We never had parties, but I saw a huge variance with houses at Platteville.
Some (the smart ones that haven't been caught) were invite only - not even a guest list. You had to have an invite signed by a brother in your hand to get in the door.
Others had a guest list for guys but would usually let in a few extra girls, especially if they said "Oh, I know Rudey." You'd come out and vouch, and they'd get to go in.
Others were pretty much a free-for-all - which could be a lot of fun but often had high school kids at them. I remember going to a completely open party my first weekend at college and thinking I looked older than most of the girls there - I was! They were in high school!
Talk about a Risk Management nightmare.
I would say the closed parties were the best ones - either with the invites or the guest lists. I always had the most fun at those. One fraternity is incredibly smart - their parties are BYO, if you leave their house with keys in your hand they do everything short of making you take a Breathalyzer, and they will not let you in without an invite unless you BEG. I was DDing one night and they sniffed my drink (a completely evil Vanilla Coke) and made me do a bunch of sobriety tests. They finally calmed down when I told them there was an international officer staying at my house!
