@80sbabe, just curious is your Greekchat user name related to you birth year? If it is you might have an more serious problem than even the gpa monster. If you were born in 1989 or before that's a Godzilla size problem for a PNM in recruitment . . . anywhere and everywhere.

I wouldn't say anywhere and everywhere, but definitely in a competitive SEC recruitment.

Great advice thus far.

It's JULY. Very late to be considering SEC recruitment. Even I know that.

OP, don't rationalize. Your circumstances cannot be tweaked to your advantage. Personal example: yours truly had perfect SAT verbal score, and math pretty damned close to perfect. Was I valedictorian or salutatorian with those scores? Hell no. I coasted because I could and thought I was so much smarter than everyone else. My HS GPA did not reflect those scores in any way. As my parents have told me my entire life "you have never lived up to your potential".

Sit out freshman year. Knock out a 4.0 or close to it; get involved; and for the love of Mike don't be That Girl at the fraternity houses. You will have another opportunity as a sophomore. Make the best of it.

MaryPoppins- absolutely not, I was born in '95. My username is just a reference to my love of The Breakfast Club, Madonna, and the like.

I can't help you much on the Greek Life front, but I do want to give you some academic/leadership stuff. Graduating from high school I was...well rounded. I had slightly over a 4.0 weighted, joined some clubs, and squeaked into the top 10% by graduation. I saw myself as ok, but I felt like I had the potential to do so much more, and I was accepted into a leadership program (probably much like the one you are in) at my school. Fast forward a year, and I now am a mentor in that program and I work in the office that runs it. I believe in it greatly; it has produced a couple of student body presidents, IFC/PHC execs, student activities chairs, and countless other leaders across campus. However, for each person who turned out like that there was someone in the program who dropped/failed out or who has a life that can only be described as a hot mess.

What I am saying is, it is fabulous that you have been accepted into this program, however it is what you do after you have been accepted that actually matters. Grade-wise, after freshman year your high school grades essentially disappear, however college is tough even for the best students, so you need to have learned a lesson from high school and protect your GPA with all you have. I know plenty of people who screwed up their first semester of freshman year and now have to work twice as hard for the rest of their college career. Best of luck to you!

You're talking to a bunch of people who are Greek and love greek life. I think (almost) everyone here would encourage you to go greek because it does have numerous benefits, but we're just encouraging you to wait until your GPA is up to what it really needs to be in order to have the best results with recruitment.

It is a total credit to you that you dig the Breakfast Club ;)

I think you aren't understanding the information you are getting here. No matter how much the active members like you, if your GPA is below the national minimum they CAN'T bid you. Period. I think I can safely say that no NPC has a minimum ACT requirement. No NPC cares about ACT in any official capacity. It is all GPA. (Now I personally use ACT when writing recs, because GPA can be artificially high or low for a variety of reasons, but that isn't important to this conversation.)

In the SEC, it is much preferred to rush as a freshman, but there are exceptions, and you are that exception!

You can't be academically challenged because you got an ACT score of 32. So, you should be able to excel this year in school. You also have the opportunity to make connections (with sorority members especially) and get involved on campus. You can be the rare PNM that look a whole lot better on paper as a sophomore than a freshman.

Trust us on this one.

P.S. I have a son who got a similar ACT score AS A 7th GRADER! Yet, he had an attitude at school. If an assignment was "beneath him" (as in, involved the use of glue, scissors, markers, etc.) he just wouldn't do it. He would rather just get an F. I used to say to him, "now who is smarter, the 7th grader with a 32 on his ACT who just took an F, or the 7th grader who can't spell but knows enough to do his assignments?" It sounds like you've realized that your skipping classes days weren't the best idea, but seriously, don't try that in college.

The odds are not in your favor...
 

Don't register for recruitment this year. Work hard to make good grades, join a club or two (especially clubs that hold an interest for you and that might allow you to interact with sorority members), and get to know some sorority members. Keep in touch with the ladies who you had lined up to write recs. for you, and ask them to help you out next summer. Guard your reputation.

You have gotten wonderful answers, but I just wanted to personally tell you it is so nice to see a young lady with such nice manners. I know I sound 100 years old, but it sure makes a difference. Everyone "gets it" at different times. The fact that you aren't making excuses shows a lot of maturity. I'm thinking this situation has shown you that everything cannot be fixed. As odd as this sounds embrace you got this message so early. Your ACT shows you have the ability to do well in college if you apply yourself and do the work. I did much better in college than high school. I am not versed on recruitment at SEC schools, but many of the people replying are. Their advice sounds golden, work very hard, join some clubs, but keep yourself out of the party scene. Then next year you can give it your best shot. Keep up your positive attitude, just reading your responses makes me root for you.

Thanks again for everyone's advice and kind words! I absolutely understand where everyone is coming from, and I really appreciate it.
I have some additional details on my situation:

1. I unearthed my transcript, and it turns out I had a 2.56 as opposed to a 2.43. (I did very well my last semester of senior year, much better than I thought.)
2. My mom spoke to one of her close friends, whose daughter is involved with recruitment at the school I will be attending. She told my mom that only 3 sororities have a 3.0 requirement, and she knows of at least one whose requirement is a 2.0. There is also a new sorority on campus that only has 75 girls- so they desperately need new members. Both my mom and her friend seem very positive and have advised me to go ahead with recruitment. I found out through the school's Panhellenic website that 95+% of girls that go through recruitment pledge a sorority.

Has the situation changed or would I still be wise to wait? I know I sound desperate, but I was really looking forward to being involved in Greek life as a freshman and I don't want to miss any opportunities.

This has got to be a joke or you're one sad person.

Well, that definitely gets you closer to the door (and you've just given away which school!). As long as you think you can handle total rejection, I say go ahead. Your chances overall would be better next year when you've had a chance to have a great GPA but it won't kill you to go thru this time too. Some will remember you - some won't.

No.

Your mom (who knows nothing about your school's current Greek/recruitment environment) and her friend telling you that "everything will be fine" doesn't mean that it will be. Be prepared to be disappointed, regardless of the fact that they're telling you "Go for it!"

Again, keep in mind that you're going to be "competing" with potential members who are involved with numerous extra-curriculars, extremely high GPAs, personal connections with certain sororities, and possibly a legacy status under their belt. A chapter's requirement could be 2.0, but when there are hundreds of girls going through recruitment with over a 3.0, who do you think they're going to want?

Quite frankly, a 2.5 is VERY low for high school. If it was your college GPA, that might be somewhat more understandable. Freshman year is a big change, it can be difficult to adjust, blah blah blah. But in high school, it's pretty unimpressive. Sorry if that's harsh, but it's true.

And if you have no recs at this point, I imagine you're basically SOL.

And PLEASE, whatever you do, do not assume that a chapter is "so desperate that they'll take anyone." It's insulting. And having fewer members is actually more of a reason NOT to take grade risks. I'd rather get 10 new members with great grades than 20 new members that are barely making Cs in all of their classes.

Again, it's up to you if you want to rush. Just don't say we didn't warn you.

You know, I really wanted to say how declasse' it was of you to say that about the smaller group and I didn't..but now I am. You need to be quiet and go about your business. Good luck.