CornellFrat.com provides a single location for the most accurate Cornell fraternity rankings, letting the entire Cornell community rank, boost, demote, and describe all of Cornell's fraternities. Our system removes all bias and self-promotion from frat rankings, and provides incoming freshmen with the clearest and most accurate view of Cornell's frats as possible. While you can never trust a ranking post on a forum by an anonymous person, our system is the uses the ideal combination of subjective and objective ratings to paint the clearest, most accurate picture of the Cornell fraternity scene.
Frat Rankings as of 5/19/2013
Upper Tier
Chi Psi
A very athletic house with mostly meatheads, a close brotherhood, and state school mentality. They have a great house with a large front lawn and a good location. They mix well with some top sororities, but may do not like the house much because the brothers seem to be more involved in themselves and drinking then with conversing with the girls. Their pledging is the hardest pledging process on campus. Their last two pledge classes have been very good.
Psi U
A very wealthy house with a great reputation on campus. The brothers are good looking and the house itself is large and contains a squash court. They don't have many open events, but instead mostly have closed ones. Great sorority relations and a fairly rigorous pledging process. Their pledge classes are usually fairly small, with a very low number of athletes. Overall the brothers are for the most part snobby elitists and not very down to earth at all.
Sig Chi
Terrible location at the tip of North Campus, but at the same time have a fairly decent physical house, in addition to a great backyard and pool. They throw great open parties, and have a good diverse of brothers in the house. They mix well with the top sororities. Their pledge process, however, is extremely vigorous, and in the end not all pledges may become brothers.
Sig Phi
Another very wealthy house located right next to Psi U. Unlike Psi U they throw more open events, and have a much more diverse brotherhood. They have good relationships with top sororities, but their brotherhood is generally described as not as strong as other top houses. Due to their small number of brothers, their mixers aren't the greatest, but still very good. Their 2011 pledge class was severely lacking, as they were only able to have 8 pledges accept their bid, leading most to think the house is on the decline.
ATO
A lacrosse and squash house that throws some good parties and frequently has after hours. Excellent central location on West Campus. They have decent sorority relations and an overall cool brotherhood, but there seems to be some disunity between the brothers on the lacrosse team, which is a majority of the house, and the brothers who aren't. Lots of holes in the walls from thrown beercans.
Middle Tier
Alpha Delt
A house whose reputation is based solely on their wealth. They have a nice gothic house near FIJI and the old SAE. They mix with a couple top sororities well. Generally known to be extremely snobby and not down to earth. Furthermore, their pledging process is grueling and almost got the house in trouble. They also have a habit of being constantly placed on social probation. Their 2011 pledge class was subpar, and they came off as desperate during rush. Due to this, most people believe the house is falling.
Delta Chi
A very nice-looking on-the-rise house, but is a bit out of the way on North Campus. The brothers are known to be "pretty boys" and "friend zone" guys, but are overall very nice and overall cool. They don't party as hard as other frats, but have great sorority relationships. Their parties are fun, and they're said to be rising.
Sig Pi
Used to be a top house, but then was kicked off campus, came back 5 years later, and is now far worse than it used to be. They have decent sorority relations and throw good parties. They have an excellent central location and house on West Campus. The brothers can be slightly awkward and reserved, and their 2011 pledgeclass was subpar.
TEP
A Jewish fraternity that rose a bit since Pike was kicked off campus. The house itself is in a terrible condition and located out of the way on North Campus, but the brotherhood overall is cool and on the rise, and consists of mostly Jewish brothers. They have decent sorority relations, particularly with Jewish sororities. Somewhat hard pledging. Their national chapter also went bankrupt recently, so they may not have enough funding in the future.
Chi Phi
A diverse house, but with a lot of sprint football and rugby guys. Many meatheads. The house itself is very nice, but has a slightly bad location on West. They have decent sorority relationships with middle tier sororities and throw decent open parties, and have improved over the past few years
DU
A house full of meatheads who are notorious for starting fights and "creeping" on girls. However, much of this is a rumor, and their brotherhood does actually consist of many cool guys, and their house has improved over the years. They have a decent relationship with sororities, and are known for their Clam Bake at the end of the year. Throw fun open parties.
Phi Psi
A house containing football linesmen and swimmers, but with some awkward brothers. They have huge brothers, have decent parties, and decent sorority relations with the middle tier. A nice house in a good location, near Psi U and Sig Phi. Decent pledge class last year with many Jewish pledges. Some same they may be on the decline.
Phi Sig
A stately looking, on the rise house on West campus. An overall cool, down-to-earth brotherhood with a lot of AEM guys, but a few nerdy guys. They have a lot of fun parties through the year, but a poorly designed basement. They've had good pledge classes the past two years. Decent sorority relations, and a great central location on West Campus.
FIJI
A large but claustrophpnic house on West that throws a good amount of decent events. They are a very diverse brotherhood, which means that there's not much brotherhood unity, and it is well known that the house is very divided in two. Have some cool guys, some athletic guys, but also have some nerdy guys. Decent sorority relations, and an feud with Alpha Delt. Unecessarily hard pledging, which causes kids to drop out very often. Most believe the house has been declining over the past few years.
Lambda Chi
A decent amount of fun events, and a pretty nice physical house, but sort of out of the way. Has a diverse group of guys, consisting of a lot of Jewish brothers and apparently quite a few gay brothers. Throw very fun parties, including their Foam Party. Feud with Chi Phi, which is mostly based off the fact they are right next to each other.
Llenroc
Their house used to be Ezra's home, so it looks great and has an antique feeling to it. A fairly poor location on campus, and has an interesting mix of guys. There are some cool brothers, but a good amount of nerdy guys. A bit lower sorority relations, and apparently a pretty hard pledging process. Good open parties, but a cramped and small dancefloor.
Sig Nu
A frat with mostly, if not all, football players. The house is very out of the way but looks fairly nice. They don't throw many open parties. Their brothers are good guys but focus on football much more than their fraternity, so the house is more or less forgotten about, by both the brothers and Cornell overall. They have good but low-key sorority relations.
Sig Ep
An overall fairly cool brotherhood, but with some weird and nerdy brothers. Their house is somewhat ugly and looks like a dorm, but they have a decent location. They pick up a very random group of kids for their pledge classes. They don't have an actual pledging process, which is actually a fairly negative aspect and results in a very low level of brotherhood in the house. Decent sorority relations, and some say may be rising. Have a 4-year member development process. Questionable to decent rep on campus.
Sammy
A dorm-like Jewish house next to freshmen dorms on North Campus. The brothers are fairly nerdy, and their parties have surprisingly low attendance despite their location. The parties themselves are decent at best. They have decent sorority relations with Jewish sororities, which has improved since Pike got kicked off, but are still far outshined by TEP. Decent rep on campus.
Phi Tau
A low-key but on the rise house on North Campus, right next to Delta Chi. It's small house is somewhat eclipsed by Delta Chi's mansion next to it. Has a good mix of guys with a good recent pledge class. Some brothers are nerdy, but some are preppy. The parties are usually smaller due to the house's size, but are pretty fun. Decent relations with middle-lower sororities.
TKE
An extremely diverse house on North that gets a lot of foreign and ROTC kids. Has a traditionally bad reputation. However, a group of pledges from a top-tier frat that was kicked off campus (SAE) joined TKE after their frat was shut down last year, so some say it is on the rise. It's unclear, and some would say doubtful, however, that a single group of guys can actually turn this historically bad house around.
Thumpty
A house infamous for drug use. Nice guys in a fantastic house in an excellent location, possibly one of the best on campus. Their parties usually fun and raves, and sometimes have slightly odd local bands playing instead of a DJ. Don't mix that often, but are still known to party hard and get messed up. Usually have fun o-week and slope day events.
AGR
An on the rise ag frat on North campus. Mostly farm boys, but are very down-to-earth and cool. Have events you would expect from a farming house (e.g. bull riding). Have decent sorority relations and pretty good open parties. Some say the house is on the rise. They have organized philanthropic work with some good sororities in 2011, but the house is still mainly limited to ag students. Had a good recent pledge class. Overall a pretty good house, but fairly low-key.
Pi Kapp
A decent house on North Campus that doesn't haze during pledging. Very low key house, and some decent parties. Have mediocre relations with sororities, but does well academically. Have strict house rules and enforce them with a Hearing Board.
Lower Tier
ZBT
Pretty big but run-down house with a good view from the backyard, but pretty far away on North campus. A nationally Jewish house, but has many non-Jewish guys. The brotherhood is known to be sketchy, with many awkward guys and stoners. They had a very small and subpar pledge class last year. Some say on the decline.
DKE
A cool looking house on West Campus next to DU. Has a pretty small brotherhood with some sketchy and nerdy guys, but like to have fun. Throw a decent amount of events, usually during the first semester, and have decent sorority relations. Their house is somewhat forgotten about overall.
Zeta Psi
A big house right on North Campus. The brotherhood is very nerdy, but like to have fun and are very nice. Have somewhat decent open parties, and poor sorority relations.
Phi Dry
A nationally dry fraternity, but still drink and have non-dry parties. Their brotherhood is generally nice and overall pretty cool, but are limited due to their reputation as a "dry house," even though it's not fully true.
Rockledge
An interesting house that overlooks a gorge on West Campus. Has a generally diverse brotherhood with a mix of people from all over. Have a decent amount of engineers, and are pretty nerdy. The parties are fun, but their sorority relations are a bit subpar.
AEPi
A nerdy Jewish frat on North. A very strange looking house. The brothers are very nice and try hard when they throw open parties. They do academically well and have very high GPAs. They have shotty sorority relations, and only mix occasionally with some Jewish sororities.
DTD
Nerdy brothers in a decent physical house on West that looks like a dorm. Their pledge classes are always very small, and the rent out their house to other people. They have a couple of decent open parties, but rarely mix.
KDR
A nerdy frat with mostly engineers. The brothers are very nice but are also very nerdy, and try very hard to promote their parties. Their house is located in a poor location on North and usually has parties on Thursday nights.
ACACIA
A house on North with a lot of nerdy brothers, but are generally nice and like to have fun. They usually promote their parties through email and Facebook, which can be seen as desperate, but sometimes works well.
Seal and Serpent
A frat unique to Cornell and famous for a Bob Saget documentary filmed in it. Barely gets any pledges at all, and are known to have possibly gay or just extremely nerdy brothers.
Beta
A very nice house on North that used to be quite good on campus. Now, however, the house declined after some interal reorganization and becoming dry. They have been getting decent sized pledge classes, but still have predominantly gay brothers. Don't mix at all or have any open parties, but do have philanthropy events with sororities on occasion.