THIS!!

Did you see that? It's the point going straight over your head.

This is the funniest damn thing I've read in a long time. Thanks.

Now THAT would be a fabulous signature line!

Munchkin - I see your point and it's well taken. Upon reflection, I'd go back and add some sort of qualifying adjective before "factor", but I've been quoted so it won't do any good. I was considering the posts the OP had written to that point and my interpretation (which may well be partially or completely erroneous) was that a sorority was of paramount importance in "dd's" college choice. But subsequent posts did not support that interpretation because IMO the OP was either on the fence or on both sides of it. Whatever!

For the future, I'll take a second look at what I write when I make an absolute statement. Thanks!!!

As it's been stated already.... you canNOT "wing it" at an SEC recruitment. She will be dropped after first round, it does not matter how unique and wonderful she is. There are girls who already have recs for every chapter for recruitment this fall! Some of these ladies have everything your daughter has AND they've been preparing for rush the last three years!

You must secure recs from sorority members before recruitment. This does NOT mean you must get a rec from an alumnae from that specific chapter. So if you know an alumnae from ABC sorority who went to Midwest State U, she can indeed write your daughter a rec for the ABC Chapter at University of SEC. Recs are a MUST to even be seriously considered at any chapter at all SEC schools.

SEC schools are where Miss America contestants are red shirted. Even the reigning Miss America, via New York, is really from Alabama. At Ole Miss, Tea Party is liberal. I'm now a Yellow Dog Independent,keep that strictly to myself, but I rushed in the SEC over thirty years ago.

I apologize if I come across rude but is the mother of this unique daughter for real? I'm reading this and aging myself when I think "gag me with a spoon".

Now back to you ladies who are kinder and nicer than me.

On the premise that the OP is "real" (although the user name, prounounced aloud, suggests otherwise): JLCo has posted enough specifics about her DD (and that acronym makes ME gag) that anyone could pick her out in a flash in any recruitment at any school anywhere. That might not be a good thing.

I know that this is an unpopular statement, since we (rightfully) stress the importance of preparation for recruitment, but it's not 100% impossible to succeed in SEC recruitment without preparation. I went through at an SEC school, had only one rec which was to a chapter that dropped me round 1, and still had full party schedules and got my first choice sorority. It's not the smart way to do recruitment - why handicap yourself from the beginning for any reason other than ignorance of the system? - but I don't want SEC PNMs to decide "it's not even worth it to try since I decided to rush last minute." You are not guaranteed to fail without advance preparation, but it will be a good deal harder to succeed.

Thank you SKS. I was in a mood last night. I know what you say is true, but it certainly is not the norm. Seems like if we mention to a poster like JLCo that bids can be earned without recs at SEC schools, they automatically assume that their snowflake is special enough to get by without them. Because if YOU were special enough to get a bid without a rec when you went through rush, then their "DD" certainly is too. Know what I mean?

In addition to securing recs. for all chapters at SEC university, the earlier in the summer they are sent in, the better.

I am convinced that one of the reasons a fabulous young lady I helped find recs. for did not achieve the results she had hoped at an uber-competitive recruitment, was because she decided to rush a couple of weeks prior to recruitment, and where she attended college, that was way, way late to be sending in recommendations.

Thank you SKS. I was in a mood last night. I know what you say is true, but it certainly is not the norm. Seems like if we mention to a poster like JLCo that bids can be earned without recs at SEC schools, they automatically assume that their snowflake is special enough to get by without them. Because if YOU were special enough to get a bid without a rec when you went through rush, then their "DD" certainly is too. Know what I mean? IrishLake
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Spot on IrishLake! I always worry when someone posts that "I had a great recruitment and only had one rec." because as IrishLake said, some folks seize on that and don't bother to get recs. at all and are then devastated when they don't get the bid they had wanted. That can happen, and I don't doubt that In SKS case, that is exactly what happened, but i would venture to say that at some schools no rec.= top choice is the exception and not the rule.

One girl who pledged ZTA at a school where that chapter is a perennial favorite with PNMs claimed that she got her #1 choice without a rec. Knowing our national policy, and knowing that chapter, I knew she was mistaken, and that someone had probably sent in a rec., unbeknownst to her.

I agree 100%. I absolutely DO NOT recommend going through SEC rush with no (or one) recs if you have any say in the matter. I was completely in the dark about the process when I did it - seriously, think Bill Murray in 'The Man Who Knew Too Little'. JLCo and her daughter now know what they should do in order to maximize the odds of a successful recruitment, and why would you not do everything you could to make the process better for yourself? People apply last-minute to medical school, too, but having been on my medical school's admission committee, I can tell you that those who spend their entire college career preparing tend to do better in the process.

I just don't want last-minute PNMs to read this thread in late July and decide not to go through recruitment at all. You can still rush, but realize that your options may be limited and you will not have all of the same opportunities that a young lady who is well-prepared will have. Looking back now, I'm amazed at how smoothly my recruitment went. I think a large part of it was that I wasn't worried about who invited me back because I had NO preconceived notions about any of the chapters, and that is a very rare state of mind for the current set of PNMs, even those who do not have any Greeks in their families. It's also possible that my mother's friend, having written me the one rec I knew about, could have called her friends from other chapters and had them write recs I knew nothing about. (It happens.)

Or hey you know what? Go ahead and dont get any recs because you did not have any friends or any family or even anyone you have ever met that is in an NPC group to write one for you.
Then no one has to feel bad if your rush does not go well but you?
And the chapter wont have to be up later trying to decide on who to invite back

I know quite a few people who had smooth SEC recruitments without recs -- but they all went through recruitment before RFM was introduced! I believe that was 2003 and seems to be what was the real game-changer. I know one SEC sorority alum who just last year was suggesting that PMNs not rush until their sophomore or junior year...she did at UGA and it was great. Well, her recruitment was in 1988! :) Not everyone has kept up with changing times.

I know it does still happen in the SEC, but it is the major exception and not the rule. I don't know a single PNM (since RFM) who has had a smooth go in the SEC without recs, including those with a lot of friends in certain chapters. It's a huge recruitment-risk. Too huge to even consider.