FSU Sorority Recruitment Rec Letters?
 

Hi! I'm still fairly new to Greek life so I was just curious about the effect that rec letters have on recruitment? I'm the first person in my family to rush for a sorority so I really don't know many people involved in Greek life! Florida State's Greek life is massive and I think it's going to be very competitive, so I'm trying to figure out if rec letters will help me in the long run!
I've heard that rec letters are helpful but I really don't know anyone in Greek life. Can I still get rec letters?
Thank you!

You need recommendations. Period.

FSU is a competitive recruitment. Recommendations put you on the radar before recruitment begins. Low grades and no recommendations are the two easiest ways to drop a girl from the invitation list. Some sororities have national requirements that every girl they offer a bid to has to have a recommendation.

You must know older girls who graduated from your HS who joined sororities. Ask them. Ask your classmates/friends if they have a sister, mother, aunt, cousin, friend, who is a sorority member. Ask your teachers. Ask your neighbors. Have your parents ask their friends and co workers. If you live in one of the metro areas there should be an alumnae Panhellenic and or individual sorority alumnae chapters there. Google and Facebook search. And get to work.

Is it rude to ask someone I don't know for a rec????

All depends on how you go about it. Do you know someone in common? If so,that person should introduce you to the other person with the known goal being for her to write the rec AFTER she meets you. This is called networking and is how you should go about finding rec writers. Make sense?

It does make sense, I talked to this really sweet lady at a graduation party and she offered to write me a rec letter!! I just don't know where to go from that :/ I don't want to be rude and annoying or come off as superficial seeking rec letters. I'm from a small town, but I found a FB group that has Panhellenic members in it from my area. Would you find it weird if a PNM messaged you asking about your sorority?

Well then get her your resume along with a transcript and an envelope addressed to HER group's address at FSU. And THANK HER!!!! And then let her know which groups you still need and ask if she knows any women in those groups. Greek women know other Greek women. I'm glad to answer any questions you have.

I always offer to connect local PNMs with other sorority members, but some folks don't think to offer. The majority of alums just want the PNMs to have the best chance and are happy to help in any way. Send me a PM if you have more FSU questions.

Ditto, FSUZeta!

Thank you both so much! You have been so helpful! Just one last question: do sororities care about your relationship to the person writing your rec? I know legacies are something they definitely look at, but do they care about relations other than that?

They care whether the person knows you personally...and can vouch for you. If you and this person were at the same event, she knows people who know you and can vouch for you for her. Same thing...for example -FSUZeta and I are friends. If she asks me to write a rec for a friend of hers, then it's golden and I will state that in my rec. She knows what we are looking for and vice versa.

Yes, and I would do the same for Titchou!

You two have been so helpful! I found out that one of my friend's mom's was in a sorority and offered to write me a rec. I'm just worried because she hasn't ever met me personally because she lives up north. Do you think that will be an issue?

That's perfect. She can vouch for the family and her long time friend who will also obviously have a great daughter. NETWORKING.....getting introduced to those who can help you. This is a life skill you will need when you are looking for a job. This is great....honey, in the south, knowing the family is the MOST important thing.

You could skype or talk to your mom's friend on the phone if that makes you feel better, but in this circumstance it is not necessary.

The next thing you need to do is ask your mom's friend if she knows women in other sororities who might be willing to write a rec for you. And you be sure to write a sweet thank you to her and let her know where you pledge.

Teachers, Coaches, supervisors at work, people at church, parents of friends, friends of friends, all of these are possibilities. Many people are Greek, and you probably have more Greek contacts than you know. Ask men as well as women, for possible contacts and leads, since fraternity men know sorority women. Don't be shy. The best way is to let everyone know you are planning to rush and you are looking for recs. Good Luck!!

By all means get rec letters. FSU Zeta's posts are full of great info about how to proceed. And asking your Mom's friend if she has alum friends in other groups is a great idea. Most NPC alums are happy to help you have a great rush.

Hey just chiming in to say I only had a recommendation to one chapter when I rushed at FSU and it wasn't for the chapter I got a bid for. I personally don't know anyone I rushed with who had recs but everyone still says they're important on here. I'd say they won't hurt but don't stress out about it too much.

No! Bad advice!

Recommendations and low GPA are the two easiest cuts a sorority makes. FSU is a tough, competitive recruitment and a PNM needs as many cards stacked in her favor as she can get. That means get your recommendations in asap. Several sororities require a recommendation for each of their new members before they can be pledged. Unless you are the world's most sought after PNM, get a rec for each sorority.

Since you will be experiencing rush for the sorority side this year, your perspective and your advice may change.

I'm an alum now. In all my experience in my chapter and with those I know in other chapters no one has stressed recs but of course that's not to say they aren't still valued or that Fsu is not competitive because it certainly is. That's just my perspective of course.

Which sorority are you a member of?

ZTA has a national requirement that each PNM must have a rec before she is pledged. That is not to say that if the most awesome PNM in the world walks thru Beta Gamma's front door without a rec, that the chapter won't work hard to find one for her, but with 1000's of girls rushing, they don't have time to do that and the chapters won't do it.

As to the other orgs that require recs, I will let my Panhellenic sisters identify their org. as one requiring recs if they wish to do so.

I totally agree with FSUZeta. Hoping a sorority will fall in love with you and try to find an alum to write you a rec is asking to get dropped. In a competitive recruitment like FSU, you need to have as many advantages as you can.

Just chiming in to say that although you may only be aware of one rec that you had going in, that's not to say that you didn't possibly have others you didn't know about.

I am sure that SoFlogirl means well, but her advice is not dependable. I found and reread her rush thread here on GC and she did not have a stellar rush-her first or second time rushing. In her 2nd rush, Once invitations were issued, she did not have a full party list. Had she had recommendations that might have been different. Luckily, she was happy with the bid she did receive, and in the end that is what matters, but you have to have parties to make it to bid day and all things being equal, the girl with recommendations will get the invitations.

What FSUZeta said!

There are already 1,000 women registered for FSU recruitment. If numbers hold true to the past few years, there will be 2,000 signed up by the registration deadline. Recs will definitely help you and not hurt you at all. They will help you"stand out" a bit in such a large PNM pool.

To be clear, if you are going to FSU, the recommendations you get from sorority alumnae for the sororities you are interested at FSU do not have to be from graduates of those FSU chapters, but may be alumnae from other schools with the same sorority. Each year about this time, my wife's sorority sends her recommendation forms to send to any school where she wishes to recommend a potential new member.

With this in mind, getting a recommendation should be easier. I also recall a lengthy tread in the Sorority Recruitment section on how to get recommendations from various sources.

Exactly!

Soflogirl - think of it this way:
You are interviewing for a position at a company you're really interested in. (Let's use Disney as an example.) You know people who work for Disney, though maybe not at the Burbank headquarters where you are interviewing. Would you NOT get referrals from the Disney workers you know to say a good word for you???

Hi y'all,
Thank you for all of the advice and support on here! I've actually been quite fruitful in finding different alumnae and networking!
I'm glad I asked about the importance of recommendations on here as everyone has been so helpful!
Rush is about a month away and there are still a few sororities that I'm interested in but I haven't been able to find any alumnae. I've reached out to a few of their alumnae chapters near me, but I haven't gotten a response yet.
I know some sororities require that the alum personally knows the PNM, so if I were to rush a sorority and they really liked me they would find me an alum to write me one? I'm still a tiny bit confused on that!

First of all,and I mean this in the best way, you are interested in ALL the sororities at FSU as you need to keep an open mind on ALL the groups.

SEcond, contact the PBC Alumnae PH here for the remainder of your recs:

https://www.facebook.com/Panhellenic...8492270829000/

Do not depend on that to happen. There will be a huge amount of PNMs-let's say 2000. Now, let's say a quarter of them do not have recs- that's 500. And let's say that all 500 look good on paper. They have great gpas, activities, and volunteer experience, are well put together, have sparkling personalities, and are great conversationalists. It is not feasible for the sororities to call around and get recs for all 500. It would be impractical for them to try to get recs for even 20. What will distinguish a handful of PNMs from the 500 rec-less group when all other things are equal so that a sorority would go to all the trouble to try to find an alum from the PNM's hometown who would write her a rec, when they have to break down that day's party, set up for the next day, hold membership selection, eat dinner, fill out reports/invitation lists for Panhellenic? Not to mention that they have 1500 PNMs who do have recs.

Ah, ok @FSUZeta I understand now!! Thank you! FSU's rush is already at around 1700 I believe, and thats not even counting the girls who are going to sign up last minute in August!
Also, @Titchou thank you for the link!! I found their site a few months ago but I haven't heard anything back from them. I've contacted them twice since then and I still haven't heard anything back. And your comment on keeping an open mind is totally correct! I'm basically trying to hit every sorority on campus for recs and to keep an open mind in every house I step foot in during rush!

There's a list of their officers. Try to locate one of them.

Best of luck to you, and hoping you have a great rush. You've already picked an awesome place to go to school!

Anchor Alum - Are you a Seminole? Me too!