"top tier"

On this site, people only rank houses on their parties and popularity. Being top doesn't mean your house will have strong brotherhood, good grades, good philanthropy, or anything else. The difference is small and you're not missing out on much. Pick the house you like the most. Don't pick because of how people rank on this site

In my experience, Top 4 houses (specifically Sigma Chi and Tekes) more consistently pull off rangers, and typically don't die down as quickly as other houses not in the top 4. However, other houses that are not in "the top 4" can definitely pull off great parties too. If you want to be in a party house, definitely try to go top 4. If you want a more balanced frat experience, top 4 is still a good option, but other houses would be great too!

I can tell you first hand, just because a house is labeled as a 'top-tier house', doesn't mean they throw the best parties at all! Lol, Tekes and Sigma Chi throw good parties for 'top-tier houses', but Betas and FIJIs, ehhhh. Haha I've honestly had more fun in the past and upper-mid tier houses then most of the top-tier parties.