The SEC is known for its strong sorority life. The 14 schools collectively have hundreds of sororities and thousands of active members. It was a tough task, but we tried to compare the sororitiy life of the SEC East vs the SEC West and see who comes out on top. Some of our selections were based on cold-hard facts while others were a little more subjective (but we tried to remain objective). Here's the analysis. Please tell us what you think.
Popularity
It’s tough to measure popularity.
In the SEC West, Alabama has had the largest recruitment classes in the country. This year Bama has over 2,800 students rush. University of Arkansas and Auburn had 1660 and 1,480, respectively.
Yet for the SEC East, Florida had over 2,000 students rush and the University of Georgia had 1,553. Not too shabby.
We’re going to give the edge to the SEC West.
Classiness
Both conferences of teeming with southern gentlemen and belles. Just watch the football games on Saturday afternoons and you’ll see the bros in collars and the ladies in dresses. This is with the exception of the jean shorts you’ll see a Gator fan wear…
We’re going to go with the SEC East. Why? Vanderbilt.
Involvement
It’s also difficult to measure involvement.
The SEC West has sororities like Alabama’s Delta Zeta which in 2015 won the Greek Excellence Award for Outstanding Service and Philanthropy. Another notable organization for its involvement on campus is Mississippi State’s Delta Gamma.
The SEC East has Greek populations like the one at University of Kentucky that do a great job of getting involved in each other’s events. Just one recent example, they recently held a pizza eating contest that had a great turn out by members across the Greek community.
It’s close, but we’re going to give the nod to the SEC West.
Social Life
How you measure the quality of social life often boils down to if you like the big city scene or the smaller college town atmosphere.
According to the 2014 US Census Bureau estimates, here is the populations of each of the SEC school’s host cities:
1. Nashville (Vanderbilt) - 658,602
2. Lexington (UK) - 310,797
3. Baton Rouge (LSU) - 228,895
4. Knoxville (Tennessee) - 184,281
5. Columbia (USC) - 132,067
6. Gainesville (UF) - 128,460
7. Athens (UGA) - 119,648
8. Columbia (Mizzou) - 116,906
9. College Station (TAMU) - 103,483
10. Tuscaloosa (Bama) - 96,122
11. Fayetteville (Arkansas) - 80,621
12. Auburn (Auburn) - 60,258
13. Starkville (MSU) - 24,886
14. Oxford (Ole Miss) 21,757
We’re going say the SEC East has better social life they are primarily in larger cities. They have the option to spend their night at a small house party or go out into an actual downtown.
Academics
According to the 2015 Academic Ratings by the Princeton Review, the SEC East comes out ahead of the West. Thanks again, Vandy.
SEC EAST
VANDERBILT: 96
FLORIDA: 77
TENNESSEE: 75
SOUTH CAROLINA: 74
GEORGIA: 73
MISSOURI: 69
KENTUCKY: 67
SEC West
AUBURN: 74
ARKANSAS: 73
OLE MISS: 71
TEXAS A&M: 71
ALABAMA: 65
LSU: 63
MISSISSIPPI STATE: NR
Sisterhood
Again, a tough metric to measure objectively.
One of the year’s most defining sisterhood moments is bid day. We recently ranked the Southern Sororities That Won Bid Day and the SEC West had more showings.
Looks
Really? The SEC has some of the most beautiful girls in all the country. You might have your own strong feeling about this one, but how could we possibly go about objectively comparing the two? We can’t. It’s a tie.
