Princeton Review: Most Intense Greek Life Scene

[nittanyalum]

Wow, sounds like a lot of work to throw a fraternity party these days. Back in the stone age, we could walk off campus and there would literally be 52 open options of parties to walk into, out of and in between. Socials (our term for "mixers") between a fraternity and sorority were closed, but after a few hours, the house would open and soon be packed. The fraternities, of course, always had brothers at the door and turned some people away, but compared to the lists and "registrations" of today, it was all pretty free-flowing and open.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

Wow, sounds like a lot of work to throw a fraternity party these days. Back in the stone age, we could walk off campus and there would literally be 52 open options of parties to walk into, out of and in between. Socials (our term for "mixers") between a fraternity and sorority were closed, but after a few hours, the house would open and soon be packed. The fraternities, of course, always had brothers at the door and turned some people away, but compared to the lists and "registrations" of today, it was all pretty free-flowing and open.

Yeah, and while I understand the need for increased security and RM as society has gotten more & more litigious, an unintentional side effect is that Greeks are thought of as snobs who won't let people into their parties.

[moe.ron]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

Wow, sounds like a lot of work to throw a fraternity party these days. Back in the stone age, we could walk off campus and there would literally be 52 open options of parties to walk into, out of and in between. Socials (our term for "mixers") between a fraternity and sorority were closed, but after a few hours, the house would open and soon be packed. The fraternities, of course, always had brothers at the door and turned some people away, but compared to the lists and "registrations" of today, it was all pretty free-flowing and open.

I remember those days. kinda went the other way toward the end of the 90s. I remember toward the end of the 90s, people sensed that everything was going to change. Especially after the MIT incidents in the mid 90s.

94 and 95 were the best years of my life.

[breathesgelatin]

Ah, well, folks, I'm sorry to say that because the W&L administration required "all" fraternity parties to be open (read: registered parties at the actual fraternity house), if you were denied admission to a frat party at the door it was usually because A) you'd been balled from that house or B) racism par excellence. So I sincerely hope it's not B that everyone's celebrating here.

I can think of a couple of times African American women were denied admission to parties because "they must not be W&L students."

UH, gross

[ZTA72]

A few years ago UT, Knoxville was rated the numer one party school! Back in the day I contributed to that image, I do remember some of the parties being open and others closed to the members of the specific fraternity and sorority. I still graduated with honors, actually managed to learn something, and have had a productive and lucrative career. I'd take those rankings with a grain of salt.
ZTA72

[5Knowledge1913]

Originally Posted by Zeta13Girl

So we all know what colleges have the highest percentages of greeks. Some of these you may not be surprised about, but there were a couple that definently took me by surprise.
But this is what students told the Princeton Review:

1. Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, Ala.)
2. Wofford College (Spartanburg, S.C.)
3. Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Pa.)
4. Transylvania University (Lexington, Ky.)
5. University of Mississippi (University, Miss.)
6. Penn State -- University Park (University Park, Pa.)
7. DePauw University (Greencastle, Ind.)
8. Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, Va.)
9. Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pa.)
10. University of Florida (Gainesville, Fla.)

Surprised to not see TCU. Over 60% of our students are greek.

[fivestarpikapp]

I've heard from Pi Kappa Phi brothers at Penn State live in a HUGE mansion with 200+ brothers. Maybe more now, I heard this a few years ago.

Originally Posted by Zeta13Girl

So we all know what colleges have the highest percentages of greeks. Some of these you may not be surprised about, but there were a couple that definently took me by surprise.
But this is what students told the Princeton Review:

1. Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, Ala.)
2. Wofford College (Spartanburg, S.C.)
3. Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Pa.)
4. Transylvania University (Lexington, Ky.)
5. University of Mississippi (University, Miss.)
6. Penn State -- University Park (University Park, Pa.)
7. DePauw University (Greencastle, Ind.)
8. Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, Va.)
9. Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pa.)
10. University of Florida (Gainesville, Fla.)

[33girl]

US News and World Report is the one that some schools are not giving data to. The Princeton Review is mostly student surveys and things that are findable on the school's websites, so there's really nothing the school can do to stop participation.

Scandia - the party school thread is somewhere else, baci started it. This thread is to discuss the Greek Life rankings.

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by 33girl

US News and World Report is the one that some schools are not giving data to. The Princeton Review is mostly student surveys and things that are findable on the school's websites, so there's really nothing the school can do to stop participation.

Scandia - the party school thread is somewhere else, baci started it. This thread is to discuss the Greek Life rankings.

Re: US News and World Report: their 2009 "Best Colleges" issue is out now. They have some info posted on their site too. Here's an address for their "most fraternities" list:

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...ege/most-frats

I notice that there are a few entries that're odd, but it looks like those are small specialized / religious-focused schools with locals. ,For the most part, the list seemed in line with that I've observed or read elsewhere. Note, though, that the US News list isn't necessarily the "most intense" Greek life just "the most" (percentage) of students.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by exlurker

Note, though, that the US News list isn't necessarily the "most intense" Greek life just "the most" (percentage) of students.

And it's not necessarily "the most" in number overall, it's "the most" in terms of percentage of their own enrollment. For instance, Penn State may be "only" 12% greek, but that's out of 40,000 students. Clearwater Christian has "100%" (though I think they're all local groups), but that's of their (less than) 600 total enrolled students.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

And it's not necessarily "the most" in number overall, it's "the most" in terms of percentage of their own enrollment. For instance, Penn State may be "only" 12% greek, but that's out of 40,000 students. Clearwater Christian has "100%" (though I think they're all local groups), but that's of their (less than) 600 total enrolled students.

Yes, I believe what I remember hearing about Clearwater Christian was that they have a bunch of locals and everyone is required to be in one - thus the 100%.

W&L is #3.

I find the list to be a tad misleading, actually, because if it was fraternities they were counting and not Greek life as a whole, the number for W&L would be higher. Women's enrollment in sororities is around 75% usually and mens at 85% usually, so it balances out to 80%... but the list makes it seem as if it's only FRATERNITIES being discussed when in reality they are talking about both.

(And yeah, yeah, many sororities are technically fraternities, but this list is aimed at the general population who doesn't realize that.)