<p>First of all.. read this <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/53460-usc-frat-breakdown-question.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/53460-usc-frat-breakdown-question.html</a>
^ That was 5 years ago and I will tell you how much the frats have changed on campus..</p>
<p>Sigma Chi-- Went from a mediocre house to a top powerhouse. Their culture is that of the surfer/ beach southern california type. Think tall, blond, and buff guys who all dress the same and do the same activities.. Usually from the OC or somewhere around there. They party with all the hot sororities on campus. They usually have more than 200+ rushees come out so it is VERY VERY hard to get in this house. Most people fail, and they end up screwed over because of the time invested when rushing. I know a few of them and they are VERY exclusive when it comes to letting outsides in. They don't do much drugs, but the few I know do a lot of blow and ganja. Not much to say because they are one of the top houses here at USC. GOOD luck getting into this house unless you were a jock in HS. If you're not used to being called "hot" your whole life growing up, you can skip this house right away. They maintain their reputation for having very good looking guys. Great laid back house ONCE you get a bid. </p>
<p>SAE-- A lot of legacies which kept them alive through all the bad years. They are an above average house with very high dues. They pride themselves on being "Republicans" and I think there are only 2 minorities in this fraternity house. It's funny because during the 2009 Presidential race, they had the guts of putting a HUGE banner that said John McCain in front of their house (so I guess group think really takes over in this house). SAE has not changed much from their description from 5 years ago. They are also a very drug friendly house. They are also one of the hardest hazers on the row. They have a mix of very attractive guys and also a few ugly ones, but seem to pride themselves on being a social house. They have a very large alumni base. Good luck getting into this house unless your dad is very wealthy. People talk a lot of smack on SAE because they are known to walk around with big bouncers to protect them. The security guards at the sorority houses HATE SAE because they tend to be very racist. This house definitely isn't for every1. This house along with ATO will never be kicked off the row because they have alumnis on USC's board of trustees and are very involved.. Keep that in mind when rushing SAE.</p>
<p>ATO-- Used to be one of the top frat's at USC, but now is in the middle. They got into trouble for hazing their pledges too hardcore so lost their pledge class and have laid back a lot. Apparently, they are similar to SAE when it comes to the money flowing into this house (they have billionaire alumnis who are involved) and they have very low dues because of that. They are trying to rebuild their reputation so this house might be easier to get in than say Sigma or Lambda Chi who are both top houses and sought after. Great house with big potential. They tend to pride themselves on being brothers first and a frat guy second. They go all out on their parties, known to throw upwards to $30,000 per party. One party I was at, they were serving top shelf alcohol (goose, jack, patron) which was really awesome. People are starting to talk about this house again, so we'll see how they go from here.. They do haze hard too, so good luck getting into ATO. Definitely alpha dogs in this house who will not take smack from anyone so usually 40% of their weaker pledges drop.. People do not mess with ATO. Only problem is when you put rich kids together, they tend to develop a "sniffing" problem. Very well connected fraternity and have alums on USC's board of trustees</p>
<p>Lambda Chi-- The VERY top house at USC. Girls I hang out with say that the men are the best looking and most athletic. Like Sigma Chi, they are JUST as hard if not harder to get in. If you are not good looking, tall, or have an awesome body good luck trying to get into Lambda Chi. They get the most hottest girls at their parties, but is a VERY VERY exclusive club. They don't haze at all, so no sense of brotherhood either which I might add that they pride themselves on.. (this can be good or bad depending on what you are looking for). Seems like they might get kicked off the row soon for allegedly raping a 19 year old girl (which i hope is not true) but Lambda is taking a lot of heat right now. Most of the Lambda's I know deactivate after a few years because the partying gets boring REALLY fast. When you have no sense of brotherhood, you don't really have much. I have heard that they want to implement a hazing system because they are fed up with just having pretty boys walk in and joining. Rumors say that they tend to use roofies are their parties, but that has been untrue as of now.. Very interesting to see what will happen to this top fraternity house at USC. I would rush this house and if I get a bad vibe, try another house because this house is almost impossible to get into. They only recruit the best. </p>
<p>Phi Psi-- Got kicked off the row a few years ago for a big cocaine and weed drug bust and they are now back.. They used to be a top house but are now in the middle. They are still on many restrictions so I would caution against joining this house because they are on VERY thin ice.. IF they do something wrong again or get caught selling drugs, they will be permanently removed from the greek system. Just after they came back last year, they got caught "dirty rushing" so it seems like the leadership in this house needs a makeover.. I wouldn't be surprised if they got kicked off again. The men in this house are known to be "pretty boys." One of the best looking houses on the row, and i mean both frat house and the quality of the guys. They haze VERY hard and make their pledges do a lot of activities that might make them question ones gender. Definitely druggies in this house. They also party with a lot of beautiful women because the girls think that they are one of the hottest guys on the row.</p>
<p>ZBT-- Used to be called "zero *****es there" but they have went from a loser house to a somewhat mediocre one. They have a HUGE house 120+ brothers but I would advise against joining this house because their lease on their fraternity house is up next year so they will be homeless. Even if they do find another frat house, it will most likely be off the row! THAT IS NOT GOOD! There are a lot of Asians in this house. Asians usually choose between ZBT or the Asian fraternities and it seems like ZBT usually wins the battle when it comes to recruiting Asians. They throw really fun parties too, but I think they will be in trouble when they lose their frat house</p>
<p>Sigep-- Losers.. Their own alums kicked out 60 of their active members because of some internal problem. This house is dying..</p>
<p>Phi Delts-- They are coming back with a brand new house so we'll see how this frat is next semester</p>
<p>Theta chi-- Losers. Nerdy. Off the row. Enough said</p>
<p>TKE-- ALumni's just donated a few million dollars and they just recently built a new frat house. They have 2 frat houses on the row now, with their new one being one of the most advanced and largest.. Party- wise, they don't hang out with the hottest girls on the row, but seem to be very close. This house is also VERY diverse friendly so they may be more open to taking minorities. This house used to be a low tier one, but now might be moving up with the new house. They do a LOT of hazing in this house too. They usually have a REALLY big pledge class so sometimes it may be easy to get lost among all the new people. What sucks for TKE is that on the national level, there seems to be a saying "if you can't join greek, go tke" and that is just terrible for their reputations even if It's not true.</p>
<p>Beta-- Not a top house.. Also a mediocre fraternity house. THey are OFF the row so I would think twice before joining this house. The alumni's were very hardcore and definitely made them one of the best houses and they are just living in their past image. </p>
<p>DTD-- They pride themselves on being "proud Americans" or should I say rednecks, but they do throw really fun parties. Another middle house. They haze REALLY hard and are very secretive when it comes to their pledge semester</p>
<p>AEPI-- Above average house. Also has very high dues and a bunch of wealthy jews. 5 years ago, they were losers and nobodies, but have launched themselves to being way above the medium. They throw really fun parties, but got into trouble last year so are on some sort of restriction now. They have a short pledge semester, but are one of the hardest hazers on the row (which also got them into trouble). Not sure about the drug culture here.. Hard to get in if you are not Jewish..</p>
<p>I left out the houses that I do not know much about.. Most of my reviews are stereotypes based on attending their parties and also knowing many people in those houses.</p>
<p>*Keep in mind that with the big scandal with Lambda Chi, they just very well might be kicked off the row and if that happens, another house will move up and take its place. This happened to old beta, to ATO, and to Phi Psi so greek rankings CONSTANTLY change every 4- 5 years. You can easily go from a top house to a lame house by getting caught hazing or doing something stupid like Phi Psi did or just simply recruit a few years worth of lame pledges. Keep this in mind when choosing a house to rush next Fall.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>