I was just curious how panhellenic got grades from hs.

We had girls lie on their applications all the time. There was a rumor -- every year -- that no one checked. Believe me, everyone checked (on grades, legacies -- we even had one girl who was a transfer and claimed she hadn't accepted a bid at her former school when in fact she had and had been initiated!!!! :eek: ) And for the girls who did get caught big time (like saying they had a 3.5 when they bearly had a 2.0 and the girl who actually was a sister in another GLO not on our campus were of course asked to leave recruitment. Our big problem was that Winter Term grades often weren't posted before recruitment began so if you ended up flubbing your winter term course you could get half way through recruitment and get pulled for grades. Or in the alternative have the bear minimum to rush, get released from houses with a higher minimum and then your winter term grades posted and you could have actually rushed those groups. I hope that they have fixed this system by now it caused pure chaos!!!!

I just talked to the Panhellenic Office at the school and they said 2.2 is required, but most prefer a 2.5 or better. just to keep y'all posted.

At my first school, where I pledged an NPC sorority, initiation was held the first week of the following semester to make sure that only pledges with high enough GPA initiated. This was in the early 90s, and I am not sure if they do that anymore, but that is how it was done then. (I left school the last week of the semester due to health, and was depledged).

There was a girl in my pledge class who did not make grades the semester before, and pledged two semesters in a row. She didn't make grades the next semester either, and she was dropped.

Really? That sounds very low for an SEC school. While you are above the minimum to go through recruitment, you'll still be a "grade risk" at every chapter and will face early cuts.

If you really are serious about joining a sorority, there's nothing to lose by going through in the fall, because you can meet women from all of the chapters and learn more about Greek life at your school. I highly doubt you'd get a bid, and even if you did, you might not want to take it since you'd probably want to focus on getting good grades first before you add tons of activities in the mix.

After your first semester, all that matters is your college GPA. So if you do well, you will make yourself a much better candidate for informal recruitment in the spring or fall formal as a sophomore. Since informal recruitment can be about having connections to sororities, it might not be such a bad idea to go through this fall just to meet people.

JessSigKap,

The min. is not necessarily the norm, though. For example, when I was in undergrad, you had to have at least a 3.0 to be considered for acceptance into my major. In reality, the cut-off for those who were actually accepted was a 3.5.

I'm wondering what school this could possibly be because, as jesssigkap mentioned, 2.2 seems very low for SEC. Of course, adpiucf is absolutely right that taking a girl with the minimum is rare... why take a girl with the bare minimum when there are PNMs with much higher? OP, I'm not trying to guess where you're going; please don't think I'm asking you to tell us.

Here's what's available online for the SEC schools. It seems a lot of schools don't post an "official" required GPA. I wonder how this could hurt PNMs who don't know how much a low GPA could hurt them?

Alabama - none listed. Bama is known for having one of the most competitive recruitments, though, so even if a PNM can register with any GPA a low GPA would equal an early cut (although they don't list official chapter minimums on the site).

Arkansas - 2.5 required to participate.

Auburn - none listed. Site specifically states that PNMs with GPAs below a 3.0 will be unlikely to receive bids.

Florida - none listed, but UF has become very hard to get into... it would be rare to get into UF with a 2.5!

Georgia - none listed, but it's also very hard to get into UGA... it would be rare to get in with a 2.5 high school GPA.

Kentucky - no official GPA required to participate, but in recruitment info they list 2.8 as required for one house and 3.0 for all the others.

LSU - 2.75 required to participate.

Ole Miss - no official GPA required to participate, but in recruitment info they list chapter requirements between 2.6 and 3.0.

Miss State - 2.0 required for upperclassmen, nothing listed for underclassmen. Chapter GPAs are much higher.

South Carolina - none listed, but chapter GPAs are all very high (most above 3.3), so I can't imagine anyone taking a grade risk.

Tennessee - none listed, but FAQs mention that the average sorority member has a 3.1 GPA so it can be assumed that similar qualifications are expected from PNMs.

Vanderbilt - Deferred recruitment (no GPA listed), but I can't imagine someone with a 2.5 getting into Vandy.

Some people may also get into a more competitive university with a lower GPA due to several factors-- legacy, AA, athletics, etc., which at the end of the day doesn't matter b/c they're in at that school and that in and of itself is a huge accomplishment :)

I'm a little uncomfortable with this since it breaks the "don't out the PNM who doesn't out herself" rule. I agree that I don't quite buy it, but I think this pushes it.

I wouldn't have posted anything about school requirements if anything would have given away the PNM's school. Since most of the schools don't list anything specific and none list a 2.2, all we know is that the PNM is attending an SEC school.

I know but it's just one of those things, you know? Then the next post is people narrowing it down from their own personal knowledge, etc. I thought I'd mention it now rather than wait til it was (IMO) too late.

Hokay, maybe I'm stupid, but this seems awfully low for a HS cutoff. It sounds more like a collegiate GPA cutoff.

And am I understanding it correctly that the university you're attending next year has recalculated your HS gpa (I'm assuming so it's on a universal scale as opposed to whatever system your HS used), it's not a collegiate GPA? Because if you're telling the Panhellenic that your "university" GPA (the recalculated one, but it's still from HS) is 2.5, they may be giving you the wrong cutoff.

ETA, so I started this reply like 30 mins ago and then had to do real work, so I've said pretty much the same thing as about 337 other people.

Ah, I see. Kind of "snowball effect prevention."

Although I can't say its true at every SEC school, the college GPA requirements are usually lower than the high school GPA requirements.

I'd also say that if you were a legacy, you might be given special consideration despite your low GPA, but even with great recommendations you probably wouldn't make the GPA cut. But hey, if you want to spend the money going through recruitment, why not go ahead & do so? You'll meet lots of new people & get an idea of what each sorority is like! Maybe you can do COB in the second semester once your first semester GPA is posted?

Also, does "fairly well" mean a 25 or does it mean a 34? I don't even know what a "good" SAT score is anymore. I know at many schools to overcome a 2.5 GPA you would need a National Merit level test score.