<p>Where there are 8 sororities, there are over 30 fraternities. You could make a stab at some of them, but it's almost hopeless to cover enough. Recommended strategy? Visit as many as you can during rush and get to know as many guys as you can. Talk a lot to anyone who is already in one. For guys, there's no way you'll choose among all of them, so start to narrow it down and just find guys you like. </p>
<p>I think the whole "reputation" thing of frats and sororities is a load of bull, except for the obvious ones (tridelts, phisig, and the rich intl frats). They turn over too quickly to have real stable presences.</p>
<p>Top 3- these are clearly the "best". the prettiest girls, mixers with best frats, most desired, etc.
Tri Delt- Very pretty, very fun. Probably the strongest sisterhood of all. More blondes than the others and a lot of Southerners. Fairly preppy.
A Chi O- Very close with Tri Delt but a little more down to earth. Still very pretty, fun girls. A lot of athletes. Seems to be a top choice this year. Also preppy.
Theta- A little more bada**/sexy than the other two. More New York/New Jersey. More Jewish. Has a drug rep that's probably exaggerated. Very fun, wild, and not at all "fake".</p>
<p>2nd Tier- These are all decent. The most noticeable difference is that they're more socially awkward than the top 3. Some are pretty, some are eh. Mixers with some good and some bad frats.
SDT- Jewish. Can I state this any more? Jewish. I swear it's at least 90% Jewish. Very Jersey/Long Island. Nice girls, though maybe a little Jappy. Has the advantage of being the only Jewish-dominated sorority, so has mixers with good Jewish frats.
Alpha Phi- Not much to say other than the general overview of 2nd tier. You don't hear much about them, but they're nice girls and generally fairly pretty.<br>
Sigma Kappa- Same as Alpha Phi really. Rumored to be slightly prettier, but seems to be less popular this year, or at least equal.</p>
<p>No Way Jose- Ok, I totally just wanted to title it that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these sororities, they just have a rep of being "less cool".
Chi O- Sweet girls, but noticeably socially awkward. Seems to be getting worse. Not a very sisterly, close sorority.
Phi Sigma Sigma- The only sorority with a bad nickname. Hint: it involves pig. Clearly the one everyone tries to drop. Awkward to the point of hilarity. However, I've heard the sisterhood is very strong and I know it's very appealing to some girls.</p>
<p>Ok, I'm clearly biased. I tried to capture my opinions/the opinions of other girls rushing. Honestly, the girls in all of them seem very nice and unfortunately the reps matter more than they should because they determine which frats and other sororities they're close with.</p>
<p>"Rush" is the mostly open recruitment process. It takes place during the first two weeks of the second semester. For guys, it's lots of fast food, hanging out, parties (often guy-only parties or latenight beer pong stuff), and usually something around watching a football game. For girls, it's interviews and more interviews.</p>
<p>After that, closed rush starts. This is by invitation only. For guys, it entails lots of (fun) drinking, like drinking games, drunken bowling or laser tag, and the like. There's usually strippers in there somewhere, and a more formal event or two. They may have some kind of date party, and it usually ends with a pretty fancy dinner, after which they'll hand out bids. Girls closed rush doesn't have as much debauchery and there's a much bigger emphasis on spirit about getting bids.</p>
<p>After rush, "pledging" starts. This is what you've heard about for greek life - this is the stuff no one can really talk about (and varies a lot from school to school). For guys, at Penn, most houses have a LOT of hazing, and it continues from the second week of school on to spring fling. The kind of hazing varies from house to house: some have lots of physical work, and others have random wack traditions. Interspersed among hazing is parties, brotherhood events, and service events. You'll spend almost 24/7 at the house.</p>
<p>Pledging for girls has traditionally been much tamer. You'll spend a lot of time at the house and learning about the sorority, but there usually isn't any (serious) hazing, though I've heard of it getting more popular. There's lots of girl junk like dressing up but never the crap the frats do.</p>
<p>I've heard it usually described thusly: Guys' rush is all fun but then pledging really sucks, and girls' rush is all stressful (forced interviews and girls basically weighing you with their eyes) but then pledging is a cakewalk.</p>
<p>One of my friends is a Rho Chi (recruitment counselor for sororities) and she said that Chi O is actively getting a better pledge class this year by scoping out "cooler" girls. I've heard through the rumor mill that they've asked back a lot of Tabards and the like.</p>
<p>But rumors fly during rush. Speaking of which, guess which frat was busted by the fire dept yesterday...</p>
<p>So MissBarbara, I'm guessing you're a female thus you're asking about sorority rush. To tell the truth, I find it kind of fun, but unless you're an extremely social person you'll probably tire of it fairly quickly. It's a totally public process so here's a quick overview. The first round is open house. All girls go to all houses for 30 minutes. It's really annoying and fast..you just talk to 3 or 4 girls. The next round you can be asked back to between 1 and 6 sororities. You spend 45 minutes there and they do little skit/show thing. The final round you can be asked back to up to 4. You spend a lot of time talking to the girls. They feed you baked goods and you do craft things. Then you have pref night, where you're asked back to 1 or 2 for a cocktail party thing. And then you get a bid from one. Basically in every round you just talk to the girls a lot.</p>
<p>The secret societies are definitely popular. They're usually filled with socially...well-connected students, if you know what I mean. Theos is pretty big and is known for having amazing parties. It's somewhat Jewish and NYC/LA-y. It's kind of the like male counterpart to Theta. Owls is VERY selective..I think they take between 5 and 10 guys a year and rush is never open, you have to be chosen. I honestly know nothing about Oz.</p>
<p>I have to disagree about Chi O. They may want "cooler" girls, but the "cooler" girls do not want them.</p>
<p>so it's really more like the sorority chooses you- you won't be able to choose between bids? haha not like i think i could get more than one, if one at all but...</p>
<p>You get to pref at two houses and then sign a bid card saying which houses you have visited you would accept a bid from....so you do get to decide to a certain extent which house you want to be in. No, you cannot physically decide between two different bids. I'd also have to disagree about ChiO attracting different girls this year. I have friends that are rho chis and have heard very different things so far in terms of perceived house reputations among freshmen and house results.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what it really costs per year to be part of a sorority at Penn; dues plus other expenses that aren't included in dues? Does it vary by sorority?</p>
<p>A bid means you're invited to pledge. Some people don't get in during pledging if they mess up (difficulty of pledging varies by sorority) but almost all do.</p>
<p>Oz is the old ZBT. I don't know much about it, but I hear bad things about their pledging.<br>
Also, don't forget about Zetes. I hear it's full of very rich connected people. You have to be invited to their rush (some time Fall semester) and pledging starts before winter break and ends way after most frats. It's supposed to be a big druggie frat with lots of weed and a ton of coke. There are also rumors about how much dues are (like 10k and/or 1-3% of your future income).</p>