advice

Not necessarily true. It helps to have an idea of which 3-4 you wanna decide between. I love being in a large fraternity but its all about where the best fit is.

I would recommend seeing as many as possible(that you're interested in) on the preview night(where all fraternities are set up in whitehall) and then choosing a top 3 to go to on the first night of open houses. If you can, I would try and narrow that 3 down to 2 as quick as you can. From there, go to both fraternities every night, it'll be hard to get a bid without being there every time unless you have a reason and you tell them that you're not gonna be there. The reason you want to go to 2 is that you'll have another option should you not get a bid to the one you want.

As far as large vs. small, it's really a matter of personal preference. From what you described as being what you would like to get out of a fraternity, if I were you I would go with a fraternity with around 80-120 people. As far as newer vs. older, this is again personal preference. Newer fraternities offer the ability to put yourself in a leadership position more easily and early on, generally less hazing(or even none at all), and the ability to 'make the fraternity your own'. On the other hand, some of them don't have houses(not necessarily bad when you consider that dues will be lower) and don't have large alumni bases. Older fraternities offer a lot of tradition and reputation, significant alumni contributions, and generally nicer houses. On the other hand, many of them have very rough pledge processes with severe hazing and many of the older fraternities have stopped caring about being involved.

I would also add that IFC has a lot of information on their website that can help you narrow down which fraternities you may be interested in. They will also hand out information and have events during K Week and during rush. Meeting the guys in the fraternity and getting info from IFC is the best way to narrow your choice. Getting information by reading the ratings on this website is probably your worst option when it comes to getting quality info because the vast majority of it is completely ridiculous and false.

Go to the presentation night at Whitehall when all of the fraternities will be on display. Talk to the guys and make a small list of your favorite 2-3 groups, then rush those. Make sure you narrow your list enough so that you have enough time to give yourself a chance with at least a few.