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In the Big 10, Illinois, Indiana, and Penn State leave Michigan in the dust as far as frattiness goes. So does Northwestern. Michigan is no more than a second tier, and that's from close friends who went to Ann Arbor.
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<p>Having partied at all of these schools, I agree with BigR.</p>
<p>I would also add Wisc. to the mix.</p>
<p>Mad-town is in a league of it's own, but not because the greeks are particularly strong up there. It's just the nature of the town and university. Everything I've ever heard is that it's just nuts, and events like Halloween up there are at near New Orleans Mardi Gras levels.</p>
<p>University of Texas is big with greeks, but because the whole darn school is so big, there are lots of opportunities for those who don't go greek.</p>
<p>Syracuse University has a 30% greek population - my D is there now.</p>
<p>hows USC??</p>
<p>West Coast Greeks just aren't that strong. Southern Cal (aka University of Spoiled Children) probably has a leg up on most of the Pac10 but that's not saying much. Certainly not saying that they can't party with the best of them, or that they don't get their things done, just that it's a lot different culture, and not the same as other places.</p>
<p>If you're talking about South Carolina - again, it's an SEC school and not much more needs to be said.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt</p>
<p>I'm not exactly sure how you are defining a "good greek system" but Vandy has a lot of fraternities that are extremely active on campus. The greek system is dominant here and really is a huge part of the social scene. Each weekend the frats have parties, they swtich on and off for example some have parties friday night others saturday night. then they all have tailgates before the games. When we don't have home games a lot of the frats go pontooning or they have parties on saturday without a reason at all. For a top school, the greek system is very impressive (although I may be a little bit bias :-)</p>
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Mad-town is in a league of it's own, but not because the greeks are particularly strong up there. It's just the nature of the town and university. Everything I've ever heard is that it's just nuts, and events like Halloween up there are at near New Orleans Mardi Gras levels.
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<p>Well, PSU is 12% greek and Wisc. is 10% greek (and State College has plenty of bars, clubs, etc. as well).</p>
<p>k&s - that's my point. Madison is just a party culture that is a collective identity for most students who end going there. PSU is a way better Greek School than Wisconsin is, but the difference is just a matter of the way in which the Independents also party their collective asses off.</p>
<p>Booze functions not only as a social lubricant there, but also a winter coat.</p>
<p>^ I don't quite get your point since PSU is known as a huge party school as well, w/ greek life really playing not much of a bigger role than in Madison.</p>
<p>PSU has one of the largest greek systems in the country in terms of # of chapters. Their Greeks are actively involved in the University, instead of just how much everyone parties. The often mind blowing totals PSU raises during THON is largely due to the efforts of members of the Greek system, as IFC and Panhellenic Council are the main coordinating groups, and the chairperson is always from a Greek house.</p>
<p>The point is that partying is only a part of it, and that a good Greek system is an intrinsic part of how the campus runs - and we're trying to define the "best". There are a lot of places where the greek system is invisible - where student organizations are only filled with independents in the Honors program. But there are other schools where the major events on campus (like Homecoming) are defined by Greek participation. Places where if the Greeks disappeared, no student organization (other than the Anime club and the Dungeons and Dragons club) would be able to continue running because there would be no members. There are schools where there hasn't been a non-greek student body president in 25, 50 or even 70 years. Places where despite being only 15% of the student population, Greeks run 90% of what happens on campus. That type of Greek influence on campus is what separates out the "best" greek scenes from the merely average.</p>
<p>Excellent posts Bigred. Hopefully it's clear now that there's a huge difference between "partying hard" and "fratting hard."</p>
<p>i do know that Mizzou's greek population is heavy...if u are going to visit the college campus...u should stop by the Greek Row....its siii ***in' awesome...but how come the Black "Divine 9" sororities and frats dont have greek housing...that upsets me. a little....</p>
<p>^^^^Traditionally NPHC (divine 9) organizations do not maintain housing for their collegiate members, that is why it's hard to find a D9 chapter with housing. Now Some chapters might have a house, but most won't.</p>
<p>Part of the reason lies in the way that the D9 organizations have set themselves up. First there are many non-collegiate chapters - and I'm not referring to alumni chapters. Second, in many larger cities with multiple colleges, there will be a single municipal chapter with members from each of the different colleges. Third, NPHC groups tend to smaller, and thus housing is less of an issue. There places in the South, and at the HBCUs where this is not the case and the NPHC orgs are larger and have housing similar to their historically white counterparts, but just isn't feasible elsewhere. </p>
<p>All that said, the NPHC orgs are phenomenal, and have a much greater significance within many black communities than any NPC/NIC organization does.</p>
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PSU has one of the largest greek systems in the country in terms of # of chapters. Their Greeks are actively involved in the University, instead of just how much everyone parties. The often mind blowing totals PSU raises during THON is largely due to the efforts of members of the Greek system, as IFC and Panhellenic Council are the main coordinating groups, and the chairperson is always from a Greek house.
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<p>Greeks are pretty much heavily involved in THON at most campuses.</p>
<p>And there are plenty of people who "party hard" in Happy Valley who never venture out to the fraternities.</p>
<p>I'd say UNC-Chapel Hill has a great greek system. Over almost 20 sororities and over 20 frats...we have a big and small frat court with huge mansions and other houses scattered about too. Have parties all the time, sororities are very popular, and it's not overly exclusive, except that most frats don't let other guys in that aren't in a frat or their frat.</p>
<p>I know that this was posted quite a while ago, but I saw this and was kind of upset by it. Greek life isn’t all about parties and getting wasted, it’s about brotherhood and sisterhood. The “best” greek communities are not your stereotypical what you see on tv greeks. They are classy, they have fun, and they know what being Greek really means. My school has one of the most looked-up to Greek communities, and you would know that if you really knew what being a member of Greek life was all about.</p>
<p>As I posted several times, it’s not just about parties, but about overall influence. There are a great many schools in which the best and brightest are without question members of the Greek community…partying is only a part of it. </p>
<p>As for whether or not your school as a good or even above average (let alone “most looked up-to”) I’ll wait until you announce that location to make a judgment on how true that is. Categorically though, if you say any place in the Northeast or West Coast, with the exception of Dartmouth, I’m going to call you a liar.</p>
<p>U Kentucky gets no love. Poor hicks.</p>
<p>I think UIUC has a great system. Something like 70% of ppl there are affiliated. The frats/sororities are everywhere, and they are fully integrated into campus life. Its almost like wanting to go greek is a prereq to going to school there. They are very active with non party service oriented things. My friend is in an engineering frat, and they do a bunch of good stuff for the community.</p>