Best Fraternities at UF?
 

I am a incoming freshman and I intend to rush a frat at the University of Florida. I was just wondering if any guys/girls at Florida could recommend which are the best. Thanks

The best fraternity is one that matches your goals, needs, and ethics and at which you feel most welcome.

Paging SECdomination and others in the Anti-Jorts Brigade! :)

Chapter resource: http://www.greeks.ufl.edu/resources/...sp?council=ifc

Haha, I'm here! Potential protege?



-Read up on the rush process linked to the IFC page at:
www.greeks.ufl.edu AND www.greekgator.com , it will help you understand the terminology and know what to expect.

-Don't ever say "frat" again.

-Read the "Biggest Rush Mistakes at Any Institution" thread on this site. It will help you avoid common mistakes.

-I sent you a private message, so get back to be on that.

I know we hate tiers here, but I saw someone post them on another thread, so I'm going to post MY OPINION ON THE TIERS AT UF- NO OTHER COMMENTS. And I'm going to hope that this won't get deleted, since it's not offensive.


1st
Alpha Tau Omega
Kappa Alpha
Kappa Sigma
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
-
Sigma Chi
Sigma Phi Epsilon



2nd
Beta Theta Pi
Theta Chi
-
Phi Delta Theta
Delta Tau Delta
-
Delta Chi
Chi Phi
Sigma Nu



3rd
Lambda Chi Alpha
Zeta Beta Tau
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Tau Epsilon Phi
Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Kappa Phi
Phi Kappa Tau
-
Sigma Pi
Phi Gamma Delta
Delta Upsilon

Once they make it to the top 16, they'll have a homecoming partner.

It's correct, and not offensive. Though I wasn't aware Sig Ep had made the top tier.

hm.. Florida.

LOL. Barkin' orders at him when he hasn't even rushed yet. :p

SECdomination, I found your list interesting.

I attended UF ages ago, but it seems like yesterday! I know it is your opinion, but it was fun to see how things do change with time; and I welcome hearing what anyone thinks/feels about greek life at UF.

I also wanted to add my opinion. I don't really understand why everyone gets on edge when we speak of tiers etc. at any college or university. As difficult as it may be, there is somewhat of a tier system if you want to call it that. I find it all a very interesting and intriguing topic. No one wants to hear that their group is not in the top tier according to many opinions, but just remember it is "opinion". It is also a fact of life that people view everything in this type of judgemental fashion.

I respect all fraternity and sorority houses regardless of what anyone says, but I also know that at any university there are some that are more desired than others during recruitment. I am not afraid to admit that some houses choose their members on more of a superficial level as well. Although I may not agree with it, I will honestly admit that it did happen when I was at UF and I am quite sure that it continues on.

On a final and most important note, I am also wise enough to know that there is greatness in membership of all houses and that is what I tend to keep first and foremost in my thoughts!

I feel GreekChat in general gets very upset by the notion of tiers when it's a reality at every campus. That being said, now that you have this information about tiers don't get set on the top tier unless that's really you. To be blunt, if you don't have the personality and image don't waste your time only looking at top tier fraternities because it won't work out. Be realistic. Also take some time to note if the chapter is as excited about you as you are about them. I know every semester we have guys show up to our rush events and act so excited about joining when brothers are showing them subtle signs that they may not fit in. They are cut the next day. The majority of the chapters have a good brotherhood and I'm guessing at a school like UF most chapters will have a good social experience. So with that in mind make sure you at least check out a couple chapters in all the tiers to see where your personality will fall.

Sig Ep is not a traditional southern fraternity here, so I can understand your confusion. However, they have been on top for more than a few years, so it's nothing too new.

Don't get started on a "Florida not being a southern state" speech. I hear it way too often, and it gets old fast.

I don't have a response, so I wasn't going to write one. But then I thought that I'd be hassled more because I didn't write a response.

Oh. Like Pike being top-tier at FSU type deal? I understand it.

I just honestly wasn't aware of a decent Sig Ep chapter anywhere in an SEC school, including Florida.

I wasn't going to rag on you on the issue of the Southernality of Florida. As long as you keep representing the SEC in football, I'm okay with it. Even if Tebow is the worst Heisman winner. Including Jason White.

255/390 - 65.4%
3205 yards
35tds / 9 int
On a team with Adrian Peterson in the backfield. Lay off J.White bro!

Found this on Wikepedia...


In 1833 A big earthquake happened on the coast of canada, a large landmass broke off of it and floated down south thanks to currents in the Atlantic Ocean. It later found a nook right under Georgia it took snap onto and wedged itself right in and made itself at home.

Today this state is called Florida, the magnetic pull of the North is still apparent today as Canadians, old people, and men with gelled hair flood the state.

If people have problems with the posts concerning tiers at SEC fraternities then perhaps those people shouldn't read a thread asking what the best fraternities are at a given place.
Based on Oldrow.net:
TOP
KA
SAE
-
ATO
MIDDLE
Delt
AGR
Beta

I'm not going to deny it. I don't like most of the old people, canadians, and men with gelled hair, however.

I've heard good things about the chapters at Ole Miss, Miss St. and USC.

ps. aren't you from arkansas?

Holy hell. I don't visit oldrow.net but that is WAY off. It looks like that was probably true in the 70s...maybe.

KA lost recruitment for an entire year, so they're still struggling to stay on top with about 70ish members.
SAE-yes
ATO-yes
AGR is dwindling and doesn't have real socials that I know of, with only 40ish guys. It's tough for them now that UF is getting harder to get into, and our Ag programs are being downsized.
Delt is clinging to middle tier status. I don't know what's going on with them, but they just haven't had any good rushes recently.
Beta- yes

Do not Chapters run up and down the scale of who is and who isn't?

What year and semester is it?;)

they all suck

:p

why does it matter what random people on the internet think of fraternities?

'I'm not going to deny it. I don't like most of the old people, canadians, and men with gelled hair, however.'

Funny...can't say that I disagree. :D

Sorry, I am new to greekchat and I am having a hard time figuring out how to correctly post someone else's comment in my reply.

Anyway, that was comment was funny!

I don't think that when people get on here and ask about the reputations, they're genuinely taking the opinions to heart. They'd probably just like to know a little bit about what they're getting into.

yes, he goes to arkansas.

Yeah, I mean obviously you have to take everything with a grain of salt, but most users here are fairly knowledgeable about GLOs and most people if they snoop around for a few minutes will figure that out. No one is going to walk onto a campus and go: Well SECDomination from GreekChat said that I should rush yall because yall are in the top tier. I mean who really wants to join a low tier fraternity when you get bid to the best?

Yep. I missed it, I guess.

bows goes to...Auburn was it?

It's been awhile.

IMO, the real danger of tiers on Greek Chat is that the groups really do more of the selecting rather than most of the people going through. As a PNM you hope that you'll get a bid from a group that you like, but you don't have much control over it other than screwing it up.

It's probably a little better for guys since they can get multiple bids, but since you have no way of knowing how desirable the person asking or reading the read is in the eyes of the groups, what good does it really do to break it down?

And often times the really top tier groups are probably closed to random folks asking on the internet. If you don't already have connections in the chapter, good luck.

ETA: anyone really rushing will figure it out within one round of parties.

I know that here we only have a total of about 5 hours during official rush to decide which houses you want to attempt to get a bid from. This is a problem because 1/2 of our houses are on campus and 1/2 of them are in a separate development. Its nice to know which houses are respected by sororities and fellow fraternities so that you don't waste your time during rush.

Let's remember that the concept of 'tiers' is subjective, not objective. Keep things civil and as objective as possible, please.

Why is objective important?

Civil is a given and this thread has been so.

I find, in general, men can talk about things like this with much less emotion than women. Then again, depending on the circumstance, men can get in a fistfight then sit around and have a beer together, so, obviously, big differences between the sexes.

I'll never forget the time my husband yelled across the street at the kid coming home from his first year at college, "Hey, got that freshman 20, huh? Beer will do that to you!" And the guy just cracked up. I almost died. Had that been a female, it would have landed her in therapy or dealing with a severe eating disorder. Boys are strange that way.

We'll keep that in mind, but I think we're doing pretty well.

I don't get offended by what people say about my school or fraternity, its usually true. If somebody makes an incorrect statement then I will correct them but thats about it.
The Tiers at FSU:
Top
LXA
EX
KA
Pike (Not very "fratty", but get hot girls and have cool parties)
---
Kappa Sig
Phi Delt

Middle
Phi Sig
Delt
Phi Gam (FIJI)
Sigma Nu
----
Phi Tau
Theta Chi

Bottom
AEPi
TEP
Sigma Pi
Phi Psi
TKE
Chi Phi

Off Campus
ATO
Sig Ep
SAE

Within the next 30 years I think there will be a re alignment with the campus expansion. Sigma Chi will lose their house and the northern side of the original heritage grove will become "Old Row." Pike, Lambda Chi, Phi Delt, and whoever buys up the remaining two lots (or split into four) (probably us, Kappa Sig, Sigma Chi, and Sig Ep) will be the big fraternities. The southern side will be the middle tier with Phi Tau and Theta Chi and whoever else buys there. I'm pushing very hard for us to buy the lot between Pike and Lambda Chi's monstrous houses and begin building one ourselves.

Where are the sorority houses at? They're not in Heritage Grove, right? The times I've been to FSU, I saw some of the sorority houses (and Chi Phi, I think), but none of the fraternities.
I'm guessing that Heritage Grove must be similar to our Sorority Row, where it's just off campus, but there's no reason to go by there unless you live there.

Also, do the fraternities at FSU have seperately designed houses? I thought I heard something about how a lot of them have their own apartment buildings!

We have an apartment building with a separate common area but are planning to build a custom one or two building house in Heritage. While its nice to have your own 24 building apartmen complex, it sucks to only have 1600-2000 feet of common space thats separated from the house. Also, because it was designed by FSU administrators it does not set up well for parties and there are no secret rooms. Your chapter here has the exact same setup as us, just three buildings down. Sigma Chi, Phi Sig, AEPI, TEP, and Chi Phi are all on campus right now but won't be for long.
The plans for the expansion are to buy out all of the on campus houses and build two more heritage groves, one for the smaller fraternities and one for the sororities. There will then be three separate greek housing complexes and I can only assume that in addition to having the three largest fraternity houses, we will have the largest sorority houses as well with the buyout that FSU will offer and the financial means of sororities like Tri Delt. The campus is going to more than double in size with the football stadium being right in the middle.
Do a google image search for the FSU Pike House, its amazing. Their chapter advisor is Bobby Bowden and the governor is an alumni.

The ranking of the houses into tiers is pretty much right on, I only disagree with the placement of two houses. However, I am going to be cliche and recommend for any potential new member to go where they feel comfortable, not what house is popular. I know probably a dozen freshman that pledged in the fall into a "good" house and dropped because they were miserable.

It's so interesting to see the perceptions at Florida campuses... it had changed so much from when I was in school.

ATO at the top? Maybe... the suspension's got to be a problem.

Delt also got suspended, and lost quite a few pledge classes, thus their subpar rushes :) they just got their rights back.