I just added you!

Also, to the OP-- recs are certainly not the norm at UCLA! If you can get them, great. If not, don't worry about it.

In addition, while some UCLA chapters have a preference for underclassmen, I can assure you from personal experience that there will be other chapters where YOUR age and year in school will not be an issue.

Enjoy recruitment!

So this question is about UCLA specifically.. So I know most if not all incoming freshman have very impressive GPAs... and I understand that a lot of cuts during recruitment are based off of grades. What would be considered good/impressive for a second year at UCLA. I mean, I had over a 4.0 last year as a freshman but I have to admit college is a bit harder than highschool.. lol.. any insight would be great. Thanks!

Really, every chapter will choose their members differently. I would guess that because UCLA is a very competitive school to get into, there would be fewer cuts based on grades than a school with a wider range of GPAs. I don't know, maybe chapters really do split hairs and only take girls with at or above a 3.9?

If you're a sophomore going through at UCLA and you have a 4.0 college GPA, that is fantastic. It's definitely one pitfall you have avoided as a sophomore. Wait, maybe I'm not reading this right...how can you have over a 4.0 in college? I've never heard of weighted GPAs in college. Does UCLA weight GPAs?

Oh I apologize about the way i phrased that... What I meant was as an incoming freshman that was my GPA.. but since I am rushing this year as a second year, I no longer have that high of a GPA... now it's more like a B+ average. So, I was just wondering if that is considered good since I am in college and it is harder to get a 4.0 in college than it was in high school. Hope that made sense. :)

Funny that you should quote that because after taking to my friend yesterday that's completely incorrect!! In the past (every recruitment up until now) that was how it worked (chapters only giving out 1 or 2 bids to juniors) but apparently this year there is a new quota for juniors and seniors, so even the most competitive houses will likely be taking more than just 2. I think it's tough to go in as a sophomore and will likely remain tough...kind of ironic that maybe you have better chances rushing as a junior than a sophomore! Although obviously I'm not a UCLA expert by any means, just relaying what my friend told me.

Oh oops that post was meant to quote the 33Girl post when she quoted me, not on top of my game today.

Yeah.. I am definitely keeping that in mind. I know it's tougher when you're an upperclassman. It's a bit nerve-wrecking, but I hope it goes okay.

From what I know of UCLA, I don't think you'll have much of a problem as a sophomore. And your GPA will be fine. I doubt UCLA chapters make many cuts due to grades. UCLA's greek system is in no way like Alabama's or any other large, entrenched greek systems talked about on here. It's an old system, but UCLA is overall not a greek oriented school at all.

this thread has been so helpful thank you all so much for your advice and thank you bruin08!

now!! i have another question for you all- and im not sure youll be able to answer it but i might as well give it a try. i have a question about pref night... so after you rank your sororities: abc def ghi, and you turn in your card, i get confused. i understand that there is a list each sorority has that ranks members, but im confused as to howwwww the computer goes through the girls. because obviously if its alphabetical, then the people towards the end of the alphabet get the short end of the stick because most likely most chapters will have made quota by then. it seems like whatever order you do, even random, it ends up unfair?! maybe i just have the wrong idea about how this works?

Just as you rank the order of chapters you want, Panhel generally requires a ranked bid list of PNMs from each chapter. The order is usually neither random nor alphabetical but dependant upon selection sessions by each chapter. The almighty Panhel computer then bid matches the chapter lists with the PNM lists to find the most beneficial match on each campus.

The way the lists are made will vary by sorority to sorority and is secret in general BUT rest assured it will not be random at all. It is preferential order. The first list, which is quota, is the girls the sorority would ask for first (so if quota is 20 and they invite 50 girls, the 20 they like the most will go on the first list in no order in general). The girls will usually be in alphabetical order on THAT list because even if your last name is Zyllman or Zxylophone or whatever you will still fall within quota. The next 30 girls will be ranked from 21 to 50 in preferential order. How this order is determined is secret but trust me, it works. Nobody in the chapter (except for usually the Recruitment Chair and the Recruitment Advisor) will know who is where on the list.

APhiAnna - Your explanation is a good one for the "A & B List" method but be aware that some campuses require only one list of pref night PNMs in rank order. Either way, both the chapter and the PNM submit their ranks and bids are matched by Panhel.

Would love to hear how UCLA recruitment went this week--# of girls rushing etc.. I hope you share your stories!