rankings

They won’t unless you want your organization to be close with other top frats or sororities. That being said, you individually can still be friends with people in these houses, get bids, etc. How much you care about tiers is really just a reflection of your own insecurities.

They don't, in fact I might argue that for some people the lower the better. Now one must qualify that statement of course. Houses need to be large enough and successful enough to keep going healthily, that requires a certain amount of class; however, the "top-tier" among frats and sororities has seemed to me over my time here to be very cold and honestly uninteresting. I would shoot for the house that you are most comfortable in and that has brothers or sisters you get along with the most.