Yeah, I'm amused by the "I just wanted to ask about something I didn't know anything about but I'm not going to change my mind why can't I know I swear I'd be responsible about it." Like we're keeping a big secret from her.

Let me just say a few words to try to dissuade you from your way of thinking as well as try to talk to you, just woman to woman.

First, your thought about how you should be aware of reputations and how they should be a factor in your decision making process is false. Case in point? Pi Chi's. These woman are chosen the previous year and have sworn to disaffiliate from their sorority in order to be neutral guides to the newfound Greek world for PNMs. They forgo their loyalties to their sorority in order to promote Greek life as a whole (much like we often do on this site, although you typically know our affiliations.) These are the women you grow to know and love over the course of the week (not always, but more often than not), and you know what is unique about them? They are all Greek, from different chapters, yet they seek to know you and help you find your home just the same. The point of me mentioning this? When recruitment is over, you realize that (depending on the number of Pi Chi's you have) you have x amount of girls (typically 1-2) from different chapters that you like! And often, you don't even know what sorority they are in! Basically, you find that you like these women, as women, and that in the end their affiliation doesn't matter. In a perfect world, that is how recruitment should run.

A friend of mine once said that she really wished that we could do recruitment with all of the sororities just taking new "letters" for the week (ex: Tri Sigma would be ABC, another sorority would be DEF), and then the girls would not even be aware of which sororities they were going to, and could just completely based on personality and fit. Now obviously there would still be the differences in opinions, and maybe it would not change anything at all, but ideally, this, I believe, is how you should go through recruitment.

Let me break it down further. When you are going to each chapter, think of it this way-- do you like the women you find around you? Now try to be aware of superficial things, like what they are wearing or how good of a rusher they are, because those things can change. But think to yourself, could these women be my friends? Or am I just being an insecure middle schooler again, being nice to the "mean girls" because I want to be like them (superficially accepted, pretty, well put together), even though I have nothing in common with them and am uncomfortable being myself with them? If you fit in with these girls (which of course would mean that they were stereotyped unfairly too, because they themselves were called "mean" when they were not because of jealousy or other utter nonsense), by all means, join the chapter. If you are simply trying to be who you're not because you feel that their letters would appear more favorable across your chest, think again.

Being an ABC does not make you hot, nice, smart, put together, or athletic, and being an XYZ does not make you fat, ugly, insecure, dumb, or a slut. You are who you are, and having letters does not change that. You decide to be who you are and hopefully you will find a sisterhood that complements that. And hopefully you will realize that a sorority is no more than that-- a group of individuals with the common goal of being better women, united at this difficult time for mutual support.

So exactly who are you going to trust to give you the correct information on reputations? Other pnms who also just arrived on campus and have only heard rumors? Fraternity guys? Random strangers on the internet? Do you expect a consensus? Is there a certain number of people who have to tell you "oh the xyzs are nasty hos" before you decide it must be so?

I'd be shocked if you manage to go all the way through recruitment having NO idea about the stereotypes or tiers. Believe me, you'll hear plenty of garbage.

This is solid advice. Thank you. You're right, in a perfect world, reputations wouldn't matter and it is important to feel a connection with a house on the basis of sisterhood and what feels right. You are absolutely right.

Easy misunderstanding. I am not asking you to give me any such information, merely to discuss why it's so taboo for PNMs to want it.

Well, yes. I wouldn't say there's an exact number, but multiple people would have to express similar opinions that "XYZs are nasty hos" before I would consider it a commonly accepted opinion. Those people would be a combination of those I speak to: frat guys, friends on campus both in and out of sororities, facebook friends' pictures I can see, etc.
I'm not saying that opinion is an accurate representation of all XYZs, but it's something that some people would associate with the letters. And I care too much about what other people think. We've established that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6j8EiWIVZs

What I think of when I see the OP's name.

I think you should be more concerned with what people think of you. Recruitment is a mutual selection process, and girls who are preoccupied with reputations generally don't end up in the houses they think they "deserve."

And because I'm not that far away from 18, I can completely understand where you are coming from. At 18, in a new place away from home, going through this seemingly superficial process which requires you to be judged almost immediately for your choice (i.e. wearing bid day letters the next day), it is a scary prospect to end up in the "ugly, fat chapter". If I went through recruitment as an 18-year-old, first semester freshman, I may have let the stereotypes and what my new fast friends from my Pi Chi group said get to me. However as I went through college, through a process of the friends I made, the experiences that I had, and the wonderful and amazing women that I met, I was convinced to go Greek. And I chose the chapters that I pursued after careful and thoughtful deliberation. And, in the end, I ended up where I was meant to be. However by my junior year I realized who I was, who my friends were, who and what type of people I got along with, the kind of woman I wanted to be, who I cared about, whose opinions mattered to me, etc. In short, I knew who I was and that made it much easier for me to know where would fit me best. Luckily, the sorority I was interested in thought I fit in well too. But I understand the difficult position that you're in and to be honest, not many of us were so open minded when we went through recruitment. We just know that now at the other side it is probably the most beneficial thing that you can do for yourself. And I know where you're coming from, you want to know what you're getting yourself into. That, in itself, is not bad. Just don't let other people tell you where you fit. Because in the end they won't be the ones living with the decision for four years. That's all.

You are way to caught up in what perception you will give off by wearing a certain set of letters. You are seem to be easily swayed by the opinions of others instead of your own opinion of XYZ, that's not usually the best way to make decisions.

My thoughts exactly. This is an SEC school, yes? PNMs often think they get to be choosier than they actually get to be.

Fixed that for you :D

hahahaha YES.