I was at my son's soccer practice last night wearing a new tee shirt from my chapter's founders day celebrations (I couldn't attend, but I did order the really cute shirt!).

Anyway, one of the other Moms aproached me and asked if I would be willing to be the AOII on her daughter's list of people for recs. Since I know her daughter I said I would be thrilled- but I didn't realize her daughter was that old ( thought maybe she just looked really young?). She responded that her daughter will be a freshman in high school next year, but it is never too early to start a list of people you know that are greek. I was a little surprised, since here in Indiana, recs aren't THAT big of a deal, but then I discovered that Mom was greek at the University of Texas. then it all made sense!

I'm from Ohio :) and I can't even think of two schools there where you would NEED recs- maybe Miami but that is it? unless things have really changed... but yeah, the Mom said I was the first AOII she has met- although I'm sure she knows more, she just doesn't know they are greek. (and since my sister is an Alpha Gam I'm sure I can get her that rec too.) Seriously, it doesn't hurt to ask!

My niece is a senior in high school this year and has talked about wanting to rush when she goes to college. Now I'm just trying to encourage her to go to schools with an active AOII chapter...

Ohio University.

One of my sorority sister's bio sister was a Tri Sigma at Kent State though!

question: we do online applications + pictures at my school... what kind of pictures are you guys looking for? (classy & tasteful, I'm assuming.) Just a regular head shot?

Some schools require a head AND full length shot. It shouldn't be a glamour shot; it should make you readily identifiable, and at your best. When the door chants start, and Susy Sorority is supposed to pick up on Pam PNM, Susy should be able to spot "her" PNM while she's still in the doorway.

I cant stress how important it is to ask high school and middle school teachers if they were sorority members and if they would write a recommendation for you.

As recruitment advisor for my chapter, most of the recommendations I'm working on obtaining for PNM's and that we have received thus far are coming from alumnae who are high school and middle school teachers.

ASK THEM! :)

This year is the first year that I have started running into this. I'm an active member of my local area alumnae chapter.

I have women emailing me and now I received a facebook message about getting recommendations. I went to a small school so this is mostly unchartered water for me although I have heard about the necessity of recs for people going to large schools with competitive recruitments.

Do you normally write recommendation letters for people you don't know? Do you seek out for someone that knows the PNM that will be going through rush? Does it vary based on the person looking for recs? ie: A current collegian requesting a rec for a friend, a mom looking for a rec for her daughter...etc?

How is this normally handled?

I will write a rec for someone I don't know, but I usually try to find somebody that knows the PNM or her family. No my response does not vary for the requestor.

However...I do know that sisters from certain chapters are "trained" that they have to personally know the PNM.

I can count on two fingers the number of recs I have written because I leave that up to the local alumni group to make those decisions. They send out the recs as a group, which to me makes a much stronger statement than having a rec from an individual.

That being said, I posted the following on another thread, but will transfer it here, because I think there is a lot to be said for knowing the young lady personally.

"
This may be off topic, but PNMs and their mothers ought to think carefully about who they ask to write a rec for them.

For example, when my oldest daughter was a senior in high school, she was in charge of decorating for the back-to-school dance. During the decorating, she called me to see if it would be okay for Miss X to spend the night after the dance rather than driving back home. (Private school ... Miss X lived about 45 miles away.)

Well, Miss X apparently imbibed a bit at the dance, and when it came time to follow my daughter home in her car, coming into my neighborhood, she swerved off the road and hit a brick mailbox. Said mailbox was splayed all across the victim's front yard. But rather than stopping (her car was badly damaged and the right, front wheel could no longer rotate), Miss X continued to follow my daughter (who was unaware of what was going on behind her) to my house, leaving an 8 inch black skid all the way from the victim's house and which eventually ended in my driveway.

There is much more to this tale ... and it gets downright humorous when I recount how this was the only night in my entire life that I have slept with a drunk chick. Suffice to say that it took all my powers of zen to not allow my eyebrows to shoot up over the top of my hairline when her mother approached me for a rec the following spring.

Sigh ... "

You mean you can actually write on the rec form "Oxford MS KKG Alumnae Chapter" where it asks who it's from rather than "Katherine Kappa"?

Huh. Did not know that. What if Recommended Rhonda turns out to be an ax murderer? Who gets yelled at, the chapter president?

I'm confused as to what recs are exactly? And also how to get them if I don't know anyone who is greek?

Read this thread, please.