low, mid, and high tier sororities

Does this concept of tiers really matter in a school so small? I'm a freshman who is interested in joining a sorority and haven't heard much being spoken about it. I'm mainly wondering if people really do judge you if you're in a "low-tier" sorority like they do in a lot of southern schools? I'm still debating about whether or not I should rush because I actually believe that I'll get along with the low-tier sororities better but I don't want to join if it's going to cause me a lot of external problems.