Top Greek Schools
 

According to MSN and the Princeton Review, these are the top 20 colleges for fraternity and sorority life.

1 Washington and Lee University
2 DePauw University
3 Centre College
4 Pennsylvania State University
5 University of Michigan
6 Michigan State University
7 Ohio University-Athens
8 University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa
9 Florida State University
10 University of Texas-Austin
11 Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge
12 University of Colorado-Boulder
13 University of Florida
14 University of Tennessee-Knoxville
15 University of Georgia
16 Lafayette College
17 Vanderbilt University
18 University of Mississippi
19 Colgate University
20 Southern Methodist University

W&L
 

Washington and Lee (#1) has only a little over a thousand student. Almost 80% of their campus is Greek because you can have little to no social life if you are not. I wonder if this is why they are ranked first-- because such a large majority of people are Greek?

I don't know that it's strictly percentages...because I know at FSU we only had like 12-15% of the campus represented in the Greek system.

Re: W&L
 

I think that is what they are going by - % involved and influence of the system on campus, because DePauw doesn't have a lot of students either. Penn State doesn't have a giant %age but from what I understand the influence on campus is large.

My Alma Mater, Ohio University is a very nice school with a good Greek System, but I don't know about being in the top twenty.

The thing to remember is that the Princeton Review is somewhat suspect in its survey methods and methodology -- and, it has nothing whatsoever to do with Princeton University -- except that I think its' founders may have graduated from there.

I'm REALLY surprised how a lot of Big 12 schools with HUGE Greek Systems were completely omitted. I guess the top 20 has to omit some deserving people though...

Re: Re: W&L
 

I'm going to agree with DeltAlum's opinion on the Princeton Review. Because while FSU is a fun school,I don't think we deserve to be that high on the list. We have over 30,000 students with 12-15% Greek....and the Greek System is not completely dominant or influential...at least that's not how I saw it (from both the Independent and then Greek perspective). We also have had quite a few fraternities in serious trouble over the past couple of years and 2 sororities have left campus (due to low numbers) since 1999.

I'm sure the university president is having a fit if he's seen this latest statistic. He is very anti-Greek and has been imposing a lot of rules to try and squelch the Greek System. It is his #1 priority to try and make FSU a "research" university and to change the party school image. From the time I got there (1997) to the time I graduated (2001) you could tell a change in the atmosphere. Don't even get me started....:mad:

That article was a little dumb, I thought, because it was all about the party stereotype. With pretty much every school there was a comment about the Greek parties - not much about friendship or philanthropy or enhancing the college experience. Not that parties aren't a part of Greek life, but they're certainly not all there is to it!

And there are lots of schools not on that list that have Greek membership much higher than 15%.

Ohio University was on Princeton Review's Top Party Schools list for years as well. I'm sure the university administration breathed a sigh of relief when OU didn't make that list this year.

The real question in my mind is how do you quantify things for either list?

There's no logic that I can find.

It's always been my understanding that DePauw's Greek system comprises such a huge percentage of the student population because they don't provide housing after freshman year, and it's easier to get a space in a Greek house than an apartment in town. Anyone from DePauw know if this is true??

Greek life
 

I know that most all of the students at TCU in Ft. Worth are Greek. Being a private school the numbers still don't compare to something like UT Austin per say.

Saying that almost all of the TCU students are greek is completely untrue. They do have a strong greek system, but it is nowhere near "almost all".

I went to SMU (#20) for a year and a half and you could have a life without being greek, but you would still get invited to crush parties, etc. So greek life really did play a big part there.

interesting...
 

I guess I had to reply

I am VERY shocked that neither Indiana University or Purdue University made the list. Both schools have decent greek percetanges (20% of IU's 37,000 students are greek) and very stronge systems. True the university officials have been cracking down but that doesnt necessarily make a greek system/life weaker does it?

I wonder what the criteria was for ranking the schools.

XP2k

dzsaigirl
 

This is what I heard from the grapevine dzsaigirl. My apologies.

Re: dzsaigirl
 

I think you are both right...just depends on how you look at it. I thought I had seen stats for TCU's Greek system somewhere, but all I could find was the following (from their DG chapter site):

Facts about TCU's Greek Community:

39% of TCU's student body is Greek
67% of the Orientation staff is Greek
66% of Frog Camp Staff is Greek
63% of the Chancellor's Leadership program is Greek
70% of the House of Representatives is Greek
76% of Student Foundation is Greek
65% of Mortar Board is Greek

So, even though Greek's at TCU are not the majority, they seem to be pretty darn visible! Also, TCU has a pretty large commuter population, so it's quite possible that Greeks are the majority when it comes to traditional students. Would be interesting to see more of a breakdown.

A highschool acquaintance went through rush at TCU (over 10 years ago, mind you), and she said with few exceptions, almost everyone in her dorm rushed. That would be nice if it were true everywhere....

When I was at SMU, I was one of two people on my floor who did not rush. They had Rho Chi meetings by floor, in the floor lounge and I would just stay in my room...The girl next door was the other non-rushee and we had a contest one time to see who would turn their stereo up the loudest during Rho Chi meeting! We got bitched out, needless to say :)

I really like reading about "top Greek schools" and the percentages of Greeks on campus, because my school (Stanford) is really the opposite. While we have our fair amount of GLO's and BGLO's, it is by no means a greek-controlled school. There are those who are totally into it, but for most of us, there are so many other activities going on in other Row houses, theme houses, and dorms that campus life is always busy and fun. But we also only have 6500 undergraduates total, so we are not nearly as big as other schools. And last but not least, most of us also are so loaded down with classes that we really have to make time to enjoy the outside activities (but somehow we do!) :cool:

DePauw
 

I didn't go to DePauw, but a very good friend of mine did her freshman year (then she transferred). I remember her saying that greek life was all there was to do in the small town, and that the average % of greek students was about 80% of the entire student body.

I know she lived in a dorm her freshman year, and was going to be sharing an on-campus house with friends her sophomore year (before deciding to transfer), but she never said the greek system was big due to housing issues.

It's just huge there and always has been I guess :cool:

I used to know a woman who went to Depauw, she'd been an Alpha Chi there (it is our Alpha chapter, she never let us forget!) and I always figured that since two of the largest sororities nationally were founded there (AXO and Theta) that greek life would just naturally be big.

I'm really surprised Miami University, Oxford isn't on the list. Whenever I tell someone I am trying to transfer there they say, "Oh greek life is huge there." This one guy I met in a bar (who didn't know I was greek) told me that he went to school there and he said, "Yeah, it's a really great school but everything's about the greeks. It's okay if you're into that I guess." I didn't bother telling him I was.....didn't want to make him feel like an idiot and have to apoligize to me for an hour.;)

SEC schools
 

I am suprised not many Southern schools make ths list of greek schools. I am not in a Sorority and i did not rush, but i am hoping to change that thru alum initiation-- i am not going to name which one as of yet to protect the hoping and wishing and a lot of praying it comes true on my part, but I went to the Univ of Arkansas at Fayette-NAM :) and that was a true blue campus for greek life. My entire dorm was greek with the exception of maybe a handful of us who were not greek and i can count maybe two other dorms that were too. I am thinking and somewhat suprised that Chapel hill and Georgia did not make the cut too of most populated greek schools.


Laura

Re: SEC schools
 

UGA is #15 on the list.

As far as Miami U is concerned, my ex went there for grad school and he said that while the Greek system was big, there was also a large faction of students who were virulently opposed to it. Maybe the "no, not THAT Princeton" Review factored that in. Then again, he doesn't always think the way everyone else does so he could be pulling that out of his butt. ;)

i have two friends who are presidents of their fraternities at depauw. one explained to me last year, before he rushed, that greek life is just huge there. the housing does have something to do with it, but its not impossible to find housing without it. its just that if you want to be anybody on that campus, you have to be greek. and thats just how it goes since so many people go greek. just what ive heard anyway...

roxydiva

go Lafayette...major props to my neighboring school :) Nice to see a smaller school on the list.

33girl, you are right, I have heard that too. When I was on my tour our guide (a Sig Ep) said that over a third of the campus is involved in greek life. As well, many organizations were founded there, and I believe most if not all of them are still active on campus. A belltower was given to the school by the Betas, and there is also a beautiful sundial (that unfortunately doesn't work) that was given by Tri-Delta. I made my statement based on the long-standing tradition of greek excellence there, not really on the size of the greek population, I guess. Does anyone know what the criteria was for this list anyway?

I don't know the criteria that they used for the list. I saw it on the www.msn.com site and thought that it would make a cool thread here on GC. :cool:

There's the problem.

There may not be any criteria. At least none that I've seen.

What you have is a group that makes money using the name of a college with which they have no official affiliation.

They come up with lists that nobody agrees with using methods that nobody understands.

I've often suspected that they send out surveys and whatever student body sends the most back wins. Pretty scientific, huh?

Go figure.

KappaStargirl, I applied to DePauw University last year and from what I was told, by faculty and students was that half the reason most students went greek was because housing is very hard to come by in Greencastle. Greencastle is in the middle of nowhere and it is mainly comprised of the university. There is really nothing to do but be greek. I dont ever remember seeing any upper classman dorms. But the houses are all gorgeous and they seem to have a great Greek system. Congrats DePauw greeks!!! Keep up the good work :) Kappastargirl I hope I answered your question.:)
In Sigma,
Kelly

Orginally posted by Princeton Review
About the Rankings

Each of our rankings will give you an unbiased and uncensored view of each school profiled. We can guarantee that our candid profiles will seldom be found in any admissions office glossy view book. The important thing to remember is that each ranking is based on what the real experts, current college students, tell us about their schools. What could be more useful to students choosing a college than the opinions of current students?

There's your scientific data. That was from their website. All one has to do is fill out their survey and its online too. It should also be said that the list was categorized under the Party rankings(which included best schools for beer, pot, no social scene, etc) and the full name of it is...

Parties: Best Frat and Sorority Scene or somthing to that extent. Wouldnt take this one seriously. If anything I'd take a USA Today/Newsweek Top Greek System list seriously (if they ever come out with one). They at least seems to use some sort of complied data besides opinions when they do their rankings.

Thanks UM Girl,

That's pretty much what I thought. Dosen't seem like very sound methodology at all (is that an understatement?).

At least it can be fun to talk about, I guess, even with no basis in fact.

It's just a fun list. I went to a school with a small greek community and no houses so I always wondered what it would be like to attend a school with a strong greek system. It's all in fun. :)

It's fine and it's fun as long as nobody takes is seriously.

I go to Penn State and I think there is only something like 12% involved in Greek life. There are approximately 52 fraternities and i want to say 31 sororities. I should really know this since I'm involved in Greek life, but it's also 4:30am so I apologize. Maybe it has something to do with the number of Greek organizations? How they rank them I mean. PSU's Greek system may enroll a small percentage of students, but it is a very powerful influence on the entire University.

Iowa State
 

Iowa State would be a good candidate for the top Greek School, in my opinion. Eventhough it's only 13% of us, but we're strong. Our Pan-Hell won the best Pan-Hell in the midwest for two years in a row, and the university supports us .. which is good. We hold around 80% of school activities (nothing new about that ... Greek rules!). Oh, we have 29 fraternity houses, 15 sorority houses.
;)

Ok, I am a 2002 grad from the U of Colorado--Boulder (#12)...only 9-10% of the student body is greek! And the community hates us! How on earth did we make the top 20? Now I admit it was tons of fun, the bar scene is great, and there are tons of places to hold great parties....but I just dont get it? Maybe ranking for a party school I could understand (and the riots do not count, they are not greek related!) but for fraternity and sorority life...hmmm.
CU was a great party school though (staring wistfully out the window to south easter oklahoma).

I went to Lafayette, and I am also perplexed as to why we're in the top 20. I think the greek percentage has dropped to about 35-40% from 60% my freshman year (so it's dropped 20-25% in 5 years). There have been 4 fraternities kicked out in the past 6 or 7 years. The administration and the community can't stand the greeks and have been trying to kill the greek social scene (which is pretty much the only social scene at Lafayette) over the past few years as well. Plus, we only have about 2500 students, 6 sororities (2 of which are well under chapter total, which is 75), and 8 fraternities (their numbers range from about 80 to 5 brothers). Maybe the Princeton Review needs to do their research again.


Hey Michelle, where do you go to school?

I know a few girls who went to DePauw and they can vouch about the Greek scene there. I have been told that as freshmen, when you show up at parties, if you are not Greek... you will not get in to the party.

One of the girls I know had no intention of rushing whatsoever, but decided to just so she could have a decent social life.

I don't really know how much that says for DePauw's Greek system. At my school (Purdue), I couldn't imagine someone being turned away from a party because they didn't belong to a house.

It just wouldn't happen. And I think its a damn good thing that it doesn't, too.

I think that is part of the pre-rush restrictions - freshmen aren't allowed on Greek property. They're not being turned away cause the Greeks don't want non-Greeks at parties, but because the house will get a rush infraction if they let them in.

I am 110% for deferred rush, but not with stupid rules like that...defeats the whole purpose.

They have a TON of fraternities (15) but only 5 sororities. And the sorority GPAs are excellent.

That's also a function of the school. Look at the all-women average. The sororities are right about that or a little above. Looks like W&L has grade inflation.