[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by Firehouse
Given that there are enough sororities on campus to create the dynamic of a "system", you won't be ridiculed if you join one of the mid tier groups. Remember, the middle tier is the largest of the three. There was actually an academic study at (I think) the University of Iowa that showed the fraternities "perceived to be" the top houses on campus tended to date heavily among the sororities "perceived to be" the top houses themselves. Not only that, but what we would call the middle tier sororities tended to date middle tier fraternities. It even extended down to the bottom tiers of fraternities and sororities interacting with each other.
One of the constants in a Greek system is that the fraternity/sorority tiers tend to associate heavily with each other. Members of the top tier houses tend to know a lot about each other and the associated groups. They don't know much, don't think much, about the groups in the middle tier. And other than being aware of who the top houses are, the groups in the middle don't spend a lot of time thinking about them.
Again, given a stable "system", sororities tend to have little movement from one tier to another. Formal rush is mostly responsible for that. Fraternities can rise or fall more dramatically, but reputation lags behind at least two years. A fraternity can have a terrific year, really spike up in membership and achievement, then fall back the next year without much notice. The standing in any tier is based in large part on reputation, but that counts for a awful lot in the college universe.

I'm from a small system and what he's saying rings true. Once we started having a decent amount of sisters dating guys in "better" houses, our reputation started improving. This matters in college.