<p>I'm considering rushing next year, and I was just wondering the general consensus about sororities. How prevalent are they? What are the reputations/stereotypes of each house? I know each will have their merits and problems, but I'd just like to get a general idea before I get myself into something I don't want to be a part of later on. Thanks!</p>
<p>Rushing is when you will find out all the answers to these question. Rush is designed so that you get a look at each house and meet the girls face to face so that you can decide what you like and what you’re not interested in. It gives you the opportunity to kind of get to know the personality of the different houses. The worst thing you can do is try to stereotype the houses. Each house has 200+ women, so how can they possibly all fit one category? Keep an open mind for rush, and don’t let any rumors about certain houses affect your decisions. Meet the girls and decide for yourself. If you go through rush, you are in no way obligated to pledge a sorority. You might as well register (registration begins online May 1st) and the go check it out in the fall. 
Good luck!</p>
<p>Honestly, despite the desire to stereotype each house and get into the “best house,” you will probably have the best rush experience if you go in knowing as little as possible about the houses. You will be able to get to know each one for its actual personality and not someone else’s impression of the house. However, you do need to make sure that you have all of your recs and paperwork up to speed because otherwise a large number of houses will not even consider you. If you know any girls in sororities, talk to them and get their take on it–it won’t hurt you for them to put a favorable word in for you during rush deliberations.</p>
<p>But yes, each house has about 200+ girls, has a nice property, and a long tradition of excellence on campus, and rather than a particular type, the biggest division is from family background and income: certain houses tend to attract upper-middle-class to wealthy girls, whereas others tend to attract girls from more middle-class backgrounds. That’s not to say there are no exceptions to this rule, and I won’t go into which houses have which reputations. Don’t choose based on that, choose based on which house is the best fit for you and you will have a great rush and a great 4 years.</p>