Alabama Rush and First Cuts: Predetermined?
 

Hello all,

I have a dear friend who will be going through rush in a couple of weeks at the University of Alabama. We made sure that she has 1-2 recs for each house as numerous sites have suggested.

I was wondering about the first round of cuts. I have heard through the grapevine that due to the large number of PNM's going through, that the first round of cuts are largely based on recs, legacies, and GPA. Can anyone confirm or deny this? If true, this is quite different than my experience at University of Kentucky. Of course, UK is nowhere as competitive as UA, but each girl who came through did get a "vote" after each round. So while there was some initial weeding of PNM's for GPA issues and some early "rush crushes" for legacies or superstar recs that were highlighted during work week, there was no pre determination of who would asked back for the first invitational round. If I understand my sources correctly, most houses at Alabama will have already compiled a list of who would be asked back to the first invitational round before open house parties start, with a small amount of exceptions.

Any insight you all could provide would be greatly appreciated!!!

If you are indeed a sorority member then you will know that this is membership selection information and is not open for public discussion.

With many NPC groups on this campus having to release over 60% of PNM's the first round, you have to start somewhere. The areas of recs, legacies,and GPA will be important as well as the resume the PNM submits to ICS. You have to start somewhere.
I don't think I am sharing any secret membership selection information when I state this.
All of the NPC groups at Bama are outstanding and no PNM should have a problem joining any of them...but this is advise from an old alumna who has the "seasoning" to realize that on a campus this size, being Greek offers a special collegiate experience for everyone who chooses to join.

I'm indeed a sorority member, Greek-orGeek. In fact, I am attending my 10 ten year bid day reunion in a couple of weeks.

Perhaps I should have worded my question differently. How much weight is given to recs at alabama? I well aware that some chapters require a rec before giving a bid and I am aware that Alabama Panhellenic strongly suggests every PNM secure recs for every house. But my goodness, the chapters must be receiving hundreds if not thousands of recs every Fall. With those kind of numbers, are recs actually getting reviewed and considered by actives? During the middle of an already busy work week?

Snap/Ditto.

What I would share with you is this: Tell your dear sweet PNM not to focus on recs, legacy status or her GPA..Her GPA is what it is..each sorority has a particular GPA they accept and are looking for..worrying about it today is futile, recs are in (yep there are a lot of them..my DD gets the mail for her Bama sorority..yesterday she had two large mail containers full..they seem to be arriving late this year) and legacy status is well just that ..legacy status. What she SHOULD focus on is having great conversations and connections with women she meets. If she is relaxed and enjoying the process she will have a much more enjoyable recruitment. I will echo that all 16 house have wonderful qualities to share with PNMs who come with open hearts and minds. Your PNM should approach recruitment with the attitude of "what amazing opportunities will my party list provides today." If she dwells on the houses that have left her list and morns the losses it will be a very long week.

If they weren't reviewed and considered, then why would everyone say they are required at Alabama? And what makes you think they wait to review them during work week? Sorry, Dorothy, you and Toto aren't in Kansas any more...I went thru at Alabama 48 years ago. Even then we didn't wait till work week to review them. That's done all spring and summer long.

Tichou is correct..I was there during A-Day and recs and resumes as well as LOS (letters of support..which by the way are supposed to not be accepted by UA) were being reviewed.

Thank you all for the insight. Like I previously mentioned, I went to a school where recs were not "strongly suggested' and not the norm. I promise you that as an active, recs and referrals were not reviewed until the last few weeks before rush. But then again, we certainly did not have the volume of recs in the door like you ladies have in Alabama.

It's been SOP here for decades. It's sort of like what my Cajun relatives say a Cajun boy will ask a Cajun girl when he meets her for the first time:

1) Can you make a roux (Cajun cooking begins with a good roux)
2) Can you speak French (most of his relatives probably don't speak English)
3) Who's your daddy (I need to know who your people are)

Your rec tells us that.

oh my goodness I so agree..the question then becomes why PNMs don't understand this?

Because they've never met a Cajun?

Seriously? Recs are not the norm at Kentucky? Wow. I never knew.

Without giving anything confidential away, it is safe to say that cuts after round one (SEC style) are usually based on very basic black/white criteria. Grades, recs, legacy stus, etc are all types of that criteria.

Lists before rush starts? Who knows what each group does specifically, but i feel pretty confident that the process of membersip selection takes place after each round ( read voting) where of course, there are unpredictable things that can happen.

Alabama is a rush machine. Your head would spin if you could see the elaborate and highly organized prep that goes on for a house to get ready for this rush.

Oh yeah!

In Mississippi, it's:

1) Where are you from;
2) Where do you go to Church; and
3) What was your mother's maiden name.

Or at least it was when I was when I was growing up. Whoops and also, "Dogs or Rebels?"

Yes, they do. The sheer amount of paper that comes in is mindblowing. It's a daily trip to the Post Office throughout the summer and that person usually picks up a box + of mail because it won't fit in the PO Box. The simple task of just opening a day's worth of Rec mail takes a ridiculous amount of time.

Oy, vey. Does anyone know of groups going to electronic systems for this? Perhaps I could make big bucks if I could write software that somehow made it easy to verify the source of the rec (in lieu of a signature).

Most groups do take electronic ones. It's just by the time you scan the photo and the transcript and fill out the form online, you could hand write it about as fast. I tried that once and went back to the old fashioned way.

Kappa Alpha Theta has electronic submission available, and it even routes the letter of reference through the nearest Recruitment Reference Board if applicable. I love it! I'm sure more groups are heading to this solution if they don't have it already.

AOII's electronic form doesn't make you scan anything. Just click and upload a digital photo. Of course the PNM has to provide a digital photo, but that was no problem.

I'm talking about having hard copies from the PNM. Probably just a Southern thing that we like to do the handoff in person. And don't clog up my hard drive....

Yes- and I love receiving the electronic recs! I also love that AOII had chapters set up specific email addresses just for the recs. So you don't have to wade through all kinds of other emails to find one.

I cannot even imagine handling the recs that come in for Alabama.

Okay, this freaked me out as a rec writer.

Can you Bama folks reassure me that we shouldn't consider it a race to get recs in early?

You still review all recs received, correct?

They do review them all but do prefer to get them as early as possible. Right now, they are at 1924 PNMs....

Oh my. There is so much truth to this that I burst out laughing when I read it. I believe I have had this conversation with almost every PNM that I ever talked too. Oh the joy of being from Mississippi where everyone is separated by 3 degrees at most.

And... the answer to the fourth question is always Dogs. :D

Yes! Hail State!:D

It has been my experience that the early recs get seen more throughout the summer and those names become "familiar". Also, any recs that arrive days before or during work week are easily overlooked because things are already clipping along - the machine is already cranking!

So, get those recs in as early as possible for those uber competitive recruitments!

Don't forget that under RFM, the bigger chapters have to release more...and they can't wait until that night to review the recs. Advance knowledge helps them move more quickly through the list.
Another reason recs are more important than ever.
What makes me gnash my teeth is that some are so concerned about privacy that they won't give you the grades when they request a rec.
After mama and daddy's names, team preference and dogs' names, that's the first thing I want to know.

I have refused to research a rec for a chapter that refused to tell me whether the PNM met their grade requirement. Why should I do that work when she may not even made the grade cut? Nope, not doing.

But doesn't that punish the PNM more in the chance she does make the grade cut?

The chapter says they will not request a rec on somebody with less than their grade threshold. Sometimes that works....sometimes it doesn't.
It'll change - it always does.
Last year they were shielding addresses...this year, it's out there.
Go figure!:rolleyes:

Irishpipes is in the south unless Arkansas suddenly doesn't count.

Well....I am from Arkansas. I said something about how we do it in the South, and the upstate NY folks told me that Arkansas is in the Midwest.......news to me. :rolleyes:

Well what would they know about it! Arkansas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. So don't see how you could consider them not part of the South.

In a case where the chapter has the information from ICS or whatever system they are using and the women have already been vetted by the Greek office, their grades can't change.

Well bless your heart.

Remember - I've been around since Scarlett flounced thru Atlanta....I'm old school when it comes to recs...

Early to mid summer makes sense, but when someone was talking about A Day, I was thrown. You couldn't even have a girl's final grades by then.

That just confirms most of my suspicions about New York!