•   Total Fraternities: 34
•   Total Sororities: 18
•   Total Discussion: 2043
•   Total School Reviews: 14

Iowa State is a Big 12 land-grant university with a student body well into the tens of thousands, and the Greek system here reflects that scale. Ames isn't a huge city, so campus life — including fraternities and sororities — tends to be pretty central to the social scene, especially for underclassmen.

The system is organized across multiple councils. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) oversees the majority of fraternities, while Panhellenic governs the NPC sororities. The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) represents the historically Black fraternities and sororities on campus, and there's also a presence from multicultural Greek organizations. Altogether, there are several dozen active chapters, which puts ISU in the range of a fairly well-developed Greek community for a Midwest flagship-style school.

One thing that stands out about ISU's Greek scene is the agricultural roots running through it. Organizations like Farmhouse and Alpha Gamma Rho have a distinct identity tied to the school's ag college heritage, which you don't really see at most other big universities. That's not to say the rest of the system is all farm kids — it's not — but it does give ISU's Greek community a character that's pretty specific to this campus.

Most of the larger IFC and Panhellenic chapters have chapter houses, many of them clustered in recognizable areas of campus. Housing is a real part of the experience here, and for a lot of members, living in the house is a big draw. Formal recruitment for sororities runs in the fall and follows the standard structured format. IFC recruitment tends to be a bit more informal and spread out, which is pretty typical for most schools.

Philanthropy is taken seriously across chapters here — Greek Week is one of the bigger annual events that brings the whole community together, and individual chapters run their own fundraisers tied to their national causes throughout the year. Sports, especially football and basketball, intersect with Greek social life in the way you'd expect from a Big 12 school, with game days being a major part of the fall calendar.