I have seen two different minimums for hs and college gpa. Can you call the Greek Life office and clarify this on your campus? It may be that they are lumping you in with the freshmen since you are a transfer student.

Most Chapters I know of, both within my own GLO and others, have separate Freshmen HS & Upperclassmen college GPA minimums.

You are lucky that you have the opportunity to explain yourself. I would definitely highlight the fact that your GPA has improved in recent semesters. Just be aware that you have a lot going against you (junior status, transfer, low GPA), and you may have significantly fewer choices than the rest of the PNMs. Don't assume that all PNMs who are above the minimum GPA for Panhellenic or a chapter are treated equally.

Focus on what you CAN control. You can control your conversational skills, GPA this semester, and personal presentation. You can also meet sorority women before recruitment.

and be open to the houses that do welcome you back. Grade requirements aren't modified based on size or status of a chapter, but willingness to accept a junior many times is.

Repeating, work on the things you CAN control, being nice to EVERYONE, going in knowing as many women as possible, having recommendations, looking polished every day, etc. And I would send the letter in and include what your grades have been each semester since your start. If you can demonstrate that you will likely make grades every semester for the rest of your college career, if you're close to the cut off mark, that will help a lot.

Best of luck to you. It sucks when one bad semester can have such a big impact on the rest of your college career and beyond! Hopefully some chapter will be able to see and take advantage of your potential.

Solid advice has been given above!

I would also like to mention if you are studying something that is extremely difficult and known to be a rigorous major (i.e chemical engineering, pre-med etc.) I would mention this as well in your letter. It makes a big difference to see a young woman improve her GPA in any major, but it is harder to do so when you are taking challenging entry level courses to certain rigorous degree programs.

Back in the day, we did compare GPAs of young women and looked at what their majors were. For ex: a 2.75-3.0 collegiate GPA weighed nicely for a chemical engineering major vs a 3.25 for someone in an undergrad degree program which was known to be less challenging.