Someone correct me if I'm wrong, as my school truly does not require them (and probably wouldn't know what to do with one if we got it!), but I feel like a lot of schools say recs aren't required, when in reality it's kind of hard to get through the first round without them. This may not be true of OSU, I have no idea about them specifically, but this is the general feeling I've gotten by reading through threads about bigger schools.

Yes.

Basically, Panhellenic is its own entity, and formal rush is run by Panhellenic. They can't come out and say "you need recs to get past round 1" because Panhellenic doesn't know the specific membership selection policies of its member groups. It's true that you do not need recs at all to PARTICIPATE in rush.

And sororities don't want to put on their web pages "you can't pledge without a rec" because at some schools, that would hurt the number of interested women considerably. They also don't want anyone to misunderstand and think rec = guaranteed bid.

Further, if you are Suzy Awesome from the city with 8,000 XYZ alumnae, XYZ will find you a rec. It's just that the vast, vast, vast majority of PNMS are not Suzy Awesome, even if they think they are.

My PNM is Suzy sometimes Awesome. Glad we're in an area where there are alumnae left and right. And glad I found this site so I could look around and try to educate myself.

Certain chapters at OSU most definitely require recs.

Certain sororities require recs - period. I am sometimes surprised when a member of a sorority which requires recs states "My chapter didn't get recs/didn't require them." In those cases, it was the alumnae working behind the scenes who probably secured the necessary recomendations. I think some sororities may need to educate their members a little more on the necessity of recs.

Bottom line - always get a rec.

I was reading the Ok State 2012 Recruitment Guide for dates, etc. so I can schedule flights. I found this regarding recs:

"Recommendations may be considered in the membership selection process. The Panhellenic Council highly suggests that each PNM have a recommendation letter for each of our twelve chapters; however, this is not required. The Panhellenic Council recommends you contact your local Alumnae Panhellenic Association or any sorority alumna you know to request a letter of recommendation for any of our 12 chapters."

I would guess that, in many chapters, unless you are the president or the recruitment chair, or another role closely involved with MS, you have no idea what recs do/don't do behind the scenes.

This ^

Without treading into membership selection territory, I am confused by this and find myself in need of enlightenment, especially since I have a HS senior daughter that I'm currently helping get recs. for a "good to have them" southern school. I live in "rec desert" land where no one has them. I don't think any of the sororities on the campus where I advise expects or requires them. If only the president or recruitment/membership chair knows what they say or who has them, what's the purpose? It seems that many of the sororities we're being asked to provide rec. info. for ask for topics of conversation at recruitment, what type of member would be a good match during recruitment, etc. It seems like those sororities are using the recs. for information that would definitely be shared with the chapter, not just during selection procedures, but to more effectively recruit the PNMs.

This is probably an equally ignorant question, but I am sincerely curious. If someone who is fabulous doesn't have a rec., and someone behind the scenes has to secure one because it's mandated by XYZ sorority, what is the value of a rec. secured by an assisting XYZ alum/advisor who doesn't know the PNM, from someone from her hometown (?) who doesn't know the PNM well, either?

In answer to the bolded, I thought that too, until I read on here that some of the sororities on my campus (and similar campi) have national policies that say you must have a rec to be pledged. My guess is that the sorority found it in their best interests to make it a national policy, for one reason or another - even if the woman who gives the rec doesn't know the rushee. It seems pointless, but I am guessing that if the sorority has found this policy effective for the MAJORITY of their chapters, they'll keep it in.

Not to mention the policy was probably written years ago - when fewer women went through recruitment and would be more likely to have an alumna write a personal rec.

The answer to the question of the value of the rec - some are more valuable than others. Also, bear in mind that if, for example, a girl from Katy were to go through recruitment without recs all the alumna in charge of recruitment would have to do is call the Katy chapter to get someone from the area who either 1.) knows her or 2.) can find someone who does.

First of all, I'll say that at any competitive SEC school, odds are you won't get invited back without a rec and so they'll never know if you are fabulous.
IF you do manage to get invited back, you can be SURE that the back room folks are working the phones about you. Honest. I've gotten many a call late at night about a PNM. For those who haven't lived this, they really don't understand. And I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just that it is. The south is very old school, small town. Even if you're from Dallas or Atlanta. We want to know who your daddy is, etc...and we'll find out....one way or another if it means enough to us.

I said the role they play "behind the scenes". I'm not going to veer into MS too much, but I bet that, be it tiny school or SEC, rec-land or rec-desert, the average chapter member has NO IDEA how the final bid list is compiled, and possibly has only some idea of how the round-by-round invite lists happen.

I thought that more orgs had this rule than didn't. Ultimately, though, any alum can write a rec for any woman. Most chapters have alums on hand during recruitment. Ergo...

(sorry, double-post)