<p>I really want to join a frat next year. However, I have no idea what to base my choice on…</p>
<p>which frats are the popular ones at columbia? any suggestions as to what criteria to base my decision on?</p>
<p>80% of them are affiliated with some sport or a religious affiliation - thus that narrows the field.</p>
<p>there are by my estimations 5 ‘floaters’ that don’t really have a clear cut affiliation - and they are honestly very similar in make-up in terms of ideas (most follow this ‘new fraternity’ model) and throw in my opinion comparable parties, so in the end find the guys you like the most and join that one. no real science to it. </p>
<p>and then there is psi u - god bless. once a titan of columbia, now its just well, psi u.</p>
<p>80% of them are affiliated with some sport or a religious affiliation - thus that narrows the field.</p>
<p>there are by my estimations 5 ‘floaters’ that don’t really have a clear cut affiliation - and they are honestly very similar in make-up in terms of ideas (most follow this ‘new fraternity’ model) and throw in my opinion comparable parties, so in the end find the guys you like the most and join that one. no real science to it. </p>
<p>and then there is psi u - god bless. once a titan of columbia, now its just well, psi u.</p>
<p>Delta Sig and Beta are solid- check them out, I had good friends in both.</p>
<p>Wasn’t in a frat at Columbia myself, but I had friends in most of them. Everyone has their own biases, everyone will tell you something different, though there are some general stereotypes associated with each frat at Columbia, some true and some false. Honestly though, each frat has some really chill kids and some total “feminine hygiene products” (I’ve heard kids say both about people within their own frats), so although you probably won’t totally adore everyone in your frat, whichever one you join you’ll likely meet some really cool kids. That being said, the main/most prevalent stereotypes are:</p>
<p>SigEp-jocks/muscleheads, definitely one of the popular/cooler frats at columbia, but not without the ******baggyness that comes with that (though I personally know at least a couple kids in SigEp who’re really down to earth nice guys).</p>
<p>DeltaSig-spoiled rich brats, I’m sure there are a couple nice kids in DeltaSig, though I haven’t really met many of them.</p>
<p>SigmaChi-football frat, the only post-rush open-to-everyone parties I’ve been to that didn’t suck were Sigma Chi parties, probably the most “typical frat” frat on campus, really great guys but it’s pretty much only football players.</p>
<p>AEPi-I knew some really good guys in AEPi, though for the most part it was just a bit too much like a Jewish version of “My New Haircut.” Some of their parties weren’t terrible, but the reality is that most of the AEPi kids think they’re the s*** when in reality they’re actually more just, well, pieces of it.</p>
<p>Pike-Lot of nice guys, mostly pretty down to earth, closest thing you’ll find to Animal House at Columbia (though honestly they’re really nowhere near as awesomely nuts as Animal House). I’ve definitely been to a few really good parties there, though most of their stuff (besides during rush) is only open to brothers. The two big negative rep issues that plague Pike are that they’re all potheads, which, while somewhat true for a few brothers, is definitely not true of everyone in that house (I’m pretty sure there are kids who smoke in all the frats to be honest), and something like 10 years ago there was something about date-rape manuals with Pike though honestly there’s nobody in Pike now that I think would really do anything like that and that’s mostly just people who don’t like Pike trying to give it a bad name.</p>
<p>KDR-basketball frat, don’t really know too much about them.</p>
<p>ZBT-baseball frat w/ a couple non-baseball guys, never went to any of their parties though most of the kids I know in ZBT were some of the nicest kids I met at columbia.</p>
<p>Psi U-used to be cool a while back now…they’ve kinda fallen off the map.</p>
<p>Beta-nerds for sure, highest GPA on campus, but also probably the most genuine nice kids in terms of the kids I know from there.</p>
<p>Fiji-a lot of kids that don’t really “fit” with other frats, not super-popular, kind of hipster/misfit-ish, but some really nice kids nonetheless.</p>
<p>How about the sororities: Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Sigma Delta Tau?</p>
<p>Same deal with sororities, some really nice girls in each and some…not so nice people in each as well.</p>
<p>First, if you want you can google it, there’s an article in the New York Post about Greek life at Columbia (much of what it had to say about frats I included in my descriptions), which also mentions the sororities, describing SDT as “the girls next door,” DG as “the queen bees,” Kappa Alpha Theta as “the prom queens,” and didn’t mention AXO.</p>
<p>That being said, after four years at Columbia and knowing at least 2 or 3 people in each sorority, and hearing a lot about each of them from my friends in frats, I’d say the general reputation for each is as follows:</p>
<p>AXO-the smartest/nerdiest in general of the sororities, never heard an official statistic or anything but I’m sure they have the highest overall GPA of the sororities. A bit less elitist/more down to earth (in general) than DG or Theta. I’ve known some really nice girls in AXO, some who were extremely socially awkward, and some who were a bit creepy. In terms of AXO’s interaction w/ frats, they seem to have fun at frat parties from what I’ve heard, although honestly they probably are viewed as the least desirable of the sororities in terms of dating and mixers.</p>
<p>SDT-kind of has a bit of a reputation for being slutty, which some of them certainly are, though it’s certainly not all of them as I’ve known at leasta few SDT girls who definitely were not sluts. Definitely the most athletic of the sororities, as I think pretty much every girl I know in SDT (though not everyone in the sorority) started Columbia as a varsity athlete.</p>
<p>Theta-the people I know in it I’m not really close friends with, personally they seem quite elitist/cliquey, one of the more popular sororities on campus, but honestly my least favorite. Though again, that’s definitely not a blanket statement, I have a friend in a frat who definitely isn’t the type of person who hangs out with elitists and he’s good friends w/ at least one girl from Theta and says there are some nice girls in it.</p>
<p>DG-although I think the “queen bee” thing probably does apply to a few of them, the two girls in DG that I know well are both really really nice, down to earth, chill people, and both really incredible girls. One of them’s easily the smartest girl my own age I’ve ever met and probably one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and the other is really fun, and totally fits in as “one of the guys.” I’d still say DG is a bit cliquey as I’ve heard about people in DG saying some not-so-nice things about people both inside and outside the sorority, but I’ve pretty much heard similar things about all the sororities except possibly AXO.</p>
<p>I know that freshmen get to check out the frats and the frats select freshmen at rush. What exactly do they look for when selecting freshmen to join their frat? I know that each frat is probably different, but are there similarities in what they look for? How can they learn much about you when all you do to demonstrate your personality is attend a couple parties during rush…</p>
<p>metsfan nails it with the descriptions of the frats and sororities. he did, however, forget to mention signu, the swimming frat, which has a reputation of being rather insular but nice, and adp, the hipster frat, which is, well, hipster and rather ‘alternative’.</p>
<p>I posted my own summary last year so I’ll just copy and paste it for you…(with a few updates)</p>
<p>aepi: very jewy frat. no sport affiliation. decent parties at times, house is so-so. basement is blacklit and on occasion, a good dance party goes down. I’ve seen a DJ on occasion at their parties but he’s marginally better than an ipod.</p>
<p>sigep: crew, rugby and some randos. big frat (70ish) and yes, some off the brothers are tool-y. they throw a good party or two every year and have a pretty good rep on campus. relatively fratty. </p>
<p>pike: supposedly known for a campus incident where a “date-rape manual” was circulated among brothers. free beer and pong frequently if that’s your thing though. rush process is extreme… but apparently brothers are pretty close. The guys rage pretty hard and drugs aren’t uncommon (green, white, fungus and more…) in the house. Definitely agree that pike is the closest to Animal House there is on campus. </p>
<p>delta sig:no sport affiliation. huge frat membership-wise (80+). Few of the other frats like them, partially because many of the guys think that they’re the **<strong><em>. They throw a ton of “parties” at Campo which consist of nothing but a guy at the door to fleece you of 2 bucks to listen to *</em></strong> music and have watered down “drink specials” I have friends in DeltaSig tho and there are nice people in the house. </p>
<p>ZBT: baseball. pretty much only baseball players but they’re nice guys. historically a jewish frat but not so much now. they throw a good party or two for the athlete crowd (read: the better looking girls on campus). house is off of frat row on… 115?th W of bway</p>
<p>KDR: known as the basketball frat but also includes golf and I know of a few sailing kids. Starting to bringing back some of the crazy parties that they were known for. Supposedly no rush process and huge scholarships that everyone gets. Not a really close brotherhood though.</p>
<p>sigma nu: swimmers and ex-wrestlers. their parties (when they throw them) are pretty amazing. apparently rush is pretty brutal. pretty decent house… and the brothers are decent guys for the most part. There’s a small contingent of gay swimmers in sig nu.</p>
<p>sigma chi: football… kind of like ZBT but for football players. Parties are more beer and pong than dancing though. rush process exists but isn’t too extreme. </p>
<p>Beta: once the frattiest of all frats… was a dry house for a few years but is no longer. extremely nice house-- and they own it too… so if you get to live there, its cheaper than campus housing–i think. They threw a few parties this year (the c-spot party? and a few random ones) but none were too notable. Highest GPA for sure,… quite a few ibanking kids. </p>
<p>Owl House (psi u?): used to be an engineering frat… now pretty broad. interesting rep though-- known for weed and (don’t ask me why, I’ve just heard it multiple times) dungeons and dragons. </p>
<p>ADP: not a frat. a co-ed literary society. nice house. hipsters flock here for crazy hipster parties with crazy hipster drugs.</p>
<p>Fiji: Lost their house… in an EC townhouse now. fighting to get their house back (right now, it’s a Butler renovation construction office). Used to throw good parties. Membership is growing, alot of engineers. </p>
<p>Asian/African American frats: they exist… nobody really cares about them. </p>
<p>Also, if you’re looking to rush a particular frat you can put yourself in situations to meet brothers by going to the right bars. alot of frats have “favorite bars” that they frequent</p>
<p>From my experience…</p>
<p>Campo: DeltaSig, Pike, somtimes SigEp
Cannons (o’connels): Sigma Chi, ZBT
Heights: SigNu, KDR, SigEp
Hakkons Hall/Amsterdam Lounge: Beta</p>
<p>also, just be yourself… frats are just looking for someone who they would want to hang out with</p>
<p>very much agree with shockwaveride’s comment about just being yourself, that’s the best way to meet people you’ll be happy spending a great deal of time with in the long run. just one addendum to what shockwaveride said, Sigma Chi and ZBT don’t really hang out at Cannon’s very much anymore, especially second semester last year when it got taken over by filthy manhattan college slime :'(</p>
<p>ZBT I know last year a lot of them were going to bars in the 80’s, Brother Jimmy’s I know is really big down there, and Sigma Chi I’m not really sure where they ended up, but again you’ll really only join if you’re on the football team, and since you’ll be hanging out with your teammates already it’s irrelevant.</p>