Lehigh University? I'm from PA. and I've heard of Lehigh but when it comes to greek life in PA., Lehigh doesn't come to mind...not at all. Or at least NPHC greek life doesn't come to mind.

Lehigh has a pretty active greek life from what I heard. you also have to remember school like that the NPHC is near nonexistent.

Such lists aren't about NPHC Greek Life or anything of the sort. Unless the list includes "diversity" or some other catch phrase.

I can't remember a time when we weren't on the Greek Life list - from the time I applied until the present. I'm wondering if something's going on. I don't even see us on the Most Conservative list either, which we're usually on. In fact I don't see us on any of this year's lists. I don't know what's up with that.

US News and World Report is the one that some schools are not giving data to. The Princeton Review is mostly student surveys and things that are findable on the school's websites, so there's really nothing the school can do to stop participation.

Scandia - the party school thread is somewhere else, baci started it. This thread is to discuss the Greek Life rankings.

Seriously?

I was pretty surprised by the rankings! I wonder if they tend to rotate the colleges from year to year even if the college is still high up in the ranking.

Here is my question...how many of the Top Greek Life schools does your GLO have a chapter at? Do any organizations have chapters at all of the schools?

It was a big feeder for my high school, and usually 3-4 kids a class (out of an average of 40 seniors) went there. I think everyone from my town joined one sorority there. I think back in the late 90s, 65-80% of the campus went Greek?

I don't see any IFC fraternities with houses everywhere. SAE and EX are probably the closest, looks like they are both at all but about 3 school.

Okay, here's my headcount.
For this particular list (NPC orgs):

Theta - 8 chapters
Pi Phi - 7
AOPi, Chi O, DG - 6 each
AXO, Tri Delta, KD, KKG, Phi Mu, ZTA - 5 each
A Phi, DZ - 3 each
AGD, ADPi, GPhiB, SK - 2 each
AEPhi, ASA, AXiD, DPhiE, SDT, Tri Sigma - 1 each

Yeah we are at only one of those schools, and that would be the Eta chapter of Psi Upsilon at Lehigh University.

The Princeton Review rankings on these fun little lists are all products of student surveys AT EACH SCHOOL participating. Students only rank their own school according to the Princeton Review categories. If high numbers of students at, say, Bucknell believe that greek life is very "intense" or a must at that school, it is likely to rank high. On the other hand, at a school like Univ. of Southern Calif. or Univ. of Washington, though the greek systems are big, the school and setting is way bigger, and therefore there are many students who probably don't feel greek life is a must in order to enjoy the school.

Looking at the Princeton Review web site, Washington and Lee is not listed at all. It is like it vaporized. I suspect that the W&L administration asked/demanded to not be included. In past years the W&L administration's point was that one does not even have to prove that they are a student at a school to participate in the surveys that form the basis of that particular school's rankings. It is interesting that W&L has taken that approach with Princeton Review, and I am wondering if other schools are also left out.

In any event, around 80% of W&L undergrads are in fraternities and sororities, which I think is the second highest percentage in the country (behind DePauw). Since W&L is in a small town in the Virginia mountains, the fraternities and sororities serve as the primary housing/ eating/ social outlet for the student body. Since just about everyone is in a fraternity or sorority, there is a house that "fits" everyone. Also, just about all fraternity and sorority functions are open to the entire campus, which serves to make them the primary social outlet and reduces any "exclusivity" of being in a fraternity or sorority.

Uh, did you go to W&L? Wrong.

That said, I agree with you that the administration probably asked to be left out somehow. They were on a crazy campaign against the PR when I was there. They even emailed "model students" to have them write nice, non-party things. Uh, yeah, right. I was a model student but I'm not about to say that W&L isn't a crazy party school.

I believe at one time W&L was #1 in percentage of Greek students, but it's possible that DePauw is now. I haven't been following it.

BreathesGelatin

I did go to W&L and that was my experience, at least that the parties were open. Also, it was not deemed to be "exclusive" or pretentious to be in a fraternity, at least the way it is in some other schools, although certainly within the fraternities and sororities there were "tiers" of relative social standing.