I would love some advice
 

Hello everyone
I'm sure you can probably guess that I'm going to UF next year ;) and I need some advice about recruitment letters. I have done all my homework and read up on a lot of threads here (as a guest, I made this username to post here just yesterday) and I have asked around (friends, family, my parent's coworkers, parents of friends...you name it) and unfortunately I just don't know enough greeks.
I was mostly relying on a family friend who graduated from UF and said he would connect me with sorority women he knew who would be able to write recs for me. Unfortunately he's a busy man and I realized yesterday that he couldn't come through for me, even though I have been corresponding with him for several months about this now.

So anyways, here is my question. Yesterday I contacted two local panhellenic groups (Ft. lauderdale and Miami Women's) but I am worried that now I am way past the deadline. There isn't any information on their websites about recruitment or PNMs, and I believe that I read somewhere on here that they don't always meet during the summer. There is also no phone number on the website. So what should I do now? I feel as if I have exhausted my resources and I don't know who else to ask. Is it too late to receive help from my local panhellenic group, and what should I do if they don't respond?

If you don't hear via email in the next day, call national Panhel and see if they can give you a contact number.

The people who write your recs DON'T need to be from UF. Make a last go-round and ask neighbors, teachers, etc.

I know, a lot of my friend's parents did not go to college and my mom said she hardly knew any greeks even when she was in college :/ I have asked people so many times I feel like I am annoying them haha.

Did you try high school teachers? They all went to college. Are your parents members of any types of clubs, like the VFW, Elk's Club, Lion's Club, Rotary, etc?

Yeah, none of them were in sororities. And no, I wish! My mom has asked all of her friends and only one of them was in one, but unfortunately it wasn't a chapter that is at UF.

Aside from networking and calling national Panhel like others described above, I don't see how else we can help... Have you literally gone to all of your neighbors, door-to-door style? I hope that you aren't trying to ask us if we will write one for you. Just keep trying. Good luck.

So, this will sound weird, but ask neighbors if they are or know Greeks. My friend lives down the street from an alum of our chapter and didn't even know until the woman told her when she saw the sticker on her car!! Also, if you work with women who are in college, they may be able to help, as well!

Letters are helpful and strongly suggested at UF. I didn't have clue when I went through Recruitment, and I ended up with amazing sisters. So, its not the be-all-end-all, but get all the letters you can!!

Hope that helps!

have you asked the parents of all of your friends? how about girls from your high school who joined sororities? even if their sorority will not allow them to write a recommendation for you, they might be able to help you find a local alumna who would.

I have heard from other girls in your area that it takes a while to get a response from the alumnae panhellenics. i would imagine that this is especially true during the summer, when many of them do not hold meetings.

@UFGatorLove- jinx!

No I was really just trying to see what to do about the national panhellenic group and get more advice. Thats a good idea I will start asking my neighbors! And I have contacted some of the girls I know in sororities and they said they gave my name to the rush chair but its not the same as getting a rec but can it help?

In addition to teachers, try to talk to your h.s. guidance counselor. She might know some of some girls from your school who joined a sorority. Also, try finding local alumnae chapters of the sororities for which you need letters. They don't usually meet in the summer, but you might be able to get in touch with someone who could write you a letter or put you in contact with someone else who will. Google the sororities' names and the names of nearby towns, or check their national websites to see if there are listings.

Regarding the deadlines, when I was our rec chair, I would not turn away someone because the deadline had passed. We had to have a deadline or else we would be inundated with requests at a date that was so late that we could not possibly have accommodated everyone. Other groups may operate differently, but I'm telling you this so you won't let your mind get away with you. Yes, it's late, but it's good that you've realized NOW that you need to seek these out on your own.

I am definitely going to start emailing local chapters, thanks :) Do you think its too late for my local panhellenic group to help? I am not sure if I should call them if they don't respond by email, and I don't see any information regarding recruitment on their website so I really don't even know what to do besides emailing them. I will try to find a number to call

There's no way to know for sure whether it's too late, until/unless you're able to get a response back. What I was trying to say is that you shouldn't assume that it is, simply because there's no info on their website about recruitment. They may be flexible with the deadline, without advertising that is the case.

I do suggest that you try to find a phone number and call someone. Sometimes I get the idea that PNMs think that the alumnae panhellenic rep. is going to make them feel foolish (yell at them? IDK) if they contact them after the stated deadline. Remember that these are women who have volunteered to help young women who are going through recruitment, and they WANT to help.

I am currently emailing local alumnae chapters in my area so thanks :) Yeah I actually was worried about that because I don't want to be pushy since I know they are probably very busy but I am going to call. There is no deadline however so I'm wondering if they even bother themselves with recs at all

If you're in church, you may ask some of the ladies there. I didn't know that one of my good friends from church is a sorority woman until she posted on her FB about Founders Day for her Phi Mu sisters.

I love to hear that! What chapter?

I love the suggestion I heard on another of the rec help threads. Ask your church office if you can put an announcement in the weekly bulletin saying that you'll be attending XYZ university and are going to participate in recruitment and could anyone help with recs.

Troy University

Thank you for your advice but I don't belong to a church :( However I have been emailing local alumnae chapters today and have had some success!

what good news!!! don't give up!

Best of luck! This is a true 6 degrees of separation test. I can tell you for sure you know someone who knows someone. (Is 6 degrees of separation a foreign concept these days? Just in case, the idea is that you are 6 people away from knowing absolutely every person in the world.) It's just a matter of asking the right person the right question.

And the follow up question to were you in a sorority or fraternity (yes, ask the men too), is do you know of anyone who was? I'm going through sorority recruitment this fall and I am looking for recommendations.

FSUZeta actually helped me out a lot with this one, she found the alumnae Panhellenic group for my county on facebook, and let me know it was there. From there I was able to contact some women from there who not only wrote me recs but passed my info off to other people who could. Maybe the groups don't always meet in summer, but everyone checks their facebook ;)

The friends who are in chapers at UF - ask them if they know a local alum they can introduce you to! Anyone you find in one group, ask if she knows someone in the other groups. Alabama has 17 NPC groups and I know someone in every one of them. ASK!

Thank you all! I have had a lot of success contacting alumnae chapters! I have also networked some more and found some greeks I knew that surprised me. Thank you again :)