Cornell Fraternity and Sorority Rankings 2009

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>I am looking to give a truly objective ranking of the fraternities at Cornell. The sorority rankings are superficial and mostly about how the fraternities view the sororities. Feel free to criticize, I tried to incorporate my personal opinions with those of other knowledgeable people when it comes to the greek system. The factors that i tried to incorporate into the ranking system were: Reputation, Community Service, Quality of Open Parties, Sorority Relationship, Perceived Brotherhood Tightness, Athletics and Prestige. I didnt rank individually by numbers because its hard to distinguish which frats that fall into different categories are 'better' than other houses. Instead i split the frats into tiers, houses are in no particular order within tiers.</p>

<p>Fraternities:</p>

<p>Elite Upper Tier (In no particular order):</p>

<p>PSI Upsilon (Psi U) - High Prestige, known as a very very wealthy house. Have a generally good reputation on campus, although some people might think of them as snobby. Good sorority relations (DG, Kappa, Theta). Aren't known for open parties, instead they mostly have closed events. Not very athletic in general. Drew a pledge class of 12 guys who fit the Psi U mold in general (preppy, rich). This house is not for everyone, draws a specific type of guy. Stereotype: 'Rich (very ivy league) kid from the northeast who likes to drink high class beverages like wine and have a good time.'</p>

<p>Sigma Phi (Sig Phi) - High Prestige, known as a fairly diverse house. Throw good open parties. Mix with all top sororities. Bros are sometimes criticized for being pretty boys. Above average athletics. Brotherhood isnt known to be particularly strong. Stereotype: 'Top notch house that mixes with good sororities and parties fairly hard, but is criticized for being a soft frat.'</p>

<p>Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) - High Prestige, good party house. One of the best houses to go to for open parties, the white party is big every year. Good sorority relations (DG, Kappa). Very good athletics. Reputation has declined somewhat within the past couple of years. Brothers are generally nice, but you will run into a good amount of cocky ******bag guys. Sorority girls sometimes criticize them as 'Sexual Assault Expected' but the acronym is a huge generalization. Most of the guys like to party. Fairly diverse house. Mixed reputation on campus. Stereotype: 'Good house that has fun open parties, some brothers are strange (a lot of skater-guys), but house is still top-tier.' </p>

<p>Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) - High Prestige, known as a party house. Very good athletics. Good open parties, Pikathalon and Pike Playboy were fun. Brothers are known to be good guys in general. Pike is sometimes criticized for a lack of diversity, most guys hail from new york or new jersey. Brotherhood is known to be very tight. Good sorority reputation, known to mix with SDT a lot (also alpha phi, AEphi, theta). Dont mix with DG or kappa as much as the other upper upper tier houses. Pledging is known to be tough. In general, a top party frat. Stereotype: 'Tri-state area (prob long island) guys who throw fun parties and have a good reputation on campus.'</p>

<p>Alpha Delt - High Prestige, known to be a rich house. A lot of guys hail from WASP backgrounds. Very wealthy. Average athletics. Feud with FIJI. Good sorority reputation (DG, Kappa, Theta). Throw decent parties. Stereotype: 'Good frat. Most guys who join the house are rich and spend their money partying.' </p>

<p>Chi Psi - High prestige, very fratty. Known to be a big party house with a state-school frat mentality. Very rough pledging, good luck if you pledge this house. Mix with top sororities (Theta, Alpha Phi). Throw fun open parties. Brothers are known to be good guys but are often stereotyped as meatheads. Brotherhood is known to be very tight. House is in a great location on campus.</p>

<p>Sig Chi - High prestige, good party frat. Good sorority reputation (DG, theta, tridelt). Known for their Derby days. Brothers are generally seen as good guys, there are some ******bags though. Rough, time-consuming pledging process. Good athletics (a lot of brothers in the house are on the Cornell soccer team). House has a terrible location on campus, but they do have a pool. Throw some good open parties. Stereotype: 'Good house with a solid reputation, but bad location. Good amount of bros are involved in cornell athletics." </p>

<p>Upper Tier :</p>

<p>Delta Upsilon (DU) - Good frat, average parties. Decent sorority reputation. They have a bunch of feuds with other fraternities due to their pranks and propensity to start fights. A good amount of meatheads. Good athletics. People who dont like the house call the brothers DU-chebags. But generally good reputation</p>

<p>Sig Pi - Good party house. Were the best house on campus not too long ago, but the best days are behind. Have made a good comeback with their previous pledge class and seem to be moving in the right direction though. Good sorority reputation. Athletics are above avg.</p>

<p>Delta Chi - Fun frat, bad location on north campus. Throw fun parties but the location limits the attendance. Good sorority reputation. Brothers are generally nice guys, and they are known to have a fairly tight brotherhood. Good athletics.</p>

<p>Fiji - A good frat that throws some fun parties like fiji island. Brothers are know to drink exorbitant amounts and are often belligerent by the time the party starts. By the time it ends they are usually passed out all over the house. Very fratty. Solid athletics. An overall fun house with a solid reputation on campus. Average reputation with sororities (mix w/ mostly middle tier sororities, sometimes with top ones). Some meatheads but in general the brothers are nice and the brotherhood is tight.</p>

<p>Upper-middle tier: </p>

<p>Sig Nu - Football frat, pretty self explanatory. Have a lot of after hours, throw some decent parties. Lots of Jocks. Fun house overall for a football guy. There are a minority of non-football players in the house though.</p>

<p>TEP -Jewish house with a decent reputation. Recently have improved their reputation. Their pledging is a joke, its long but easy. Throw average parties. Brothers are usually nice guys. Love to smoke weed. Dont have a great rep with sororities, mostly mix with AEphi and AchiO. Weak athletics.</p>

<p>Alpha Tao Omega (ATO) - Good house, decent parties. A lot of Varsity Lax players and various club athletes. Tight brotherhood. Not that well known by people outside of greek life. Above avg sorority rep.</p>

<p>Phi Psi - The lineman football house. Huge guys. Good parties. Pledge here if you are a big dude and are on the football team. Good sorority rep, especially with pi phi.</p>

<p>Chi Phi - Diverse frat. Throw decent parties. Average reputation wit sororities (mix w/ AchiO, KD, Tridelt). Known as a rugby/sprint football frat. Feud with Lambda Chi</p>

<p>Middle-Tier:</p>

<p>Sammy - Nationally Jewish fraternity. A bunch of nice guys, throw decent parties. Mix mostly with AEphi. Good location for open parties on north campus. Pretty good athletics.</p>

<p>Llenroc - Slightly nerdy but fun. They have an awesome house, it is Ezra Cornell's old mansion. Guys can be socially awkward but throw some decent parties. Llenroc is known to have good bar nights. Slightly below avg sorority reputation. House is far away on west campus.</p>

<p>Lambda Chi - Average house. Interesting mix of guys who throw parties at least once a month. Brotherhood is close and they are nice guys. Decent athletics. Feud with Chi Phi. People who dislike the house refer to it derogitorally as Rambda-guy.</p>

<p>Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) - Sig ep doesn't really have a good or bad reputation right now because it barely has one at all. The house has recently come back from getting disbanded by Cornell due to alcohol-related issues. Thus, there aren't that many brothers. Large pledge class this past year and they seem to be on the rise. mix with decent sororities. The brothers are known as good guys. </p>

<p>Lower-Middle Tier :</p>

<p>Zeta Psi - Nerdy, but fun house. The guys seem to be having a good time even when they are getting smashed in athletics. They throw some decent parties. Noone is really anti zeta-psi because the brothers are nice guys.</p>

<p>Pi Kap - This house is on the downlow. No hazing during pledging. Dont mix with many sororities (there are occasional mixers). The parties they throw are average. Nice house on north campus. </p>

<p>Theta Delta Chi (Thumpty) - Great house for people who aren't very fratty but like to get ****ed up. These guys do a lot of drugs and listen to (and play) a lot of music. Always have parties on thursday nights which are sparsely populated but can be fun at times. Famous for techno raves. Dont really mix with sororities. Some people think the house is sketchy, but the brothers are generally nice.</p>

<p>DKE (deke) - These guys live in an awesome house next to DU, but they have some weird brothers. Sketchy place at times. Parties are usually fun though.</p>

<p>Rockledge - Nice house on the edge of a gorge. Threw a couple good parties. Brothers are a little nerdy but have fun. Dont mix with sororities very often.</p>

<p>Phi Tau - Very lowkey house. Some cool brothers. Not many parties or mixers.</p>

<p>Phi Sig - Another house that is on the down low. Dont mix with sororities that often. Their basement is poorly designed for parties, it often gets very hot and it is hard to get to the bar. Good international beers party.</p>

<p>Kappa Sig - Many indian brothers, but there is a decent amount of diversity other than that. Not many parties or mixers.</p>

<p>ZBT - Throw a good jungle party. nonexistent besides that.</p>

<p>Lower Tier:</p>

<p>DTD - No social events ever. But they rent their house out to other greek organizations. </p>

<p>AEPI - Nationally Jewish fraternity. Barely and parties. Only mix with AEphi and that's a rarity in itself. HIGHST FRATERNITY GPA!!!! </p>

<p>KDR - Engineering frat. Slightly socially awkward, but chill brothers.</p>

<p>ACACIA - Somewhat nerdy frat. Try desperately to populate parties by promoting heavily, but usually parties are fairly empty. Bros are nice guys though. </p>

<p>Alpha Zeta - Honors co-ed ag frat.</p>

<p>Beta - Used to be a great house, has declined in the past decade. Rare parties. Known for having a good amount of gay brothers (not said derogitorally, there are a lot of gay brothers for real).</p>

<p>Phi Dry - No alcohol. hard for them to develop as a house since they are dry. Throw decent parties in C-town though.</p>

<p>Seal and Serpent - Strange. Pledge class of 1 a couple years ago. </p>

<p>TKE (teke) - Noone knows much about teke. Back in freshman year i heard: If you cant go greek go deke, and if you cant go deke go teke. I had a hard time finding anyone who had any opinion about teke though.</p>

<p>SORORITIES:</p>

<p>DISCLAIMER: (sorority rankings are superficial and based mostly on looks from a frat perspective)</p>

<p>Top Tier -</p>

<p>Theta - Good looking girls who party pretty hard. Can become annoying with their shirts, bags and pants that say 'theta love.'
Mix often with: Psi U, SAE, Chi Psi, Alpha Delt, Sig Pi, Delta Chi </p>

<p>DG - Very good looking. Known to be superficial and *****y at times. Always draws a pledge class of cute girls.
Mix often with; Sig Chi, Psi U, Sig Phi, SAE</p>

<p>SDT - A good amount of JAPs (Jewish American Princesses), but in general they are very good looking. Some diversity besides the JAPs. Party pretty hard.
Mix often with: Pike, TEP, SAE, Sammy</p>

<p>Kappa - Known as a house with pretty good looking girls. A lot of cocaine lines are blown by some of the girls at kappa.
Mix often with: Psi U, Sig phi, alpha delt</p>

<p>Alpha Phi - Very Cute girls. Fun to party with.
Mix often with: Chi Psi, Pike, SAE, Psi U, Delta chi</p>

<p>Upper-Middle Tier:</p>

<p>Tri-Delt - Rep for being somewhat slutty. But a decent house.
Mix often with: DU, Sig ep, delta chi</p>

<p>Pi Phi - Cute sporty girls.
Mix with athletic houses</p>

<p>Lower-Middle tier:</p>

<p>AEphi - Nationally Jewish sorority with avg looking girls.
Mix with: Mostly Jewish houses (sammy, tep, zbt)</p>

<p>A chi O- Avg looking. Lots of JAPs. They party kinda hard and can be fun at times.
Mix with: Chi phi, sig pi, sammy</p>

<p>Lower Tier -</p>

<p>KD - Party hard but aren't know as the best looking bunch</p>

<p>AZD - Nice girls. Not very good looking</p>

<p>A o Pi - Basically Nonexistent</p>

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<p>That would make sense since they closed last year ;)</p>

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<p>haha AoPi. I think this ranking is pretty good. Kinda similar to the one that was posted last year but its accurate to the stereotypes.</p>

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<p>What exactly is meant by athletic? As in frat vs frat IM football games or whatever?</p>

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<p>Athletic refers to standings in the inter-fraternity sports competition for the title of all-sports champion. The all-sports championship is determined based on a points system that takes into account the standings of each fraternity in each sports intramural league.</p>

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<p>sororities that go through informal recruitment sometimes give insight into their demand. from dear uncle ezra, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Xi delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Pi Beta Phi were eligible for informal recruitment this past spring(ie they did not make quota from formal recruitment). not all of them chose to exercise informal recruitment however, as it is usually looked down upon for a sorority to go through fall/spring rush. hopefully this will stigma will change, given some of the “top” sororities did not make quota this year…</p>

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<p>My sister is in AZD…</p>

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<p>^ lol (10 char)</p>

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<p>Tke really is off the radar sometimes. I remember going to a party they had, back when every frat was adopting the jungle theme. The guys seemed kinda awkward. But it was still ok.</p>

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<p>Is there a niche for gay women engineers?</p>

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<p>The stereotypes the OP gives are somewhat accurate but pretty outdated. I would guess that he hasn’t been too active in greek life recently because a lot of them dont reflect how recent pledge classes have changed the characters of the houses.
I would make the following changes/additions:</p>

<p>Sig Phi: lowkey wealthy. basically only have official mixers with alpha phi and theta (though i hear they don’t like alpha phi’s latest pc). most events are just for friends of brothers and not by house. they are friends with girls in a wide range of houses.</p>

<p>SAE: open parties huge and sweaty, good thursdays first semester. </p>

<p>DU: recent pc’s much less athletic and meatheady than older ones. Don’t really have a dbag rep though, I’m not sure where the OP got the expression DU-chebags.</p>

<p>Sig Pi: Older pc’s (from before being kicked off)very very preppy. Younger ones less so, really nice, fun guys. </p>

<p>sororities:
before I go ahead and make generalizations, keep in mind that its much harder to generalize sororities than frats because they are so much bigger and are all fairly diverse. </p>

<p>also, although some sororities are closer to some frats, in the spring almost every sorority mixes with every frat, so dont worry that your sorority will determine who you meet or socialize with. from my experiences and what I here, all of the sororities besides azd, kd, and achio had mixers almost every day for the first few months of second semester and mixed with basically every frat that does mixers (some of the nerdier ones dont really mix). when 2 houses are considered close, it usually means that about 10-20 girls in the sorority are close to the frat, and all the other girls have their own friends.</p>

<p>theta: lots of girls from the non-tristate area. many fake blonde midwestern/southern looking girls. very into sisterhood, many seem to lose contact with non-theta friends as soon as they start pledging. closest with sig phi, psi u, chi psi (not really the others listed)</p>

<p>DG: lots of girls from nyc private schools. fairly snobby. closest with sig phi, sae, psi u, phi psi (not sig chi).</p>

<p>Kappa: party girls. lots of coke. lots of nyc rich girls (but trashier than DG). not so genetically attractive but do enough with their hair and makeup to distract from their looks.</p>

<p>Alpha Phi: before this pc very very preppy/country club look. I hear a lot of guys call them boring. generally really nice girls. newest pledge class is much less preppy. </p>

<p>SDT: generally not considered top tier. very very jappy LI/westchester. very close to pike, also tep and sammy.</p>

<p>Tri-delt: similar to theta, but less attractive. lots of girls from the south, lots of fake blondes. fun, party hard. rep for being pretty easy to get with and heavy drinking. close to DU, delta chi.</p>

<p>AEphi: lots of jewish girls, though newest pc is much less jewish. very mixed pledge class, some really hot girls, some really ugly girls. pretty laid back, less time spent on hair and makeup than other houses which may be why they often dont look as good. close to tep, sammy sig chi, fiji (not zbt)</p>

<p>Pi Phi: younger pcs much less athletic (and much prettier/better dressed) than older. fun, laid back, less of a party rep, more often just hang out with the guys. close to delta chi.</p>

<p>Achio: less jewish than it used to be. not as as SDT or Aephi, more nice jewish girls. dont party much, fewer mixers than other houses (besides kd and azd). close with sammy, zbt.</p>

<p>KD: dont know much about them, seem like girls you wouldnt really expect to be in a sorority. rarely mix, dont really party much.</p>

<p>AZD: same as KD</p>

<p>And AOPi isnt on campus anymore. so the OP is clearly very involved in the current greek scene. </p>

<p>now before a million people yell at me I’m going to say that these dont apply to everyone in a house and other people may have different opinions. this is just what I have perceived after a year of being active in greek life and meeting lots of people.</p>

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<p>I wonder who is getting AOPi’s house…It was a nice house</p>

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<p>AOII’s house is privately owned so it won’t just be given to another organization. It is a lovely house though, I hope it doesn’t sit vacant.</p>

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<p>about a month ago i was trying to decide between cornell and penn. finally ignored this cc chatter and chose penn. out of curiosity, decided to drop by and see what topics are going down here. based on this, looks like i made the right decision.</p>

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<p>goodbye. hope you enjoy your decision :)</p>

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<p>i know who is getting AOII’s house, but pm me if you want to know…</p>

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<p>I bet non-cornellians reading about fraternity/sorority descriptions get the wrong idea</p>

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<p>Do the greeks have a lot of open parties? I’ve heard that all you need is a CU i.d to get into a lot of them.</p>

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<p>You do realize that, aside from Dartmouth, Penn is the second biggest party school in the Ivies, right? I mean, whatever selective discussions you need to choose to validate your decision to yourself is fine with me, but your post makes it sound like you believe people at Penn spend their weekend nights contemplating string theory. </p>

<p>Please.</p>

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<p>lawls@applejack</p>