Not all of them, though. Some annoying campus dwellers will be there. Always. Forever. And never go away.

Who am I talking about? Why, the  Frat House Groupie, of course!

Now, there are many girls who may seem to fall into this category that should not. These are:

1) Members of a sister sorority. It’s super common to see certain fraternities pairing up with certain sororities on campus; their bylaws/campus rules/international standards of fraternizing require that they have to make nice with the girlies and co-host events together.  Whatev.  Point is, if you’re hanging at the house one Friday night because they’re having an awesome 70s themed costume party and you see the typical group of sorority girls, those are the least of your worries.

2) Girlfriends or ex girlfriends of frat boys: These girls are expected to be there. After all, they aren’t just trolling the crowd looking for booty; this is their man’s house. Or their ex man. And they are still friends with all the boys. Read: they know people.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move into the girls you should be wary of. There are generally two types of Frat House Groupies:

1. The Slutty One: She is the first one at the party and the last one to leave. She’ll be dancing on a table wearing the shiny, super tight tube top that she doesn’t have the body for. On top of that, she’ll be wearing jeans or pants that are usually at least one size too small so that she looks like a stumbling, slurring Muffin Top.  She also tends to wear heels that might be better suited for a scantily clad woman dancing around a pole in a dark corner of a strip club.  She makes a habit of staying up half the night playing beer pong, but doesn’t bother to cover those dark circles under her eyes in the afternoon when she finally rolls out of bed. Those are her battle scars and she wants everyone to ask about her night.  Her most annoying attribute is that she thinks she’s hot stuff and that every guy in the house would die to get with her, when in reality she couldn’t get into a photoshoot for STD awareness.

She’s hangs at the house constantly, trying to get laid, or establish her “place” there.  She thrives on the idea of being part of the inner frat circle, when she is really just a (slutty) puppy dog following the brothers around. Or passing out on one of their dirty, beer-soaked couches.

2. The Guys’ Girl: The other groupie is the exact opposite.  Her uniform includes way more conservative dress.  She won’t dress like a slut, but she won’t dress like a lady either.  She likes the t-shirt and jean approach because she feels like “one of the guys.”   She likes baseball hats with winery names on them and watching football with the guys. She thinks she is much more mature than the other girls around the house and has a much better relationship with her “boys.”  She likes to talk about being able to hold her own, whether it’s in arguments with the men or drinking them under the table (never actually seen that one happen).

This is the girl that wants to be uber important to the fraternity and all of its members and thinks herself a brother even though she lacks (among other things) a penis. The guys’ girl tells everyone that she would never date a frat boy, but secretly wants nothing more. The whole “I’m one of the guys” front is just that: a front. At her core, she wants the same thing as every other girl trolling the frat house hallways. She just doesn’t want to be seen that way.

Whichever category she falls into, the Frat House Groupie is a staple at frat parties nationwide. If you find yourself at a Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes party, or just a random Tiki Tuesday, you will run into her. Every. single. time. There is no cure for the Frat House Groupie; just avoid, avoid, avoid.

(Photo courtesy of laurelt83 on flickr)

Now she’s in trouble. And on social probation. And sorry. REALLY sorry! She didn’t know it would be so loud!

Is it bad that this makes us laugh?

Okay, so I guess I let Hollywood feed me that stereotype.

However, once I started freshman year I started meeting some great girls (who were none of those stereotypical adjectives) and who were also in sororities. The contrast baffled me, so I decided to investigate.

Sororities are pretty big on my campus and something like 35% of girls go Greek. That fact and all the nice girls I had met led me to sign myself up for the 2 week long process of rush. My floor friends all signed up too, but I was still pretty iffy about the idea. I told a few home friends and their reaction was…well less than enthusiastic. I got responses like; “Are you serious?” “Why would you do that to yourself?” and “You are not a sorority girl!” Even my mom, who went Greek in college, said that it might not be for me. These people were the people that knew me best, so I thought that they were probably right, and I prepared to pull my name off the list of about 700 girls.

I deliberated for a while and ended up setting everyone else’s input aside (where it should have been in the first place). While my friends meant well, what did any of them know about being Greek? It is simply impossible to judge such a huge population of college girls based on Legally Blonde. So I kept my name on the rush list, for the primary reason that if I backed out before I had given it a fair shot, I knew I would feel regret and always wonder “what if.”

So I rushed, which at my school is literally rushing around. You go from house to house, sometimes in heels, meeting tons of girls. There are four rounds, “Go Greek”, “House Tours”, “Philanthropy”, and “Preference Rounds”. At the end of each round you rank the houses and they, in turn, rank all the “rushees.” Not gonna lie: it was a little nerve-wracking and exhausting. But as I walked around the houses and met the girls it became easy to sense where I belonged and where I didn’t quite feel comfortable.

In the end I picked a house and they picked me and I got to meet so many people that I would not have otherwise. People that are now my best friends and sisters. At such a big school, going Greek provided me with a smaller circle, girls to have fun with and girls to study with, girls to take care of me when I needed help and a place to feel comfortable.

Rush, of course, doesn’t turn out the same for everyone. Some people find houses, others don’t. I have a friend who regretted not rushing freshman year and rushed as a sophomore. In the end she dropped out of rush, but at least she could now say with certainty that it wasn’t for her. Even if you rush and end up not liking it you will meet so many more people. You could meet girls you like and choose to be friends with, but not sisters with, after the process. Or you could meet girls that dislike rush just as much as you end up bonding over disdain for the process. Or you could rush and find a sorority that you want to be a part of. You could find yourself a place where you are comfortable and happy, and what could be better than that?

Either way, I encourage rushing because it’s something you don’t get to re-do later in life. Give it a shot and you’ll be regret-free either way.

In my years of flip-flop perusal, I’ve noticed three big brands that dominate the flip flop contingent. I’ll start with my personal favorite and work my way through the other two recommendations accordingly:

Havaianas, available anywhere from Urban Outfitters to your local surf shop. These are your basic rubber flop, but they mold just so to your foot and are extra comfy. I own at least 4 pair of these, the brown are my favorite as they literally match everything. Sometimes Urban has 2-for or buy-one-get-one deals that inspire a backup pair. They work fantastically for just about everything, from shower shoes to the beach, or to just make a cute little summer dress more casual. They’re genius, and if you have bigger feet (like yours truly), the solid ones are often unisex or available in men’s sizes. No one knows the difference.

J. Crew is a sorority-girl favorite. Approximately 90% of my own sorority sisters rock J. Crew flip flops until there are holes in the soles, which makes for difficult walking. Fear not: to do so you have to walk many, many miles in them. The Crew has grosgrain flops with stripes, some critter ones, madras and other patterns, as well as the original rubber ones. The rubber ones are more reasonable, but the fancy ones with material can cost you. I’ve not personally worn these, but I’ve heard that they’re worth every penny and are extremely comfortable, molding to your feet almost on the first wear. You can order from the catalog or buy in-store, and if they don’t have your size in store, a secret about J.Crew—call their catalog from the store. The employee doesn’t get credit for your sale, but you won’t pay shipping.

Last but certainly not least are Reefs, which are a quite popular spring break purchase. These got a lot of play on the dorm scene my freshman year. I personally prefer a thinner strap, but Reef makes these too, now, and in an array of colors. These also go up to a size 11, and have great traction if you tend to slip and slide. These seem to be quite durable, a good friend of mine has had hers for all five years that I’ve known her and they have yet to look too dirtball to wear in public. These may be a bit pricey, but if you believe in bang for your buck, you won’t need to replace them for awhile.

These are my casual flip-flop suggestions. If I missed something you couldn’t live without, feel free to add your own thoughts below!

I was a sorority girl.

I went to college with the firm belief that I would never ever go Greek. Yet there I was at my first rush event freshman year, awkwardly chatting with 30 or so girls. I didn’t really know why I was there, except that a girl on my crew team was in the group and had invited me to come. She seemed normal, and very much not what I had envisioned a sorority girl to look like.

None of these girls fit the stereotype. That was probably what attracted me the most to this particular group of girls. I thought there must be something to this whole thing if all these very different, very interesting women were a part of it.

A few years out of school now, I look back on my time spent with those girls very fondly, and when I tell people I was in a sorority they are just as shocked as I was when my teammate revealed to me her Greek affiliation.

Before you run out to your first rush function, there are some things to consider.

First of all, there is the inevitable pledge period which will suck. Your life suddenly becomes not yours anymore, and your grades will probably drop due to a complete lack of sleep and late night phone calls. The amount of crap you will have to endure will depend entirely on the group, but there will be some level of suckiness, so prepare for the worst.

Even though I felt like my sorority was full of very different personalities, each school will have it’s own stereotype for each Greek group. At my school there were 5 sororities and they were divided into 5 labels. There were the rich anorexic girls, the preppy good girls, the nerdy yet lovable girls, the nerdy and not so lovable girls, and finally us, the drugged up shady girls. To a certain extent these labels came from somewhere, but just keep in mind that your affiliation will follow you throughout your college career.

It also takes time and money to be a part of a sorority. You have to pay dues, and go to meetings and organize events. My parents thought sororities were an excuse to gather and drink (which I’ll be honest, it kind of was) so they weren’t about to front the money. I ended up working at the security office twice a week to pay my dues. All this stuff can at times feel like more trouble than it’s worth.

Rushing is a painful experience. When I finally decided I wanted in, there were asses to kiss and far too much drinking. Though most schools have policies that formal rush events cannot serve alcohol, the informal ones involve case races and shots. Bonding with other rushies can often include holding your new friend’s hair back as she pukes off of the porch, not that I know from experience.

The Greek life is certainly not for everyone.

For love of God, think about it and be choosy about how you want to spend 4 years of your life. I loved being in a sorority but it certainly limits how you spend your time socially. I had never had friends that were girls and I got to know a lot of great ones. For all the times I regretted going to that first rush function, I think about every killer party we threw and it somehow becomes all worth it.