Potential New Members This Is Important
 

We use a computerized system to register potential new members at the school I volunteer at. I don't think that these girls realize how important the information is that they put in the system. Some of this information may be used by our Chapter and other Chapters to determine who is getting invited back to the next round of parties. With the new RFM system the Chapters are releasing a large amount of women and if we haven't gotten a good read on you we may be looking at this information and basing decisions on it. So I thought I would provide examples of a good one and a bad one.

Good One:

High School/College Activities: Associated Student Body, National Charity League,State Scholarship Federation,National Honor Society, Basketball-(9-10) Lacrosse(9-12)Link Crew,Fund A Cure Club, Safe Rides Club, Make A Wish Club,

High School/College Leadership Positions: Varsity Cheer Captain, Student Body Spirit Director, Younge Democrats President, National Honors Society for Dance Vice President, Fellowship of Christain Athletes Leadership Member

HIgh School/College Community Service Involvement: National Charity League:Publicity/Newspaper, Historian, Inspiration; notMykid: Teen Advisory Board Member, Social Chairman, Name Last Walk volunteer & organizer, Middle School Conference: developed curriculm, group leader and volunteer, GALA fundrasier volunteer; Service Learning: Thansgiving can food drive, Volunteer/Project Leader; Helping Hands : Volunteer at annual fundraiser, tutor; Stay a Live at 25: Volunteer, Member, Leadership; Community Service in foreign country: Volunteer, taught English, repaired roads, built a basketball court, Community Service in foreign country: Volunteer, planted trees, Animal Conservation, ; notMYkid Point of Life: Volunteer, graduate, and leader, National Young Leadership Conference, Boys and Girls Club: Camp Counselor, organizer

This is an example of a bad one and there are lots of women who do this. This was actually copied from an actual application and there are several of these:

High School/College Activities:
High School/College Leadership Positions:
HIgh School/College Community Service Involvement:

BTW, I took all the activities from 3 different people and took out any information that would make them recognizable. When you leave blanks on your application form it is not good. To give yourself the best possible advantage you need to put as much information on the application as possible. DO NOT leave the GPA blank or any of the activities. Take the time to fill out the application completely and accurately.

The same can be said for the resume that these PNMs are sending their rec writers. I have received some that just make me go :eek:.

I get it that this is your "last summer" with friends. I understand that going to the pool, seeing movies and perhaps even your part time job are more fun that typing up a decent resume. But what I fear that the PNMs don't get is that without quality information on a resume I can not write a quality rec. Without a quality rec then your options may seriously be limited.

It is worth the effort.

:eek:
Can I put "I don't remember high school, I was too drunk" instead? :p

I'm actually filling out the form now to register and was wondering about some of the things that would be appropriate to list, particularly under the hobbies section.

I'm helping my sister out with recs right now, and am NONE too happy with our former high school. Everyone that works there has dropped off the face of the earth. My sister, our mom, and I have all tried calling and emailing in order to get a copy of her transcripts. The guidance counselor has gone on a vacation to Europe for 6 weeks, and the principal is not responding. The only people we've heard from are teachers (who can't access her transcripts), and the school Alumni coordinator, who can't access them either, but is trying to figure if he can temporarily just to help my sister out.

Blah.

Otherwise, IrishJunior will have a great recruitment application and hopefully a few recs.

OK, your first comment made me giggle, so I decided to help you out with your question.

As far as hobbies go, what is interesting about you? If you met someone (say at camp, through a friend, at church, etc) what do you share about yourself? Are you a runner and enjoy competing in 10Ks? Do you have a musical side? Any extensive travel? Like to salsa dance? Grow your own vegetables? Girl Scouts? Think of those things that you do in your spare time because you enjoy the activity, particularly those things that aren't offered through school. Those things start to make you more memorable and unique.

In other words, what makes "you" "you?" What makes you different that others? What would you want the sorority women to know about you?

How about an obsession with makeup? jk

I am involved in quite a few activities, one of which is a passion of mine. Some are just for fun, others are volunteer organizations, I went ahead and listed all of them.

It actually doesn't ask about high school specific activities or leadership positions. It asks for activities/hobbies and awards/recognitions.

Hmm, here's a question: For the awards/recognitions, do they want anything for sports like "Won ribbons in XYZ sport" or "Competed/won in XYZ sport" or more along the lines of "10 zillion hours volunteer service at XYZ" and "Scholarship from 123 organization" instead?

Watch your spelling. I'm thinking of an application we got at MS State in which the girl had won all kinds of Baptist honors so the word was all over the page but she spelled it "Babtist" every time. So we're thinking that if she was such a big deal in the church, why can't she spell it and of course it became a running joke in the PH office.

*For GC oldtimers who may remember this: this was also the girl whom people were calling "Bubbles" because her application picture had her in a feathery pink wrap with bubbles behind her. For that matter, y'all, don't be the girl with the really weird feature (like a pit bull or a huge hat) in your photo that people remember so well that you pick up a nickname.

Somewhere on GC there's a thread that discusses odd recruitment applications.

I don't post often, but I wanted to suggest calling the district office for transcripts. The office is open year round. It should be easy to find the number in the phone book in the government pages under schools.

Good luck

This.

I once wrote a rec for a girl who listed "Blue and Gold club", but didn't elaborate on what that was. Sounded to me like some sort of spirit group that you just signed the clipboard to join, so I just skimmed right over it.

Come to find out "Blue and Gold Club" is the fundraising arm of the school (its private) that is comprised mostly of alumni. However, 1 student is selected through a lenghty application/interview process to also sit on the board and this PNM was the one chosen from her senior class. Not only must she have been impressive to make that organization, but the experience, leadership, and organizational skills that she would have obtained being on that board for a year would have been very impressive on a sorority recommendation.

Too bad no one knew that, since she didn't tell us. :(

** note- I changed the name of the org to protect that school and PNM.

Oh, this is true too. We had one girl awhile back who had "Color Connection" on her application, no details at all. We found out later that it was a select group of dancers who got to dance in the Opening Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics.

Brag on yourself!!! Just don't exaggerate, because that usually gets found out.

I second the comment about application pictures. Not only with the silly things, but I specifically remember how surprised we were with the "seductive" pictures that were sent. I realize it might be your favorite picture of yourself but showing cleavage, mid drift or too much thigh isn't appropriate for recruitment application pictures. It sounds obvious but it happens SO often. There's nothing wrong with flattering pictures, thats great, but it shouldn't be seductive.

Sorry if it sounds like a bit of a rant, this has always just been a little pet peeve of mine.

What I currently have (still able to change) is along the lines of this: Cow Tipping* sub-activity A/sub-activity B, Type of Cow, Town Name swim team, volunteer work, Volunteer Organization 1, Volunteer Organization 2, Volunteer Organization 3, etc.
That's not a complete list, just a general idea.
I do Cow Tipping for fun and competition, I'm not entirely sure if what I have makes a distinction or if it matters.

Then they have a section for achievements which I listed volunteer awards and scholarships received.

*Cow Tipping, obviously not being the sport, just an example.
Also cow tipping is an individual sport, I was not on a team for it and did not participate in a league, although I did compete.

She went to a small private school. No luck. :( Good idea though! I'll tell my mom to contact someone at the affiliated church, and see if they can give some insight or advice.

On the other side of this coin...don't exaggerate or straight up lie. You will get pwned if you do. Watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon for 5 minutes does not make you a "Muscular Dystrophy Association volunteer."

Not everyone was president or chair of something. Don't say you were if you weren't. Everyone in a sorority (even at a supercompetitive school) was not Tracy Flick. :rolleyes: I just feel like PNMs are going to look at the first post in this thread and say "oh God, I have NOTHING, I'm not even going to try to rush."

I didn't read through this entire thread, so I apologize if this has already been posted.

But my chapter really really likes to see dates. Like how long you were involved in an organization.

For example:

Spanish Honor Society: 9-12th grade
Varsity Cheerleading: 11-12th grade; Co-Captain

We also love to see senior superlatives and those types of things listed because it helps us get a feel for your personality. Ex: If you are prom queen, you're probably outgoing. Or, if you were voted funniest, well...you will probably add humor to our chapter. ect.

Basically, being really detailed and listing anything that could boost your resume will help a ton!

After reading this thread, I am a little worried. Am I able to go back and change stuff on my application to make it more detailed or should I just send my resume?

You probably won't be able to edit it as the chapters probably get it sent in after you submitted it. At least the PNMs here can't edit.

Contact the women who wrote you recs and see if they are willing to send a photo and resume in too. Often times they will list or mention some of your HS activities, but I always think a resume is better.

Thanks. I do not have any recs, so should I send a resume to each sorority on campus or just to Panhellenic? And would it be better to send it by mail or email?

　
Ugh I feel like a slacker. But in reality because of at home situations (which I will not say because I have been studying on how to be a good pnm) I was not able to participate in many after school activities or even go out much to do volunteer work.
But here are some things I listed on my application

Activities-Leadership, Drama, Culinary Arts, and Mentorship.

Interests-Music, Reading, Learning more about Animal and body Science., Experiencing cultures varying from mine. Cooking and making people smile. Analyzing movies.

Honors and Awards-Student of the day twice, Cardinal caught caring, Junior Achievement, Honors in Human Anatomy and Multicultural Literature and Service Superstar.

Community Service and Volunteer Activities-N/A

I put N/A because I wasn’t sure if I should out down activates to do with church. But this is what I can put down Diamonds in the rough- Church group volunteered at nursing home. Luckily I can change the info so should I put that? Is there anything I should change? There is always room for improvementJ

It's only appropriate for alumnae of the individual chapters to contact/send things to the sororities on your campus.

Is your recruitment competitive? Do you need recs?


EDIT: Shermanyh, I put down church activities on mine as well as camp volunteer stuff I did. If you think about it for a little while I'm sure something will come to you that you've volunteered for that you may not automatically think of.

Well, the people I know said that its not too competitive. Recs are not required. We have a lot of chapters on our campus.

On here, people have told me that it is better to have recs if I can get them.

So I guess I should email it to panhellenic?

Well, if you have women who are willing to write you a rec, just give these women a copy of you resume and a photo---you can even email these things to them. Then, the woman writing the rec will send all of that over to the chapter they are writing it for.

If you can't find women to write recs for you, contact your local alumnae association.

Thanks Beebee and no i really dont have anymore volunteer thanks to certain at home situations:( but i do have an honor in culinary arts i could add :) and Junior achievement maybe i should explain what that one is :p

QFT. Please also avoid prom pics. I know you spent hours on that look, but unless you plan on coming to recruitment parties with the same hair, makeup, and attire, it will do you no good. Chapters use the pics for recognition purposes so that they can match your real-life conversation to your application and remember all your wonderful qualities. Submit a photo that looks like you do at any given time.

This is more for sophomores and people with deferred recruitment: Do not lie on you online application about being involved in certain clubs or activities on campus. There is a very good chance that there is an active sister involved in that specific campus activity and you will get caught if you lie about belonging to it.

We had a PNM write on her application that she was an active member in habitat. One of our sisters was the president of habitat, she didn't know the girl and looked on her list of habitat members and the girl wasn't listed.

Yes, that is the whole point!
 

KSU is right, this was not meant to freak out PNM's it was merely a caution to take the time when filling out the application. It might even be a good idea to pull it up see what type of information the school is asking for and think about it. I do not think that most people go through HS and don't have a thing to list on the application. Even my son who was not involved AT ALL in HS -seriously I could find stuff to put on his application. If your stumped ask your parents or friends, look at old yearbooks. I bet you can find some stuff. The point is don't leave it blank because all things being equal and you have one invite left; which PNM are you going to invite back?

Some suggestions - unless you went home and sat in front of the tv every day, then you probably DID do something that you can list.

Try to think of random, seemingly insignificant things. You will be surprised.

Church activities count
Blood drives (volunteer or participant)
Did you help your friend decorate for the prom/homecoming/etc? You were on the decorating committee.
Did you get nominated for Who's Who (where they try to sell you a book?) list that.
Teacher's aide
summer activities - definitely list camps, jobs, etc.

And, if you do have a particular situation that kept you from being very involved - maybe your mother was seriously ill and you had to come home every day and take care of the house, then that is definitely something your rec writers need to know. It should be included in your letters because it will shed light on your lack of activities and will help them get to know you.

Also, a note to tired/lazy pnms - when filling out their online applications, my daughters just cut and pasted their resume word document into the application. This saved a ton of time and ensured that the info was complete.

And likely also ensures correct spelling (provided that the resume was proofread).

Yes, spelling always matters.

I would definitely elaborate on some of your activities and honors and awards. Also, if you explained your mentorship a little more, that would DEFINITELY be considered volunteer/community service. You do have a good variety, but just explain a little more what those activities were. ie. Drama. were you a member of the drama club? did you have any roles or work on the stage crew? Even just simple details can help make the application really stand out.

We have girls who think it's forbidden to mention their high school sorority. It is NOT! If you were a recruitment chair in your HS sorority, of course the college version will want to know that!

Did you work? List your jobs, where at, duties. Yes, church activities count. Anything that shows you are dependable, resourceful, and have initiative. As someone said earlier, BRAG on yourself. NOW is the time to do it!

Thanks Carynie I will follow this advice.

What helpful suggestions! I went back over my profile for rush and re-did it according to what was said. It looks so much better!

You really think so?

I've never heard a SINGLE good thing about a high school sorority. In my experience, they're haze-fests. If a PNM mentioned that, I would think that she was a). a poser and b). probably not someone of high moral standards.

I'd be hesitant to mention it. There aren't really any high school sororities that are well regulated (or even regulated at all)...right?

There's another thread that has just recently been talking about Delta Beta Sigma which is a national orgainzation.

However, it may be regional. As I stated in that thread, here no one would think well of a high school sorority and they've been banned in school districts at some point between my mom's generation and mine.

If a PNM is in an area that holds a positive perspective of a high school sorority and is going to school in the same region, you might include it. If you're going to school outside of the region, you might include the relevant volunteer experience and MAYBE leadership positions while downplaying or omitting that it was for a high school sorority.

That said, having gone to a school that wasn't rec focused, I doubt anyone in my chapter would have held a high school sorority against someone else just simply because we didn't emphasize their resume or recommendation that much.

I agree that it may be regional.

I grew up in Texas and attended a Texas school with a competitive recruitment. Recs were an absolute must, girls were dressed to impress, yada, yada. West Texas, namely the Abilene/Midland/Odessa area, had (has? unsure...) a high school sorority called Tri-Hi-Y. To be honest, we found the whole thing humorous and at least for my chapter this was not anything that scored a PNM any extra consideration.

Activities-Leadership 9th , Drama 10th - I was a part of a play and worked on stage designs and backstage , Culinary Arts 11th and 12th - I Catered multiple events for my school including the area principal meeting, new teacher introductions, and top 25 seniors a formal event, Mentorship 12th - which was like an intern in an office where I would file paper, answered phones, escorted parents, students, and officials, call parents to verify and assisted office personnel,

Interests-Music, Reading, Learning more about Animal and body Science., Experiencing cultures varying from mine. Cooking and making people smile. Analyzing movies.

Honors and Awards-Student of the day twice Nominated by two different teachers for being an outstanding student and going above the call of what is expected from a student., Cardinal caught caring- I was seen doing a random act of kindness , Honors in Human Anatomy I was the only student who received the honor for going above and beyond student duties. Multicultural Literature- I was the only student who received the honor for going above and beyond student duties and Service Superstar- One of the few people in my department at work to receive the award for following the mantra and Making sure that every guest has a amazing experience at the park.

Community Service and Volunteer Activities- Diamonds in the rough- Church group volunteered at nursing home where we held events for them like purse day, and held church service for them.

This is good right?