I can't give you an answer to that as I don't do that and here in my area, we call till we find someone who knows them. That is to say, if a girl comes to my AP requesting a rec for my group, I will find someone who knows her or I won't write it. And I know how we judge recs on the collegiate side. And knowing the woman counts more than not knowing her. The info AP gets just from the form the woman fills out is the same info so she puts on the recruitment registration form so it comes from the PNM either way and is not verified. Why would anyone give that added weight?

I want to echo what Titchou has said to head off PNMs thinking that going through the APH would only yield an info-only rec. I am very active in my local APH and can assure PNMs that many of our groups do network to find an alum that knows the girl. Will all groups of all APHs go to this length? I have no way of knowing. However, I don't want the assumption to be made that registering the the APH will only yield a rec that says "I don't know this girl."

Girls who registered with our local APH, and needed 2 recs from my organization, all got personal recs. Was it a lot of work on our part. Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

DBB- If you don't know anyone, and have 2 "I don't know this girl recs" I would speculate that is not any more helpful than 1 "I don't know this girl" rec. I just wanted to clarify for PNMs that it can be worth it to register. It's not an automatic info only rec in those cases.

And just to clarify, I always let the PNM know what I've done. I don't want them thinking they've got a rec when they don't. I think it's better to be up front with them about it.

Thanks, all.

I can't even imagine what recruitment at some of these campuses are like. At my school we only have 6 sororities. It is a very anti-Greek campus. Panhell love…..

How do I obtain recs?
 

My local community does not have an organized alum group, so I am having a hard time acquiring recs for every sorority. Any advice? So far, I've gotten about half.

You've done very well, then!
Keep at it - keep asking folks if they know anyone in a sorority. Ask the ladies who've already written ones for you.
Do your best, but frankly, sometimes you just cannot find anybody.
Don't worry - just get yourself ready for college, polish your smile, make sure your clothing is clean and ready to go - and enjoy the experience! It will never happen again quite like this, so just enjoy getting to meet everybody!

Can we figure out where Indiana actually belongs on the list so their's no more confusion?

Indiana alumnae keep telling you that recs are NOT absolutely, positively needed and no one believes us. There is no confusion about needed recs.. Most people are confusing its level of competitiveness with the need for recs. They are not one and the same.

I would never tell someone to NOT get the recs. Recs will not hurt you at IU. If a PMN has them, great. If they don't have them, it's not a total loss either.

However, here is the caveat: those having recs, do not expect an automatic invitation to the next round. It is not a given at IU. Also, chapters are only allowed to do pre-recruitment activities with their legacies now. Previously, the recs were helpful in getting you a pre-recruitment lunch or dinner, now unless you are a legacy this is not going to happen.

But what are you trying to say?

Do you see these events sticking around as legacy only or do you think they'll eventually phase out and switching them to legacy only is the first step?

I'm wondering the same thing. I think Indiana is a bear all on its own so, it's interesting to hear from an IU graduate as to what would or would not be needed. Just knowing how tough it can be, if I had a daughter going through recruitment there, I'd make sure she had tons of recs. I would do it to be safe but, as IndianaSigKap noted, I realize it wouldn't definitely get her a bid to any sorority.

Yes, as long as there are unhoused chapters at IU, the events will remain legacy only. Most, if not all, pre-recruitment events were being invited to lunch or dinner at the chapter house. It didn't cost the individual chapters much at all since not all members make every meal. The unhoused chapters would have to pay for these events and it ended up costing them quite a bit. It was seen as unfair so the entire pre-recruitment thing was going to be prohibited. Then a few chapters did step up to say they should be able to invite legacies to something. To not invite the legacies, they felt would be dishonoring the alumnae members.

From your perspective, would it be best to have recs for all of the houses to maximize chances of going Greek? I don't care about ranks/ tiers. I'm specifically asking about the opportunity to even be Greek at IU. Thoughts?

There is no definitive evidence that shows it helps at all. Like we have said repeatedly, it cannot hurt your chances, but it will not guarantee you a second round invitation. There are too many other factors at IU that get in the way: bed rush, high school connections, legacy policies, RFM, etc.