With about 60 percent of upper-class students affiliated with the Greek system here, the social life at Dartmouth centers around the 23 co-ed, fraternity and sorority houses.
But across the Ivy League, social options vary as much as the students who frequent the seven schools.
Five of the other Ivy League schools have a Greek system. But the other two -- Harvard University and Princeton University --offer something different.
At Princeton, there are 12 co-ed "eating clubs," to which 75 percent of the junior and senior class belong, said assistant dean of students Sandy Silverman. Students do not generally live in the club buildings.
"They are used for upper-class dining, and they do hold parties," Silverman said. "Some of them also having amazing computer facilities, amazing athletic facilities or amazing libraries."
Silverman said most of the social life on campus centers around the eating clubs.
"We don't have a particularly thriving college town," she said. "The students are really pushing for large spaces on campus ... but the place where students turn for fun is the clubs."
The clubs are independent from Princeton, but Silverman said relations are good.
At Harvard, there are no officially recognized social institutions.
Some students belong to "final clubs," whose origin dates back more than 100 years. The nine clubs are "Harvard's version of fraternities," said one final club president, but he said they do not have buildings.
One of the traditionally all-male clubs, The Fly, recently voted to open its doors to women, breaking a 150-year tradition.
At Yale University, officials in the student affairs office said there are no social groups associated with the university. But students can join any one of about a dozen independent Greek houses.
There is a Greek system at Brown University, but only about seven percent of undergraduate students belong to the 12 houses, according to student life officer Russell Carey.
"We don't have a student population that is interested in Greek living," he said. "Most of the organizations and student groups have social events."
For instance, he said the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Coalition dance is one of the best-attended functions of the year. Affinity groups also host many of the social functions at Brown, Carey said.
There are only two sororities and three co-ed houses, Carey said. In the last five years, efforts to form a new sorority and a new co-ed house were abandoned due to a lack of interest.
Greek organizations at Brown do not get their own university-owned houses, but are given special rooms in residence halls.
At the other three Ivies, the Greek system provides the majority of on-campus events.
The Greek system is the most visible social organization at Columbia University, Director of Greek Life at Columbia Daryl Conte said.
Conte said about 12 to 18 percent of undergraduate students are involved in the 25 national organizations, which include six sororities and five co-ed houses.
"The co-eds are actually among the largest houses," Conte said. "The two largest houses are co-ed."
Conte said the Greek houses are the only remnants of a traditional collegiate atmosphere in Columbia's urban setting.
At Cornell University, about 35 percent of students belong to 43 fraternities, 13 sororities and one co-ed house, according to Marie Roller, an administrative assistant in the dean of students office.
Roller said the Greek system at Cornell is strong. "Everybody has their own way of doing social things," she said.
The University of Pennsylvania has 42 Greek organizations, with 30 percent of students in Greek houses, said Director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority affairs Tricia Paup.
There are 24 fraternities, nine sororities, eight bi-cultural houses and one co-ed house at Penn, Paup said.
"The social life here is more based on social groups than anything else," she said.
