why is old row automatically the top

Because the Alabama natives say so. If you want to be with a more overall open minded group, pledge NR, and let OR keep their high school cliques and self appointed status to themselves.

Old row has history/reputation/alumnae support that the new row houses struggle to compete with. Because of their in-state/southern focus they have significantly higher retention rates which correlates to a better sisterhood and better/more experienced leadership. Every top PNM from the south is going to have friends in mostly old row houses so that's where they will pledge, and then the cycle continues with top PNMs year after year because of old row's "name brand".

However, increasingly I do not think old row is "automatically" top. You can see this with houses like AGD and KD falling in reputation because the quality of their girls is not up to par. Although old row houses are top because they benefit from the status quo, some houses are not working hard enough to maintain it.

New Row girls frequently win HC queen and SGA positions because all except Theta are members of The Machine (although even Theta has several girls on SGA). I believe the current Miss UA is an independent and Panhel's exec this year is 2/3 new row. It really does not impact as much as you might think in terms of actual opportunity especially since The Machine's power wanes more and more with every year.

MY opinion:

Time are changing. I'll agree that in past decades Old Row houses were 100% hands down top tier houses just because of the heavy emphasis on tradition and at that time all the "good" PNMs would always go Old Row... New Row houses were just there for the remaining PNMs. But as we move into a period of time where half of the student body is OOS (mainly comprised of kids from the East and West Coasts) and as more of these OOS PNMs are coming in with better and better resumes they're choosing to go New Row (or Old Row chooses not to take them). That being said, most New Row houses are on the trend up while most Old Row houses are on the trend down. Most Old Row houses here still rely on their status to pull PNMs but obviously (seen with especially KD, AGD, and DDD) these good OOS PNMs (and some good Southern PNMs) don't want to be in houses like this... Where the girls have known each other their entire lives, where the houses don't put in effort to actively participate in events in the Greek community, where they just rely on a label.

As of right now, I the only reason why some Old Row houses are better regarded above some New Row houses is because we're in limbo... Just wait a few more years and you'll see houses like PBP, ADPi, and possibly even ZTA consistently ranked above houses like KD, AGD, DDD, and possibly even KKG.

The houses that are top at Bama are the ones that get the Alabama girls from the "best suburbs in Bama". Although OOS has more girls, Alabama still has the most girls of any state. It is the University of ALABAMA after all!

It really seems obvious that the houses that these girls want are "top". Would expect the same at every large state schools! It's particularly cool this hasn't changed in years - the same houses are OR. I know from alumnae at must state school, house tips chage dramatically over time there.

I am northern OOS, and if I wanted to be with all my old high school friends in what people would have considered the "best" house at my school, could have done that.

I'm in NR with girlls who made similar choices as me. My sister s and I aren't lesser than old row - I think that's clear too - but I have NO issue calling them top. this is their state and competition to be in those houses between the in state girls is more intense. It leaves them feeling even more heart broken ( and like it's more paetsonal) if they don't get in.

In that respect, think rush is harder on them.

Typo - alumnae from my home state school note sorority reputations change dramatically over the years. Think it's cool OR stays the same at Bama.

Great insight- @it

Old row isn't really considered top anymore most of the time. Kappa is certainly not top tier and KD is declining.