Recommendations vs. Recs?
 

Hello! I have submitted my information packets to my local Panhellenic group and have been working on other people to write letters for me for recruitment next year (I'll be OOS at Auburn). Being OOS, many of the sororities that are popular where I'm from are not at Auburn, and vice versa. Although, that doesn't really have much to do with the question I'm asking. My mom was talking to someone and she said that there was a difference between Recs and Letters of Recommendation. Is this so? I'm very confused about the whole process. Who writes each or how do they come about. Thanks!

I don't think so, unless this is something unique to your school.

Edit: Oh well, more specifically, many sororities have a form they fill out that is their letter of recommendation... Maybe that's what you mean?

Edit again: To clarify, if you're getting a rec from a sorority member they'll fill out their form and usually write something along with it. That's usually what a rec/letter of recommendation is. If you're just getting letters of recommendation from non-sorority members, this would be different. However, you don't need to worry about the form, the member would handle that.

for auburn, the sorority alumnae will need to fill out a recommendation form from their respective sorority. if they know you personally, and are so inclined, writing an accompanying letter that expands on your accomplishments and assets and how you,the pnm, would benefit their chapter might be helpful to the chapter. only "abc" sorority members can write a recommendation for you to abc sorority. non-members cannot write them, but they could certainly help you find a sorority member who could.

the letters of recommendation that drolefille is referring to, would be those letters that your employer would require you to provide in order to hire you.

coming from out of state, and being more familiar with sororities that do not have chapters at auburn will probably be a benefit to you. you will be less likely to get hung up on one chapter and more likely to keep an open mind. don't listen to tent talk!!

auburn is a great greek school. good luck with rush.

maybe someone from Auburn should answer this, that's a pretty competetive school for girls' rush

It being the south, I would assume this is similar to what is done in Texas. The sorority alumna will complete her organization's recommendation form for the PNM. If it is a PNM she knows well and wishes to offer more details about, she may also attach what's known here as a letter of support.

So you're a Phi Mu?

Looks like someone might have forgotten to take her sockie off, huh? :D

A "person letter?"

I love it, especially since she left all that behind when she left college!:rolleyes:

I appreciate this thread for teaching me there's a difference between recommendations and recs. I thought the latter was shorthand or slang for the former.

I can see why a GC Phi Mu would need a sock puppet. I just hope it isn't als463.

I can't see als463 affecting that writing style for so long!

This. There's the form (info only) that the alumna fills out, and she can attach a letter of support. If a PNM knows 2 or more alumnae from a sorority, often, one will fill out the form and collect letters of support from the other alumna(e) of the sorority writing recs for a PNM so that all of the info (info sheet, letters of support, photos, transcript, social resume, etc.) are sent to the chapter as one packet instead of the chapter receiving an info sheet, letter of support, photos, transcript, social resume, etc. from each rec writer.

"Rec" and "recommendation" are the same thing, but the difference lies in the info sheet and the letter of support. Collectively, they are a rec/recommendation. I suppose an alumna could just fill out the sheet and not attach a letter of support and it would still be a rec/recommendation, just not a very good one.

Ok- so you would not suggest sending in multiple recommendation forms to the same sorority? For one house on campus, I have 5 or 6 alumni that want to fill the forms out for me. Would this look foolish to submit all of them, or should I re contact them and ask if they would instead write me a letter of support, and only have my mother fill out the legacy introduction form & the recommendation form? Sorry for the question, everything is just so confusing and I don't want to do the wrong thing.

Do they know you personally (as in they're neighbors or relatives) or are they just old friends of your mother's that "know you" because of your mom?

3 of them are old family friends. The other two are my mom's sorority sisters that I don't know too well.

I would have your mother write the legacy intro form and another of her sister's write the recommendation. Of course, your mother would recommend you, so having another person write the recommendation would mean more.

I would have one alumna be designated to collect the letters of support. You can have them do it all separately, it's just easier on the chapter when all your info is in one place.

Weighing in as an Auburn person - you will need a rec (which is the formal form that each sorority has and has to be signed by an alumni of that soriority). Letters of recommendation help keep your name in front of the group (we usually knew if a rushee had a couple of recommendation letters) but you do not want to go overboard as that will also make you stand out. Good luck at Auburn - will be keeping my fingers crossed for you and would love to hear back on your experience.

Especially considering this is Auburn, mom should send in BOTH the legacy intro and a Rec in addition to the friend's Rec. This way the PNM has 2 Recs, not just 1.

At least for my GLO, the 2 forms are very different and are treated differently by the chapters. The purpose of the Intro form is merely to confirm someone is in fact a legacy. It doesn't ask anything about activities, GPA, or whatnot. That's what a Rec form is for. Granted one assumes a legacy mom or grandma would recommend their PNM, but we can't give someone credit without the proper form.

So you'd prefer the mom send a rec than having her get two sisters to send recs?

Kentucky isn't quite as competitive as other SEC schools (don't get me wrong it is very competitive, but Bama, Auburn, Ole Miss, and LSU's recruitments are competitive on steriods) but I think it would be best to have the mom do the legacy introduction and the rec if she wants BUT have another sister (preferably someone who knows the PNM well) to write another rec. Obviously someone's mother is going to recommend them but it would mean more to have another alumna rec. Just my 2 cents anyway.

Also, if your recruitment is in the fall get your recs in ASAP.

If your school has deferred, I'd still have them in maybe within the first two weeks of fall semester because I know some deferred schools will have PNMs over to lunch or dinner and having a rec will probably put on the list for them to call you!

That's what I was thinking, too, Sydney. Though, if you could only get mom for a rec, I'm sure it would do.

Oh yeah absolutely. Obviously it's better to have more (well, don't go overboard) but at ultra-competitive schools having 3-5 wouldn't be uncommon. I remember last year we had a few PNMs with that many recs and like I said, we're competitive, but Bama/LSU/Ole Miss/Auburn deserve a whole 'nother adjective to describe their recruitment.

I always wonder when we only get a rec from the mom....in fact, I'll personally check the woman out. I also double check out legacies who don't have a rec! (I'm a snoopy, suspicious person by nature)

When I was going to go through recruitment at LSU, I was told to have 2 recs for every chapter at LSU, no exceptions. I would like to know from any LSU GCers (I know we don't have many) if that is still true.

It is overwhleming for the pnm to worry about who is sending the rec, who is sending letters, etc. And, truthfully, at competitive schools, this is not really a pnm's job. You just need the recommended amount.

If someone wants to write a rec for you, great. She will probably ask you if someone is writing your official rec form. If you know someone who is, you can have the next alum write a letter of recommendation. But, it is not important that you keep that straight. If more than one official form shows up at the house, no big deal. Just smile and be gracious toward whomever offers to write you a rec. This will result in either an official form showing up at the chapter or a letter. Either will be helpful and counts toward the rec count we are always talking about on here.

Also, if someone is willing to organize all of your recs, and send everything in together, great. But that is not important either. Each alum can send in her own rec to the chapter (provide everyone with SASE to the chapter). In some cities, the alumnae organizations are very organized and they coordinate a packet of info on each pnm for the chapter, but that is not up to you.

DO register with your local alum panhellenic org in your town(if there is one) These women help with OOS recruitment and will help you find recs if needed.

So, bottom line - recs and rec letters are both good and can be interchangeable and you should not stress about it (other than making sure you have the amount needed for your school). The women who write them will know what their GLO needs.

^^^Ringing true for my daughter^^^

We had no local panhellinic out here in the sticks to organize recs, so we just asked all of our recommenders to fill out the official form for their sorority and send it along with pictures, resume, and transcript directly to the chapters at the school.

Once the PNM and her family find alumnae for 15 or more sororities, prepare pictures, resumes, transcripts, introductory letters, thank you notes, thank you list for results next fall, SASE to the houses, meeting the alumna the PNM doesn't personally know, etc., she should be stress free until she realizes the importance of summer conduct! :)

What is SASE?

Self-addressed stamped envelope

It seems as long as a pnm puts a little effort out they can get a letter of rec from any chapter.

Recs are important for competitive schools, but what is the use if every pnm gets a letter of rec for each chapter? Then what, do you have to get 2 letters of rec for each chapter to stand out? Once every pnm gets 2 letters of rec then do you need to get 3, so forth and so on?

I'm lane swerving so any NPC feel free to correct me. It has been my impression that most NPCs require a PNM to have a rec before being offered a bid. Perhaps at less competitive schools a chapter would go out and try to secure one themselves for somebody they really like. But at competitive environments, they wouldn't have the time for that.

Well, I should hope so. She shouldn't have much time left for summer misconduct. By the way, CopterDad, you forgot to mention

* the time it takes to locate a pure white dress,
and
* the time she'll have to spend breaking in all the shoes she plans to wear.

Agreed. I always wonder when we don't get any rec from a mother's collegiate sisters. It makes me think mom really didn't stay involved because the sorority isn't important to her and she may pass that attitude down to her daughter. Or mom only remembers she's a sorority woman when it means her perfect pretty princess deserves to be in the top chapters.

It's true of some but I don't know if it's true of most. I wouldn't know how it works at non-competitive schools, but although theoretically a sorority could seek out a rec for a girl who everyone loves and wants, chances are it won't happen. There are way too many other perfect girls to choose from who already have recs.

If you work hard enough, you probably can get a rec for each chapter at a school. But you would be surprised how many girls don't, whether they don't want to try hard enough or they already have their minds made up about where they want to be and don't bother with recs for other chapters. This happens a lot at my school. In many chapters you will get cut after the first round if you don't have a rec. Well, if you get cut from your top choices for other things, and you get cut from those middle chapters because you didn't bother to get a rec since you knew you couldn't possibly belong there, you are stuck with very few options after the first round. Then you come to greekchat and complain about how unfair and mean all the sororities at your school are.

This!

***golf clap***

Haha. I've already forked out for a cocktail dress in the color that the Greek Life Office said the PNMs "typically" wear. We took "typically" to mean that "you will look like a fish out of water if you don't wear this color.":)

No, I'm saying they should all send recs. Remember, this is Auburn.
The purpose is that if everyone else has a rec and you don't, then you may get cut.