why are they bottom tier?

Tiers are silly and are almost entirely about which fraternities will do social events with which sororities, which is based almost entirely on tradition and which house is percieved to be better looking.

It used to be the case years ago that there was more of a difference between top and bottom tier that had to do with how big a chapter was. I've seen old Greek grade reports where some sororities had 60+ more sisters than the housed considered lower tier. Nowadays, the houses are all basically the same size and its not like you can really tell which house a woman is in by looking at her. But, traditions die hard!

So, people will try to tell you otherwise, but the tier system is 100% based on looks. Is it stupid? Yes. But will it always be this way? Yes. In all reality, if you don't care what everyone in your sorority will look like (which you shouldn't) then there is nothing specific that makes a bottom tier sorority "bottom tier". In general those sororities tend to have stronger bonds, but that's not always the case. There are going to be top tier sororities with great sisterhoods too. Just like there are still going to be a lot of beautiful girls in bottom-tier sororities. So, yes, it's just about looks. That being said, keep a very open mind during rush. Choose a house based on where you feel the most comfortable. Don't choose based entirely on reputation, because you most likely wouldn't love it nearly as much. If you love a bottom tier house, go that direction. If you love a top tier house, go that way. It's all based on your experience. A "bottom-tier" sorority may not be that way in your eyes. I hope that helps!

hazing is not very prevalent in UF sororities to be honest, at least not in the past few years. Don't let it stress you out! My sorority has literally 0 hazing

If they were just caught for hazing and they're dumb enough to still haze you even when they're being watched it's a new level of stupidity. And besides that the university calls any number of things hazing that really aren't bad. I don't know what they did but sororities don't really haze. I don't know about the allegations against SK though. And just so you know there are plenty of higher tier chapters with great alum connections and sisterhood. Just because a chapter is higher doesn't mean the members only joined for looks or an image.

There was no hazing at SK. Just a small misunderstanding between sisters. No harm was done.