Recruitment Advice
 

Hello all. I was debating on whether or not to post this question since I've lurked quite a bit on here to gather information from you all so thank you for all of the stickied threads on recruitment and related topics! I've done a lot of personal research (Google and my school's Greek life site) and found as much information as I could. However, I am still a bit divided on what action I should take regarding formal recruitment and wondered what you all would advise/suggest.

My question basically is would it make sense for me to try formal recruitment considering my classification (junior) and GPA (2.66) or would my original plan to build up my GPA over the upcoming semester and possibly participate in informal recruitment seem like a smarter plan? Thank you for reading and your advice! :)

Your GPA is a detriment at most schools. Your class standing may or may not be. There's no way for us to know. You might check with your school to see if they have a separate upperclass quota. If they don't, that and your GPA will probably not be a positive for you. If they do have an UC quota, you may squeak by but it owuld most likely be difficult. Now, as to whether you should do either method of recruitment is totally up to you and should be based on whether or not you could handle the rejection. Getting your GPA up to a more acceptable 3.0 for an upperclassman is virtually impossible so I think you are pretty stuck around your current level and the decision should be based on that.

Thank you for your reply, Titchou. I emailed Greek Life back about the quota and GPA. The reply I received is there is no upperclass quota so the chapters make the determination on if they want upperclass women and how many and varies year to year. Students with all GPAs have been placed before. The sororities typically look for students with at least a 2.5 but students below that GPA, while they have less options, may receive a bid. I guess since my school is mainly a commuter school, recruitment is different than the major school I transferred from. I just wasn't sure on what to do as I'd never heard of a school with no minimum GPA to participate! Again, thank you!

Having been an advisor on a commuter campus, I would agree that Greek life looks much different on a commuter campus than a campus with traditional student housing. At my campus and another in our area, being a junior was not necessarily a detriment. It all depends on you and how you present yourself. Some chapters would rather take a very polished upperclassman than a hot mess, all over the place freshman. Again, depends on the chapter and campus. But pledging as a junior with your GPA is a possibility, but you must go into recruitment knowing that not every chapter on campus will be interested. The lack of interest isn't personal, so don't take it as such. Each chapter will have set goals about its ideal pledge class. One chapter may have high GPA as its main criteria, while another chapter may be looking or leadership, while another may be looking for volunteer hours. We have no way of knowing and neither will you. Give it a try and put your best self out there! Best wishes!

You try finding the sororities' GPAs from previous semesters. Those with less than a 3.0 overall are probably not going to be interested in you. You'll pull their average down even more than it is. Those way over may be able to absorb yours better. just try to be realistic about your options and go from there.

Yes, I do understand that I may have less of a chance to join so I do plan to be as open as possible! On finding the GPAs, there is a link on the site titled "Chapter Statistics" but when I click it, the link just redirects to the home page for Greek life. The only information I was able to find in regards to Panhellenic's GPA is the overall comparison listed in the view book. The all-college women's average was 2.81 for Fall 2012 while Panhellenic's average was 2.94 for Fall 2012.

The Greek Life office may be willing to give you more detailed info but seeing as the PH average is 2.94, there are some high chapter GPAs there.

Yes, I assumed so! I decided to go ahead and try formal recruitment considering my issues. I won't get my hopes up too high but I will definitely keep a true open mind about everything.

I wouldn't bother trying to find out the individual chapter GPAs. That information isn't going to help you during Recruitment. At this point all you can do is present yourself in the best light possible, keep an open mind and hope for the best.

Good luck!

I can't speak for the OP's school, but this doesn't appear to be likely in large competitive recruitments like Bama. Chapters on the higher end of GPAs are often also chapters with high return rates, and they are therefore required to release more PNMs through the process. These chapters (in general) are the least likely to carry grade risks (without a very good reason).

I have known girls with less than a 3.0 who pledged chapters at Bama which have at or less than a 3.0 chapter GPA, but I haven't known a PNM with a low GPA who pledged a chapter with a high GPA (I'm sure there are exceptions, and obviously I don't know the GPA of most PNMs).

Just wanted to clarify lest a PNM misunderstand how a low GPA potentially affects consideration by chapters with high GPAs.

Just my opinion -- I don't think that you will be able to raise your GPA so significantly in one semester that this would offset the additional opportunities that fall rush may provide over spring.

And since your GPA is a college GPA, perhaps this will be taken into consideration (I noticed recently that a large university listed different requirements for high school and college GPAs -- high school GPA was higher).

Just do it -- go with what you have, having acknowledged to yourself what the challenges may be. The only way you will never be Greek for certain is to never try.

Thank you for your replies, Leslie Anne and Hartofsec! I have decided to go through formal recruitment to at least better my chances of finding the right fit for me but I am definitely keeping my mind open to all chapters.

Good luck to you!

I have another question but wasn't sure where to post it and I didn't want to start a new thread unless it was needed. I recently joined my school's FB group for recruitment which allows us to ask any questions we may have about recruitment. I asked a question about what to wear and one of the panhellenic members stated that the pnms would be able to meet up with our Rho Gammas during our orientation week and such. I am wondering how I should interact with my Rho Gamma when I meet her as to make a good impression with her. Like should I not talk about recruitment with her too much or stay away from recruitment talk? I'm just confused but don't want to say/do the wrong thing!

She is your recruitment contact. Talk with her about all things to do with recruitment. That's what she is there for. She has no vote with her group and is supposed to totally be disaffiliated from them. And depending on the campus, she may not even be a member of one of the groups there.

Okay, thank you! I'll just have to work on keeping myself calm and not psyche myself out.

Absolutely!

That said, DO NOT talk to your Rho Gamma about the time you shot a man in Reno. Your Rho Gamma is not going to say anything to her chapter about a PNM being awkward or clueless or stuff like that, but if you were to confess something REALLY BAD to her, it would indeed get back to the chapter.

And if you tell her in confidence what a bitch you think those tri-betas are, you can bet she either IS one or knows half of that chapter, among them her best friend. Ask all the questions you want but nothing that smacks of tiers or preferences and most definitely nothing negative.

:S I will definitely keep the conversations friendly and positive then. Would it be bad to ask her general questions about her sorority experiences or related topics? I wouldn't want to say anything that would cause her to reveal herself!

I wouldn't go that far. I think you can fairly talk to your RG about which houses you like most. You just want to do it WITHOUT bashing the ones you don't like, i.e. "XYZ didn't really feel like it was for me," not "XYZ is full of fatties."

Ask away!

Okay, so I have another question. I read a recruitment tips list online by a current sorority member and one of her tips was to be truthful with a chapter if you don't feel it is the one for you. Ex. If you don't like the chapter, tell them respectful that while it is a great chapter, you'd feel more at home in another or something along those lines otherwise they will keep inviting you back if you don't speak up! Is this okay to do during recruitment or not advisable to do?

Not advisable. Not okay.

While you attend each party, focus on what is positive and concentrate on what you like about the chapter, party, philanthropy, etc.

If you feel the need to share something with an active, share that.

To All PNMs reading this thread:

Where the hell did you read THAT piece of "advice"? That is arguably the most awful piece of advice given by "a current sorority member" (and I have my doubts about THAT too), and is guaranteed to put a speedy end to your recruitment. Word travels FAST.

For the love of Mike, go to each and every party and be kind, respectful, and on your very best behavior. Recruitment is NOT The Bachelorette.

See, I didn't think that was right at all so that's why I asked since I was confused as to why a sorority member would ever even consider that as a tip. Also I can link the post but it obviously wasn't from here! I couldn't do it even if it was given to me as advice. I thought that would be rude to do... The other tips on her list seemed pretty close to what you all would say on here but that specific tip just threw me off as I've come to learn recruitment is not really what the pnm wants, as you said KSUViolet06!

I'm not mad at you. I am majorly annoyed that someone/anyone would put something that blatantly stupid out there for unsuspecting PNMs to read and possibly follow. Don't link to it unless you send it to me in a PM so I can go there and set her straight. What a dumbass (her, not you! I still wish you good luck and a happy recruitment).

The thing is YOU DON'T KNOW where you will fit in the best. At round 1 you may think you know what's what, but you don't. In my case, I was cut by 3 chapters and was able to cut 1 (it was a LONG time ago). The last one on my list for round 2 turned out to be my chapter. Had I been "honest" in round 1, I would have had a very different outcome, and that would have been a real shame. Even at preference, a girl can be so confused, so stressed out, so swayed by others, that she thinks she knows what's what, but doesn't.

My version of this advice is if you are not feeling it, still be nice, still be enthusiastic, still try to find that connection, try to find common ground. The sad but truth is in 99% of the cases, they're picking you, not the reverse. Don't limit your choices because you need every option you can get. When you're at preference and you're totally confused, stressed out, whatever, and the sister asks what you're feeling, you can be honest that you are those things, but I still wouldn't tell them they're your second or last choice. First, it's rude. Second, in several hours you may be finding them on your bid card. And my advice is don't SIP (only put one on your MRABA form) and accept what you're given. You can drop out later if you feel you must, but if you stick it out and work at it, you'll probably end up happy. There are exceptions to this, but as a general rule, play along and you'll be happy.

Thank you all for your responses! Also, thank you, DubaiSis for that extra advice! That would make a lot more sense.

Another question: I have recruitment coming up soon and I am wondering how social media plays into recruitment. For example, I have a twitter and every day i tweet about recruitment. Is it smart to basically live-post during recruitment about it or not at all?

First, make sure your social media is private and cleaned up, i.e. no bad pictures, no cursing, nothing offensive, etc. You would never believe how easy it is for chapters to get information from and make decisions based on something they saw on facebook. For example, a girl at my school in the new class fb group which is public posted that she was "420 friendly" and drinks and I'm sure that every chapter knows about it. NOT advisable to post things like that.

Also, be careful of what you're saying. I'm not sure it's a good idea to tweet every day about recruitment. In my opinion that comes off as a little desperate/crazy (sorry). Also I don't think it's a good idea to live-post during recruitment, just check your social media, but try not to post anything. That's what I think is best. And please please please don't post your opinions on twitter or facebook or anywhere, i.e. I loved ABC but thought DEF was the worst thing in the world, I ONLY want to be an ABC, etc. And please don't use social media to whine, i.e. "I can't believe LMN cut me, they must be crazy and have no idea what they're missing". There are plenty of times that a girl's recruitment is tanked by what she says online, and there has been a trend of girls posting what sororities they are willing to accept bids from. NO NO NO. It's not sorority shopping. If you really feel that you must post, I would say keep it general like "loving recruitment, can't wait to see how this week ends up"

Oh and even if your social media is private, well, you've got friends and followers and some of them could really know people in chapters. Word gets around.

Ah, okay. Recruitment has started around where I'm from and I've just noticed a few girls were doing that so I wasn't sure if that was smart to do in general. I just figured I'd leave my social media alone until after everything ended as to keep away from any public missteps or heartbreak! Thanks!

No problem! And someone else may have a better take and give you better advice, but that's just my opinion. I think it's better to be safe than sorry.

There's always "had an awesome first day of rush! All the chapters are so great" or "wow do my feet hurt!" I still wouldn't do it, but at least those are completely benign. Anything that hints, no matter how vague you think you're being, about any particular chapter, sorority member or other rushee is both bad form and can seriously bite you in the arse.
From other threads, common suggestion is leave SOME things available to see on your Facebook and other pages, but only the best of the best representations of you. You do want them to be able to find you so they can be brought up to date on who you are and what you're all about. But I'd double check that you are 100% cleaned up. If in doubt, have your mother or someone who you trust with a good marketing/PR eye look at it (someone who is not your friend so they can see what a stranger sees) and have them make suggestions for additions/subtractions. Think advertising, not chitchat.

Don't tweet about recruitment AT ALL. You never know what will be misconstrued. If you have to make your presence felt on there, talk about the new season of Real Housewives or recipes or something innocuous.

As someone who went through recruitment in your situation, only go through formal recruitment if you are 100% prepared to be cut and able to be gracious about it. I attended a (largely) commuter campus in the south that many people didn't consider to be extremely competitive, with about the same GPA as you, also as a junior. I've heard of juniors getting bids, but they had a phenomenal GPA and were stellar in a lot of ways. I would also recommend that you try to get recommendations from sorority alums that think you're wonderful.

I LOVED recruitment. I met some wonderful women that I have stayed in touch with and don't ever have to ask myself "what if?" I wouldn't trade my experience for anything in the world, but I do wish I had been better prepared and had done it much earlier. At my school, being an upperclassman was a strike. My GPA was an even bigger strike. I actually met with some girls from one group for dinner when they were trying to fill more spots and they told me that I would be a grade risk, would have to sit on the back row and have no voting privileges nor be able to attend socials. They told me they would love to have me but that my GPA made it extremely difficult.

All this being said, this was my experience at my campus. I know nothing about your school or the environment there. I would encourage you to go through formal recruitment now since you have more time if a group does offer you a bid.

Good luck, and I hope that whatever you decide to do that you find the home you're looking for!

Sooo.... just noticed my response was a little late. Guess that'll teach me to read the whole thread first and not just the first couple of posts...

On the issue of social media, I came across a rather colorful PNM twitter handle on the official Panhellenic Twitter account for a school. Am I correct in thinking "F word something b---h" is a really bad way to represent yourself, or am I just an old biddy?

That's fine. I still appreciate the response! I just decided to take a chance and see what would happen and go from there. I contacted the Greek life and got some sort of information regarding myself but I won't know for sure until I go through recruitment. Whatever happens, I'll just be glad I at least put myself out there, I suppose!