<p>Hey guys, I am thinking of rushing as a freshman this fall 2011. I don't really know much about the fraternities at UCLA, and I have been on the UCLA greek life website and it was informative but didn't really help me figure out which fraternities I should look into. Can someone that is experienced with UCLA greek life kind of give me a run down of all the houses they know about? I don't mind if you tell me stereotypes, strengths, and weaknesses. I don't really mind if you even say "X is seen as a lower house where Y is the most prestigious/popular fraternity on camps" etc. Just no blatant bashing. Thanks. </p>
<p>Also, I'm not the drinking hardcore partying type. I am mainly interested in joining for the brotherhood and connection experience as I think that's what it should mainly be. I would appreciate it if you guys could point me to houses that have very strong, serious, and respectable academic, social, and moral standards. </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, I love to party and have fun, I just don't want to be affiliated with the stereotypical fraternity house that gives the Greek system a bad rap.</p>
<p>These are common stereotypes, I don’t necessarily agree with all of them though:
Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike): Focus on athleticism. Had a bad reputation for a while because of an accusation of date rape, some people still see them as sleazy. I hung out with some of them one night though and they were pretty cool. I’d say they are Mid-high, but not sure.
Pi Kappa Phi (Pi Kapp): Cool frat, from what I can tell they aren’t big on hazing. Mid-range I’d say.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE): From what I can tell not particularly liked by other fraternities, they are also known as being meat heads. My covel tutor was SAE and he was nice though. Mid-high.
Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT): One of the highest frats though, and they party very frequently (every week I’m pretty sure).
Beta Theta Pi (Betas): I’m pretty sure they’re in the process of rebuilding their rep. My roommate for the summer chills with them and is going to rush in fall and he’s definitely chill, but they’re definitely on the lower end and not as well known.
Sigma Nu (Sig Nu): My friends are friends with some of the Sig Nu guys, and I met one of them who was pretty cool. They have intense hazing. My friends tell me they have a good rep.
Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep): Don’t know a lot about them but my friends tell me they are a top frat. </p>
<p>If there are any other specific ones you want to know about that I haven’t mentioned let me know. These are the ones I know the most about though. I also recommend rushing any one you have any kind of interest in and not just going by reputation.</p>
<p>Well, my post was edited so now the part about ZBT makes no sense. But to rephrase in more “appropriate” terms, the ZBT guys are very arrogant and are generally jerks. </p>
<p>@wahine1314, I’m well aware of that, I was just giving opinion on the ones I have personal experience with or can actually give some kind of info about.</p>
<p>Thanks for your information, it is very helpful. Now I just need info on the other half of the fraternities. I can say for certainty then I will not want to seek a bid from the stereotypical club of drinking college guys. I’m going to try to check out Sigma Nu and Pi Kappa Phi. They sound like they’d be up my alley.</p>
<p>Just a heads up, Sig Nu does drink a lot from what I hear. And they smoke a lot of weed, I’ve been in the house a couple of times and it always reeks.</p>
<p>Oh, although I don’t particularly have a problem with the choices other’s make I just don’t want that labelled on myself since I don’t usually drink, but again I don’t really have too much of a problem if others do. Which fraternities, if any at UCLA, would you say are the most academically involved? I’m not looking to continue my athletic career in college even though I partook in varsity sports in HS so the party hard/athleticism fraternities don’t really interest me much, but I don’t have a problem with them.</p>