spirit groups

Spirit groups are very relevant I would say, but I would put them in a different category than sororities. Also, it depends on which spirit group.

Orange Jackets and Spirits (Spooks) have long, proud histories at UT. The others seem to be sorority styled for girls who don't have the money or whatever to join sororities; look at their web pages...."recruiment, big/lil", etc.....greek lite for sure. Not a bad thing to join if you aren't going through sorority recruitment for whatever reason. Sure to be fun and a way to get involved and to make even more friends then you already will from class.

The top spirit groups: Spirits, OJs, but I would add Sweethearts as well.

You have to be an upperclassman to even try out for OJs since they look for accomplished/involved girls on campus who may already be in sororities, leaders of student orgs, SG/Senate, etc. Not as much of a social aspect as the other spirit groups but they are pretty well known on campus and have a great alumnae network.

Outside of that top 3 I'd add in Lassos, Darlins, and Lonestars as mid tier. They've been around for a while and, while less recognized than Spirits/Sweethearts/OJs, still have a lot of social events, philanthropy, and cool Round Up swag.

I must say there have been a LOT of new spirit groups pop up in the last few years, for example Royals (2013), Cowgirls (2013?), Angels (2014), Bluebonnets (2014), and most recently the Ladybirds. I'm sure there are some that I've missed but I did notice a trend of a lot of new groups being formed (probably by girls who didn't get into the more established spirit groups?).

In my opinion, if you're wanting to join a spirit group because you weren't happy with recruitment, I'd try for either the top or middle tier spirit groups. There are so many smaller/newer spirit groups and I'm sure they have their own events and opportunities, but they have quite a ways to go.