for people interested in joining...

Do not come onto this site for advice. Its really all personal opinion and you need to actually visit each house and get to know people in greek life to get a feel for what its like. The ratings on here are wrong and go off of shallow people's opinions, self-ranks, and personal negative feelings for whatever reason. Actually I don't even think half the people that post on this site are even involved in greek life at UTK.
Every house is great and has a solid group of individuals. Each house has a few rotten eggs too. Truth is, you can probably fit into multiple houses. For some, top tiers according to one person may be a bottom tier according to another. Its just who you like and who you know. You may have a preference for certain fraternities/sororities when mixing with them. Also, no matter what "tier" you believe a fraternity or sorority is in, you'll find that everyone is friends with everybody, no matter the house. If tiers really matter to you good luck ever being placed in a house you can call home. If you're going through fall rush and you aren't feeling a certain house, my recommendation would be to give the house a second chance. You may have just talked to someone you don't necessarily click with, but that doesn't mean you won't click with the majority of the others in the house. If fall doesn't work out for you or its too stressful, go through spring. Good luck and get the hell off this site!