fraternity trends

I see a lot of talk about who's rising and who's declining so I decided to make my own list. For reference, I'm going into my senior year and I'm in a higher end fraternity, so I've had the chance to see a lot of houses rise and fall throughout the years. These are the trends I have noticed.

Ranks Right Now

Top:
Sig Chi
Sig Ep
Delta Sig
Lambda

Upper Mid:
PiKapp
PIKE
DKE
Kappa Sig

Mid:
KA
FIJI
Chi Phi
Sig Tau
Phi Tau

Lower Mid:
Sig Pi
SAE
Sig Nu
Alpha Sig
Delt

For the most part, the fraternities at the top seem primed to stay at the top. Sig Chi has been a little inconsistent recruiting lately, but their parties more than make up for it, and they are more relevant than any other fraternity on campus. Sig Ep could potentially take the top spot back, but that's entirely dependent on Sig Chi's recruiting this upcoming semester. Delta Sig has been a prime example of consistency, and while Lambda has a very noticable "B" team, their connections with top house sororities are on par with anybody else.

The Upper Mid could see some movement towards the bottom. PiKapp has established itself as the best fraternity that isn't a top house, and while I don't really see them improving much more, they could potentially (1 full year) make the push to become a top house. PIKE is PIKE... it's the stereotypical fraternity that throws good parties and goes hard in intramurals, but they have a very negative image, and their brothers give off the vibe they all peaked in high school. At the moment they are benefiting from the decline of the fraternities below them more than anything else. DKE has been losing relevancy semester by semester for awhile now. Being off campus has hurt their size, and I fully expect them to have a heavy decline this upcoming semester. Nobody has fallen off harder than Kappa Sig. A former top house, Kappa Sig has recruited poorly the past 2-3 semesters, and not being in the GLV seems to have hurt them more than anybody else (Sig Chi and Delta Sig are the only fraternities that haven't really suffered). There is the potential that Kappa Sig levels off and stops the decline, but they're more likely to drop to the middle tier before leveling off.

KA is a strange case. Most people hate them, and they have been stuck in the middle tier for awhile now... However, due to the decline of DKE and KSig, KA (off the strength of their parties and their overall consistency) could potentially move up into the upper middle tier this semester IF they begin to make better fraternity and sorority relations as a whole. FIJI just lost their plex, and I fully expect them to decline because of it. They've had mediocre pledge classes the past year, and they still continue to fight a bad reputation (creepy) that has plagued them for years now. Chi Phi is the most mediocre fraternity on campus, and I don't really expect much to change with them because of it. Sig Tau will most likely see a considerable drop in the rankings this upcoming year. Semester by semester their pledge classes, parties, and overall relevancy have continued to decline, and they are one of the more disliked fraternities on campus. Phi Tau should be interesting. Not many people knew who they were a year ago, but as of right now they seem primed to pass Sig Tau, Chi Phi, and FIJI in the rankings very soon. From what I've seen and heard, they've gotten bigger and better every semester for the past year or two.