<p>Can anyone clarify into how the rushing process works at Penn, which Frats are best, and other related topics. Thanks</p>
<p>the best frats are DTD, Sigma Nu and DU. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.</p>
<p>ha. just ha.</p>
<p>Rush is second semester of your freshman year. You'll know the frats by then, and you'll know all about the process then. No need to worry until then.</p>
<p>There are no "best" frats. It's like the college process all over again...it's all about fit.</p>
<p>thats what people say when they don't get to Wharton, LOL. I judge frats by how many girls they get at their parties and only that criteria. And guess what? I'm not telling you which is the best frat because you'd all ruin the guy girl ratio.</p>
<p>There are 28 fraternities. Rush takes places second semester. You go to as many parties as you want to during open rush. Then the fraternities send out invitations to those they want to invite back to smaller parties. Then you go to the smaller parties if invited. The fraternities give out bids. Usually they know before they give out bids if the person they extend the bid to is likely to accept. Most get bids to just one fraternity. Some two.</p>
<p>What if they just get ugly girls? Hmmm tricky. There are definitely some better and worse frats (if it's not clear already the ones chocoman listed are nottt better).</p>
<p>Collegebound gives a good description of rush, but in some more selective/hardcore frats there is a lot of dirty rushing and they pretty much have their pledges decided by end of 1st semester. If you really want to be in a frat get to know the ones you like in the middle of 1st semester.</p>
<p>in another one of adf8's post in the 2012 thread, he wrote:</p>
<p>If you're social/outgoing, I would definitely recommend joining one. Penn is the type of school where is it totally possible to have a social life without going Greek, but if you're looking for the traditional (i.e. drunken partying) college experience, join a frat. It's a great way to make a lot of friends too. (P.S. I'm a girl so..not from a guy's perspective. But I'm in a sorority and most of my guy friends are in frats.) There are 28 frats here and the variety is huge. It's difficult to say what's best when it really depends on what you're looking for, but I'm assuming you mean best=most socially elite.</p>
<p>Secret Societies:
Theos: Fairly large pledge classes. Very Jewish and NYC/LA. A little metro/trendy. They have a TON of parties, on and off campus, and they're always well attended.</p>
<p>Owls: Very small, which limits the amount of parties. VERY wealthy. Rush isn't open, you have to be tapped, and they usually tap people who are known to be rich, from rich areas, or internationals.</p>
<p>Oz: Kind of like owls- small and very wealthy. From what I've heard, a little less foreign. Neither Oz nor Owls really has huge open parties, but they're generally connected with others who do.</p>
<p>Actual frats:
Zetes: Very secretive. Donald Trump's frat. Very wealthy- it's widely rumored that brothers sign over 1% of everything they ever earn. They take their pledges to Amsterdam every year. Usually associated with lots of drugs. I don't actually know if they throw good parties, they just sort of have a rep on campus. But they did have trouble filling a pledge class this year.</p>
<p>St A's: Almost entirely New England prep school guys. Wealthy. Good parties, lots of live music. Classy. Known for heavy drinking. Verrry selective- you can't really rush another frat.</p>
<p>Phi Delt: Also very preppy, but a little more geographically diverse. More Southern. Also heavy drinkers and good parties.</p>
<p>Beta: Your typical frat. Lots of club athletes and ex-athletes. Again..good parties.</p>
<p>Sigma Chi: Very athletic- literally a majority of recruited athletes. Considered "nicer" guys than some of their counterparts.</p>
<p>Castle: VERY international- almost entirely. Wealthy, but sometimes considered eurotrash. Good parties, good alcohol. Their rep is sliding a little.</p>
<p>i think this helps a lot</p>
<p>Fanta hit the nail on the head, except he left out that PhiDelt likes the cocaine. Also, Castle isn't as international as everyone believes -- there were a half-dozen guys in their pledge class last year who weren't internationals.</p>
<p>I'd seriously say that A's has the best on-campus parties, followed by Castle. Theos and Castle have the best downtown stuff. Owls parties suck; they think way too highly of themselves. Still haven't figured out the tapping process at Owls and Zetes -- I know a few very rich/connected kids who didn't get tapped, and a few not-so-rich/connected kids who did. It's pretty random; I think one of my friends got tapped because he has the same last name as a billionaire.</p>
<p>PhiDelt has a rep of coke use left over from a few years ago, but it's really not as prevalent there as some of the other places I mentioned above. And Castle IS international- there are only 3 Americans in this year's pledge class. You're right about parties though- A's is best on-campus and Theos downtown.</p>
<p>^^^I was speaking the last year's pledge class (i.e. currently rising juniors). Don't know this year's pledge class, but I guess last year was maybe an anomaly.</p>
<p>How do you know if you get tapped by Owls, ie what's their way of notifying you? Anyone knows?</p>
<p>Tapping process starts very early freshman year (I believe in mid-September)...you'll get an invitation under your door inviting you to "meet the people at 4000 Pine," or something to that effect. It won't actually say "Owls," but the 4000 Pine address will give it away. It will also tell you to dress well (suit or sportcoat/pants). From there, you begin the long dance of impressing the brothers as they whittle down the few dozen people they tapped.</p>
<p>These guys in suits and long umbrellas knock on your door. It's kind of funny.</p>
<p>Yea I actually think I got tapped into owls freshman year. Not that I wanted to go anyways.</p>
<p>hahahahahahahah</p>
<p>To add to this:</p>
<p>St. A's kids dress very very preppy and are all from old new england money. They are the one's doing way more coke than Phi Delt. </p>
<p>Phi Delt in my opinion is the best frat. </p>
<p>Also I would take Sigma Chi off that list. They used to have a really good rep but they have fallen off in the past two years.</p>
<p>And for those who may not be into the Greek scene, keep in mind that over 70% of Penn undergrads do not join a frat/sorority, so you definitely won't feel left out. :)</p>
<p>which of these frats don't do physical hazing? and if im a junior transfer, would i have a harder time finding a social life without going greek?</p>
<p>What do you consider "physical"? Coming in as a junior, I would recommend going greek just because so many people already have established groups of friends.</p>