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Official 2023-2024 Rush Guide

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My opinions as a preliminary rush guide. Take this with a grain of salt of course.

Freshman— do your homework, explore everywhere, and go where makes sense. You could be miserable at [insert T1-2 Frat] and live your best life elsewhere.

But going into fall rush:
(Frats in the same tier are comparable. Absolutely splitting hairs atp)

T1: Top
Castle / Theos
Hall / Owls

T2: Low Top
Zete / Delt
ZBT / Apes

-- [Downtown Cutoff] --

T3: Upper Mid
SAE / Fiji
Elmo

T4: Middle
PiKapp / Sammy
Sig Chi

T5: Lower Middle
Beta / KSig
AEPi

-- [Relevancy] --

T6: Bottom
Sig Ep / Crows
DKE / TEP

T7: Irrelevant
Sig Nu / Pike
ATO / KA

T8: Dying or Dead
Phi Psi / Lambda
Pilam / OZ

In case you were wondering about tier breakdowns:

T1: Top
Typically mix w only T1 srats and have the most and best downtowns and events (MG, Pool Brunch, etc.). If you have a shot at T1, you already know by now…

T2: Low Top
T1-2 sorority relations and still regarded as sceney. Still do downtowns (ex. Farm, Friday Beers) but many of these frats are more known for their on-campus stuff (Zete Thursdays, TwinSick, Apes Silent Disco/Foam, SkiBT).

T3: Upper Mid
Virtually no downtowns but solid T2-3 srat relations and good attendance to on-campus events. Also Elmo is only high if you’re part of a certain demographic/vibe that is literally only cool on Penns campus lol.

T4: Middle
Mid on-campus frats with T3 srat relations. Not much to say here; they occasionally have a party that pops off but nothing crazy and far from sceney (unless you count Sig Chi bankrolling T1-2 frat downtowns)

T5: Lower Mid
Last of fraternities relevant to srat relations. On-campus parties with less selective attendance

T6-8
Irrelevant; completely different part of the Penn social scene

Posted By: AMY
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Page 1 of 2
#1by:    
#1    

As a side note who hosted Friday Beers? Completely forgot about that but good ass event.

Also completely agree Owls > all the other T2s. They kicked Zetes ass this year

By: Harold
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by: Qdoba   

Was Castle ZBT and Phi Delt

By: Qdoba
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by: lol   

owls didn't "kick Zetes ass"...Zete was just stupid and decided that rushing 20 kids total and retaining less than half would be "cool" and "exclusive"...instead they obv botched and have a subpar class now. I don't expect next year to repeat the same mistakes

By: lol
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by: zete   

I was a freshman that rushed zete last year. it was probably the worst rush experience of any T1 or T2, and i was at almost all of them.

to start off, zete had one big open dirty rush night. it was okay, but towards the end they basically picked kids off one by one, told them to get in cars, and then ubered them to the off campuses. getting "selected" seemed super weird and was off putting. apparently I was good enough to make it to the next stage because I got text invites to different events. but at all of them, the brothers felt like they were micro-analyzing me in odd ways. texting with them was also super weird. they kept up this bs facade of secrecy in a way that other frats didnt, and seemed like they never actually were genuine. another thing is that if I was cut from another frat, it was pretty easy to tell. for example all the domestic frats did twice weekly rush emails. meanwhile zete would go like almost a month at a time without ever talking to me, then suddenly, text me to show up at the house. it made the time I spent with their brothers really odd.

at some point i guess I was dropped (ended up in a frat I liked a lot more so all g ig?), but the whole thing really rubbed me the wrong way. i am not shocked at all that they ended up with like 6 kids... lots of people ik ended up dropping them/not putting in any effort because of how strange it all was

By: zete
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#2by:    
#2    

I can see this post getting super popular in a month and I happen to be here so lemme chime in as a junior.

I remember being a freshman that these organizations had almost a cult of mysticism around them, they were so cool and mysterious. It felt like this was the most important thing ever, and then I actually joined one, and realized it was all bs. before the rushing games start let me give freshman some honest advice/reality from someone who is with it:

- you can attend events/have friends outside of your frat. most of my friends aren't in my pc and I slide into any late night I want easily.
- there are so many kids in T1s and T2s that are total losers. if not for growing up in NYC (certain T1) 30% would be in dke.
- "hosting downtowns" is such a joke, they're hardly planned for more than like two hours, every T2 can do it with minimal difficulty.
- the one thing that does matter: sorority preferences for mixers. find "favorites." every srat pretty much has 1 or 2 they do everything with, listen to them. particularly true now for tridelt and oax, lesser extent theta.
- "connections" have no real difference. every T1 and T2 can get you referrals at McKinsey, bcg, etc with equal ease.
- don't screw over your friends to look cool at events, or leave them behind at doors. we see that. we don't like it.
- "we're on good terms with ofsl so we can throw more" nope, nobody is on good terms with the office, they hate us. don't even listen to this, it almost got me to choose a T3 my year (lol).
- the differences between T1 and T2 in social clique is negligible but T2-T3 is real.
- don't ask about hazing
- don't hit on sophomore and junior girls before rush ends (you will thank me)

good luck.

By: t1 guy
by: So   

So many good points here.

As a sophomore in a T2 Frat, it’s hard to post shlt on here that productive, but at the end of the day, freshman use this site for rush still. I’ll give me 0.02 on what I agree and disagree with above. Gonna try and balance harsh truth and bs social hierarchy as much as possible, as the post above did.

Yes you can attend events of other frats, but this is entirely dependent on what friends you make. You could be friends w twats who join a T1-2 and leave you behind after the fall and never speak to you again. Luckily, I avoided this and have friends all over now.

Absolutely is a massive divide between T1-2 and everything else. Theta, TriDelt, Tabard, Oax, and Aphi all predominantly mix with the top 8 or so frats in T1-2.

The point about sororities doing everything w 1-2 frats is very true. Srats have a Frat of preference. Not to step on any toes, and please correct me if I’m wrong

Theta’s social calendar is dominated by Castle Zete Owls
Tri Delts social calendar is dominated by Theos PhiDelt Hall
Tabard is Castle Owls but they j kind of exist
Oax is ZBT and Apes heavy
Aphi gets everything from Hall/ down to ZBT/Apes

(Please don’t attack me. I know I might have some frats mixed up…I did my best)

Point is: where your female friends are going is also somewhat important!

But at the end of the day, go where the culture fits you best. T1-2 frats are incredible for building bonds for networking and jobs. The parental and alumni networks are crazy. Crazy Wall Street network in Theos, Hall, Delt, ZBT, and Apes. Crazy international money in castle owls and Zete. But T1-2 is not the end all be all either. My freshman year roommates all went T3-4 and love it. It all works itself out in the end I promise, as long as you go with your gut.

By: So
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by: Lol   

hey man I did my best…

By: Lol
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by: Agree   

Agree w the above srat relations analysis.

Owls is TriDelts fav rn alongside Theos.
Theta mixes w Theos a massive amount.
Can confirm ZBT/Oax are super close

Want to add that Phi Delt and Tri Delt have very good relations. Hall is very solid as well.

Dunno much about Apes so won’t comment.

Aphi comment is real no matter how much they deny it. They really try for Castle and Hall but no one wants to mix w them. My friends in other T2s also despise them lol it’s very off putting apparently because they really try and social climb when it’s not it. For context, I’m in a T2 frat and a lot of people Ik don’t like it because they always seem bored and i excited about anything that’s not Theos or Castle…

By: Agree
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by: lmao   

Classic aphi story from a T2 mixer:

- aphi girls arrive
- they see that castle is throwing
- a group of them leave to go without saying anything
- kills the mixer
- they get rejected at castle door
- by this point we had invited girls from a different srat we actually like

this is why we hate mixing with them, I swear every event anyone does with aphi is like this. Similar stories from every friend I have in a T2 (and SAE)

By: lmao
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by: lol    

Love aphi getting dragged. This is why phi delt ZBT apes don’t like mixing w them….

And hall castle Zete owls are off the table to begin with…

By: lol
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by: Haha   

Aphi posts two posts above made my chuckle

By: Haha
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#3by:    
#3    

pretty sure these comments made it to the aphi groupchat...

By: lol
by: Yeah    

Came back to ss a comment and it was gone. Basically was saying how no T2 wants to mix w aphi…delt and hall hate them, zbt prefers oax, apes prefers literally anyone else, and the international frats are off the table.

Bad look for aphi. I know y’all are reading too

By: Yeah
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by: truth   

theos doesnt mix with them
internationals dont mix with them
hall prefers tridelt
delt prefers tridelt
apes prefers oax
zbt prefers oax
fiji prefers oax
sae and them have mutual dislike

aphi is mixed with out of obligation, not choice

By: truth
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by: lmao   

Aphi brand is tri delt cuts

By: lmao
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by: Lol   

“Frats mix w aphi out of obligation not choice”

My god that’s is so true it’s not even funny

By: Lol
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#4by:    
#4    

Good ranks. People split hairs over frats within the same tier too often.

By: valid
by: Tbf   

This is a valid point. There is virtually no difference between perceived social life at Theos or castle, hall and owls, zbt and apes, etc

By: Tbf
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#5by:    
#5    

Thank you

By: Rushing
#6by:    
#6    

Are T1s significantly harder than T2s to get a bid from?

By: 27
#7by:    
#7    

Most helpful post by far. Freshman— I would read some of those above messages.

Anecdotally, I had two friends go T2 my year while I went T3. Actually got cut from their T/s super late so not like I had an option. Honestly, it sucked. I still hand w them and see them but it’s wildly different circles. In terms of srats, the divide is huge between T2 and T3.

Don’t want to fix myself but other than fiji and sae no frat outside of the top 8 see T1-2 srats. And those two only see aphi and oax on the rare occasion. Even when Fiji and sae have mixers w aphi and oax it’s very clear that the srats see us as a filler night and would rather be at apes, zbt, phi delt, owls, castle, etc. It’s quite frustrating.

By: Most
by: Well   

As a caveat I would add srats like Fiji but because half of them are fruity…

By: Well
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by: tbh   

not in fiji so don't accuse me of being a plant.

But they have done a decent job diversifying and taking some cool international kids as of late. cant hate

By: tbh
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#8by:    
#8    

Phi def down and remove Elmo completely

By: Lol
by: Can   

Can someone explain to me what phis deal is? Don’t see them as often as sig chi or sammy

By: Can
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by: Phi   

Phi used to be a cool mix of nyc + alt crowd. Lots of artist guys went there and they would throw downtowns very often (they actually have a super famous New York artist alum who’s name I forget rn). But over time the art scene at penn, the core demographic kids who were rude or die Phi, decentralized/died a bit substantially. Worse and worse rush performances also meant that the nyc kids who funded/wanted downtowns started going other places. Nail in the coffin was 3 years ago when half of their class ended up dropping, re rushing, and ending up in various places from zete to zbt. Ever since then they‘ve been trying to recover, they got the lease on the old Oz house and recently moved back on campus as Pikapp. But it’s doubtful they’re going to be able to recapture the Phi spark they used to have, as the arts/alt scene is just as decentralized now and if anything has recentered around some combination of Castle, ZBT, Elmo’s, and Zete, with the NYC kids not looking to leave theos or Delt anytime soon.

Source: a friend who graduated two years ago gave me the lore

By: Phi
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#9by:    
#9    

Delt has been on the decline. Threw an empty downtown alone. Threw riverdeck alone. Apes and ZBt seem to be figuring their shlt out and could easily surpass delt.

By: Idk

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by: Lol   

This is such a pointless and stupid debate. Those three frats are nearly indistinguishable imo

By: Lol
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by: Nope   

Delt clears ZBT and apes

By: Nope
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by: Lol   

Delt > Apes = ZBT

By: Lol
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by: Honestly    

How I look at it is apes drags zbt ever year in rush but zbt throws a better party lol. Happens year after year

By: Honestly
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by: lol   

"year after year"? I can tell you've only been here a year because apes almost stopped existing due to a fumbled rush my year...

By: lol
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by: Tbh   

Delt was smart for avoiding the moshulu mess. Delt up good nso

By: Tbh
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#10by:    
#10    

Thank you - rush. Actually very helpful reading this

By: Thank you
by: Agreed   

So much of this website is bs but I feel like this post is p genuine

By: Agreed
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