In Mississippi, it's:

1) Where are you from;
2) Where do you go to Church; and
3) What was your mother's maiden name.

Or at least it was when I was when I was growing up. Whoops and also, "Dogs or Rebels?"

Yes, they do. The sheer amount of paper that comes in is mindblowing. It's a daily trip to the Post Office throughout the summer and that person usually picks up a box + of mail because it won't fit in the PO Box. The simple task of just opening a day's worth of Rec mail takes a ridiculous amount of time.

Oy, vey. Does anyone know of groups going to electronic systems for this? Perhaps I could make big bucks if I could write software that somehow made it easy to verify the source of the rec (in lieu of a signature).

Most groups do take electronic ones. It's just by the time you scan the photo and the transcript and fill out the form online, you could hand write it about as fast. I tried that once and went back to the old fashioned way.

Kappa Alpha Theta has electronic submission available, and it even routes the letter of reference through the nearest Recruitment Reference Board if applicable. I love it! I'm sure more groups are heading to this solution if they don't have it already.

AOII's electronic form doesn't make you scan anything. Just click and upload a digital photo. Of course the PNM has to provide a digital photo, but that was no problem.

I'm talking about having hard copies from the PNM. Probably just a Southern thing that we like to do the handoff in person. And don't clog up my hard drive....

Yes- and I love receiving the electronic recs! I also love that AOII had chapters set up specific email addresses just for the recs. So you don't have to wade through all kinds of other emails to find one.

I cannot even imagine handling the recs that come in for Alabama.

Okay, this freaked me out as a rec writer.

Can you Bama folks reassure me that we shouldn't consider it a race to get recs in early?

You still review all recs received, correct?

They do review them all but do prefer to get them as early as possible. Right now, they are at 1924 PNMs....

Oh my. There is so much truth to this that I burst out laughing when I read it. I believe I have had this conversation with almost every PNM that I ever talked too. Oh the joy of being from Mississippi where everyone is separated by 3 degrees at most.

And... the answer to the fourth question is always Dogs. :D

Yes! Hail State!:D

It has been my experience that the early recs get seen more throughout the summer and those names become "familiar". Also, any recs that arrive days before or during work week are easily overlooked because things are already clipping along - the machine is already cranking!

So, get those recs in as early as possible for those uber competitive recruitments!

Don't forget that under RFM, the bigger chapters have to release more...and they can't wait until that night to review the recs. Advance knowledge helps them move more quickly through the list.
Another reason recs are more important than ever.
What makes me gnash my teeth is that some are so concerned about privacy that they won't give you the grades when they request a rec.
After mama and daddy's names, team preference and dogs' names, that's the first thing I want to know.

I have refused to research a rec for a chapter that refused to tell me whether the PNM met their grade requirement. Why should I do that work when she may not even made the grade cut? Nope, not doing.