororities to date fraternity guys.

2. Act like you belong on Girls Gone Wild. No raucous behavior, even at parties, because someone who knows a sorority member will always be asked their opinion of you when its time to vote for new members. You don’t want to be known as the drunk or the “easy girl”.

3. Do not tell anyone that you are interested in joining Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, or Sigma Gamma Rho. Loose lips sink ships and telling others you want to be in a Black sorority will make sorority members think that you don’t have class and that you can’t keep a secret.

4. Do not join any groups that call themselves sisterhoods, fraternity sweetheart groups, or any groups that act sorority like in anyway, i.e. (have line jackets, chants, or call each other sisters.) Sorority members view these groups as copycat groups or groups for wannabe girls who can’t get into a sorority.

Out and About
If you want to get into a NPHC sorority you have to be active on campus. You need to join the popular and powerful groups. Join NAACP, the Black Student Union, run for office is Student Government Association and begin to add on activities from there. Interested ladies need to join clubs that are involved in community service because previous and continued participation in community service is a life long requirement for NPHC members. Interested ladies need to be members of these clubs because sororities like trophies, especially trophy members. NPHC sororities like nothing better than having BSU officers, student senators, cheerleaders, and etc. as members.

Let the Games Begin
Attend every sorority event you possibly can, that is how sorority members recognize serious interests. Going to a sorority event as an interested member is not very different from watching a track meet, except everyone is scrambling to impress sorority members. How do you impress them? Make sure your hair and makeup are flawless and that you appear confident while dressing to impress because most sorority events suggest (and by suggest I mean you better wear) business casual attire. Let your actions speak for themselves, be one of the first to arrive to events and one of the last to leave. Be confident, can’t stress that enough, be cordial and the opportunity to be a member will present itself.

Follow these tips and you’ll stand a better chance than any other ladies vying for membership. When rush finally comes around and you’ve filled out the membership application expect a phone call and an official acceptance letter.