If they are having the problems you spoke of, I suggest they start using them!

It's Maryland. Starting the use of recs isn't that easy. The alumnae don't even know what they are.

I guess I wasn't clear.

How does a women get in to a college with lower than a 2.5 HS GPA?

Non selective state colleges allow students to matriculated with GPAs less than 2.5. These students then have to take special Remedial courses to prepare them for the real college level courses. Low ACT scores may also trigger you to qualify for these classes.

Clarifitcation
 

Sorry I should have clarified. What I meant was the required gpa for membership into the NPC GLOs. Looking around, I've seen schools that put them right in the recruitment handbook they release every year, I kid you not. We used to do it as well. I never even realized that it's considered private info on some campuses. Even Bama Panhel's releasing this info this yr. (According to their website.) If a pnm has limited options b/c of grades, I would just think she would be able to know, so that maybe she could be able to decide whether or not she should go through recruitment at the time or wait, to be matched with the organization that was truly best for her. I've been reading around and it seems that, depending on the school, exceptions for gpa are rare, but at some universities it happens all the time. Thoughts?

Wait to be matched with the organization that was truly "best" for her? Not in this universe. At a competitive school, you usually have to take what you're handed whether you like it or not. We do not have a genius Sorting Hat.

To carnation: The school being discussed (my university) is a smaller school with a much less competitive recruitment process. Because the greek community is smaller, we really do put a lot of thought into those sorts of things, b/c there's more room to. That's what a GLO is all about, to me, being in an organization where you at least have something in common with your sisters. But hey, that's just my personal opinion. Obviously things can't be perfect, so there's no need for the sarcasm, I was just curious to see how things were at other schools. I like what Bama's doing though, girls do deserve to know if they have a real shot with the organizations, since the gpa required to participate in recruitment can be much lower than a GLO's requirement.

See, there isn't one, and no mention of one when the girls go through ICS to sign up for recruitment.

Bama's web site and the other one mentioned - FSU? - do it the right way. Tell them that one really needs a high GPA but doesn't go listing everyone's requirements. We all know that some folks get in that don't meet the chapter's requirement because of a lot of reasons. And recs are the way to get the information you need to make those decisions. And if your alumnae don't know how to do a rec and you aren't inclined to teach them, well, you're going to get what you are going to get.

That wasn't sarcasm. It was the unvarnished truth and I said it because so many PNMs go into recruitment thinking that they will do the choosing and at many schools, that's not so. You choose from what you're left with.

Sorry for the misunderstanding! Since all the glo's have something great to offer, I guess there's nothing wrong with having to choose from slightly more limited options.

I do agree, might as well be up front about it. I guess that was my thinking to begin with.

That is true, I've seen it many times at my eensy school with no rush fee, but I don't think it happens often at SEC schools and other places where the fees are high.

I could care less if a GLO wants to set their GPA at (random number) 3.9. However, if all of them do that, and Panhellenic lets someone with a 2.7 sign up and pay the $100 fee, KNOWING she will be cut by all the sororities, I consider that irresponsible. This isn't about membership requirements and lofty things like that, it's about something a little more practical - not allowing a young woman and/or her parents to throw money down the toilet. If that's too gauche for NPC to even talk about, whatEVER. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Welcome to the Northeast. As violetpretty said one time, at her school, alumnae sending recs could almost make a rushee's chances WORSE - it's seen as undue interference. We don't like to be bossed up here. I would wager Towson would be the same way, even if all the chapters got a truckload of recs tomorrow.

:D carnation, I spit coffee all over my screen, I laughed so hard the dogs barked!!!

ETA: at Arizona, where +/- 1200 PNMs have gone through the past two-three years, the University Panhellenic publishes a minimum GPA for participating and strongly urges women with less than that GPA not to register. They even refund the application $ for PNMs who insist on registering but then think twice prior to the start of recruitment.