Do I have to go Greek if I want to party in college, particularly at SEC schools? What type of school should I go to if I want to have a good social life and party without going Greek?
Absolutely not. Even most Greek parties at SEC schools are open to both Greeks and non-Greeks, and at the majority of schools the majority of the student population is not Greek. At Alabama, Auburn, and Clemson, less than half of the student population is Greek; at Georgia, South Carolina, UNC, Florida State, and Virginia, it’s less than a third.
There may be some universities at Greek life is so big that your campus lifestyle will be significantly different if you choose to go Greek, and it is true that at most of these schools where 30-50% of the student body is Greek that Greek students will have an outsized influence of the social life of the school. Heck, you could say that about schools with smaller percentages: at my undergrad, only 2% of women join sororities, but sorority members held outsized influence on social life and leadership activities/positions. You can see that happen at places like Alabama and Auburn, where the Greek-letter machine basically chooses the big positions on campus - homecoming queen, SGA president, etc. That, I think, is more about culture than about size, although there is some correlation.
But I don’t think any large public universities are places you simply cannot party at all without being Greek. I think that kind of atmosphere is limited to smaller places with very dominant Greek scenes - like Washington & Lee, where around 75% of the student body is Greek.
I’d chat with some current freshman and sophomores at some of the colleges you’re interested in attending - either here in their specific forums or by finding a Facebook page or something - and ask them what the social life is like. You can probably easily find a Greek member and a non-Greek member. The admissions office at these colleges may be happy to hook you up with a hand-picked college student you could ask questions to.
It is probably safe to assume that you can have a very active party life at almost any college in the country regardless of Greek Life. Trust me, the colleges with no or very little Greek Life know how to party.
Only wanting to party isn’t a good reason to join Greek life.
You can have a great party life anywhere without Greek life.
If you’re a guy, it will be a bit tougher.