who stays active

Honestly I think more upperclassmen live in my house than sophomores do. I know some houses do like a half membership thing where you pay less and don't have to be as involved in the house. I've always thought that was lame but we don't do it in my house so idk how it impacts the dynamic of a house

You can't look at a sorority and say that a girls who drop do so because they're unhappy in the house. If girls drop because they don't like the house, they usually do so while they're pledging. Anyone who drops after that usually drops due to money problems, transferring schools, etc.

However, I think that new Row houses tend to see the most girls drop during the pledge season. All New Row houses experience girls who are genuinely unhappy with the outcome of rush and thus drop. This is somewhat the case with Old Row houses but not as much. Old Row houses are mainly comprised of girls who have known each other since they were children, so they pretty much know they'll get the house they want. The girls who drop from Old Row houses usually do so because of a major conflict of interest, i.e. "hazing," social cliques, etc.

I've noticed in my house is previous years seniors will drop because they already have their friend group established and dont want to put the money/ time into being part of the sorority (even if they aren't unhappy being in the house). Personally I can't imagine doing that and I think that it does show a lack of willingness to invest in the sorority and help improve it, which I think hurts the house.

This is why some houses care about your legacy and family/money situation. If you are a legacy and/or have money, your parents are going to support you to stay through graduation. This means more retention, which means more money, which means no cob, more honors and better leadership, which some translate to prestige. Class is dismissed.