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Social tiers at UT get tricky.
Sig Ep is a top house in that they have a huge chapter and an incredible property- plus they get good mixers. But back in my day that was the "new money Dallas" crowd- and on that score they were not as elite as the other chapters you mentioned. I would not ever call Sig Ep a top tier chapter at UT, but it is certainly a great place to be by many measures.
Also, there are a couple of mid-tier chapters which are proud of it and attract their share of the Texas "old guard" as it were who chose that route and did not really care about the scene at the top tier houses.
Every top tier house has a few guys who are total losers and never get anywhere socially. And every mid-tier house has some guys who are active in the high end social scene. So making a choice purely based on the social status of a house is a bad idea- although it is a good idea to be aware of what general tier you are buying into.
Money comes into play too. Top tier houses have dues of $5,000 a year and up. That is in addition to any special assessments for formals or OU weekend which can get expensive fast. All fraternities at UT are expensive- but the top groups are 2-3 times as expensive as the rest.
Within each tier any guy suited for fraternity life can find a good home, but to parse it down to who is the best is ignoring the most important criterion of finding the right place for you. And that place does not necessarily need to be where everyone from your high school goes. Branching out a bit in college is not a bad idea.
I mention this because it gets back to a comment I made in my earlier post about the big chapters at Texas that pledge everybody and then lose a lot of the pledge class during the pledge term because they were just after numbers and money. This past semester one of those chapters lost HALF their pledge class- and many of those guys are spring pledges elsewhere.
Some of them have upgraded to a better house in the process because they came into rush not really knowing how to navigate the process. Being good candidates they eventually found the right place- but they lost the chance to be a fall pledge during football season when the pledge classes are large and the experience is its best, and they had to go through dealing with a lousy first experience with fraternities.
PM me if you like and I will have a more detailed discussion with you about various chapters and their reputation on campus. This forum is just not the place to post all that info as a matter of courtesy- and also in deference to the fact everyone has their own opinion.
As for KA- they are doing well and still a top place to be. They were not kicked off campus. They made a conscious choice to exist outside of UT control- an option many chapters have considered in recent years. The University for a long time had nothing to do with the Greek system here and is only recently getting involved again. And in that process, chapters are charged expensive dues to fully fund all staff devoted to Greek Life.
So as I have advised others who have asked me, don't overlook KA just because they are not currently a recognized organization. They did not do anything wrong to achieve that status- it was a choice they made.
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