Attention incoming first years

Greek life overview for incoming first years

SORORITIES
Overview: For a long time, W&L sororities have fallen into three tiers that don’t change that much, so I’m listing them alphabetically within each tier. Each tier is a toss-up depending on your personality / friend group / sport / hometown / what year you rush. In any given year, either sorority within a tier can “do better” than the other sorority in its tier, but a lower tier sorority never does better than one in a higher tier. It just doesn’t happen here. Things just flip flop back and forth within each tier, depending on the year.

1. Delta (previously a KD chapter but went “local” a few years ago) / Kappa
2. ADPi / Theta
3. ChiO / PiPhi

Advice to women: Keep an open mind and don’t believe any bid promises. If you are offered a bid, take it and make the most of your situation. Re-rushing your sophomore year will not work out any better — many, many examples of this.

FRATERNITIES:
Overview: Things change a little more for the guys because houses keep folding / merging. Beyond the top tier and above the bottom, there is a murky middle that comes down to what is the best fit for the individual, based on personality, hometown, sports, etc. On Greek Rank, people will argue about my tier 3, but the truth is, they are all about the same. Again, within each tier, listing alphabetically:

1. ChiPsi (merged with defunct SAE) / Kappa Sig (merged with defunct Phi Kap “Skulls”)
2. KA
3. Fiji (merged with defunct Beta), Phi Delt (went local awhile back now struggling), Phi Psi, Pi Kap (also called Guy Phi), Sig Chi
4. Lambda, Pike (merged with defunct SNU; rumor now they might merge with struggling Phi Delt)

Usual Tear Night Pairings:
Chi Psi - Kappa
Kappa Sig - Delta
KA - Theta (tear night only; they usually hang with Fiji)
Fiji - ADPi
Phi Psi - n/a
Pi Kap - Chi O
Sig Chi - n/a
Phi Delt - n/a
Lambda - n/a
Pike - Pi Phi

Defunct fraternities:
SAE (merged with Chi Psi)
Phi Kap (merged with Kappa Sig)
Beta Theta Pi (merged with Fiji)
Sigma Nu (merged with Pike)

Advice to men: Make the rounds and get to know a lot of houses based on who you meet, not what you hear. Let your parents know they may need to go to stuff with you over parents weekend. Some of the houses do bid promises for guys too - keep your options open and get to know the lay of the land.