record

Just because "they have been" it doesn't mean they still are. Phi Mu and KD have had a lot of problems and their pledge class this year is suspect. And DDD, I am not sure what they even do to give them top tier status. They seem sorta invisible to me. They don't do anything wrong but what do they do that's so great other than have a reputation that they "have always been top tier". Honestly so many of the houses are equal now and this top tier status is just a never ending argument. There are a lot of great and similar houses at UT. It just personal preference at this point.

KD is NOT top three!

If you look at retention rates during recruitment, statistically Tri delt, Adpi, chi o, and aopi have had the must success with Phi mu and KD joining them in the mix over the past five years. That isn't to say that the other 7 sororities don't also have great recruitment processes. Many girls (especially from the big TN cities like Nashville and Memphis) go into recruitment with the "top" sororities in their head and join their chapter purely based on that.

retention rates also give false perception of a "good" house. If a house always recruits from the same high schools/areas and recruits a vast majority of girls from Tennessee that are already friends and/or takes a lot of legacies then chances are their retention rates will be better...its an easier adjustment. A house that takes a lot of different girls that don't all know each other already or come from out of state may have more drop out due to a tough time adjusting to sorority and college in general, adjusting to living in a new state, making all brand new friends, being homesick. I am not saying that everyone doesn't experience that even if you are from Tennessee but it is ALOT different coming to school and not knowing ANYONE as opposed to already having a group of girls that you know well. Back to my original point, retention rates do not make a house good or bad. You have to look at other factors and what kind of girls they recruit.