recs
 

you dont need recs

since i haven't actually performed rush myself, i dont know how big of a part they play...but i did just fine without any recs or legacies at USC...id say dont stress about it

You should change that to "you don't need recs at USC".

I'm guessing this is Southern California based on your location, shorty :) There's USC==California and USC=South Carolina.

I'd like to post that many, many girls do go through rush at USC with reccomendations, and it can be helpful...esp if you dont know any of the girls in the houses yet.

I just want to stress again that at some schools they don't matter. At many smaller or northern schools, as many GCers have stated, their chapters wouldn't even know what to do with a rec had they gotten one. But, every school is different. The important thing to do is check with the panhellenic office. Many times, they will give a vague response such as, "They're not necessary but they're good to have." The next best thing would be to ask your friends who are in sororities at that school or ask alums in the area. If you're still unsure, remember that a rec can only help you. It is better to go into rush with recs than without them and find out later that they were necessary.

Amen!

I found out the hard way that recs were necessary at my school after the fact. It was said that recs were optional so I assumed they weren't important or looked at closely, but I later found out recs are very important for fall formal rush. I wish I had known about that then.

If they're so all-fired important, why don't the schools REQUIRE them instead of just suggesting them, and using the lack of them as a reason to cut girls?

While I don't think a school could require them, I do think that, IF this is a school where a rec matters, it should be STRONGLY recommended.

STRONGLY!!!! As in, "if you can't find a rec on your own, please call So-and-So and she will help you find the proper sources."

Why can't the schools require them? I had to have recommendations from faculty members to join certain community service organizations, why is a sorority any different?

I think it is up to the individual sororities as to the guidelines they use for accepting new members. I don't believe that a campus can require sororities to use guidelines that the school feels are important. If you had to have recommendations from faculty to join a community service organization, then that was a requirement of that organization, not the school.

Well then, why can't the individual organizations or the Panhel require them? My example, which I guess I need to make more lucid, was to say that organizations can and will require recommendations, what makes a sorority any different?

Let's not mislead girls over needing recommendations, okay? If they need them, why can't we say that? Or is it just an easy way to cut women?

Some organizations do require them. Several people on this thread and other similar threads, have said that, in their sorority, they are required to have a rec on everyone to whom they offer a bid. Other organizations (mine, for one) do not have that policy and the weight given to a rec is strictly at the discretion of the chapter receiving it. As to Panhel requiring recs, that would be the same as the school naking such a requirement. Sororities have different ways of choosing their members and they are allowed to do it in the way they feel is best.

I wholeheartedly agree with you that if recs are really necessary then the PNM's need to be told this. It is going to differ from school to school, however. Many of the members of sororities requiring recs have stated that a rec will be found for anyone they really want to bid. To turn that around, if a sorority does not wish to offer a bid to someone, they can come up with 100 reasons that have nothing to do with recs or the lack of them.

re: collegiate panhellenic requiring recs

While its not a unanimous agreement there is an NPC written policy that states ("green book" page 39):

Letters of Recommendation

The responsibility for providing letters of recommendation for prospective new members rests with the members of NPC fraternities and recruitment information distributed through College and Alumnae Panhellenics shall contain nothing that infers that letters of recommendation must be secured by the PNM.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong. But *I think* I have read at one point that another reason that panhel and sororities can't require them is because of a NPC unanimous agreement stating that in the spirit of equality it is up to each sorority to aquire a rec on a pnm.

I so agree that at schools where a rec could make a difference the importance of recs should be emphasized. My mother was anti-greek, so I had no help or information on greek life. As a freshman at UNT it might not have mattered. But the way they did sophmores back then, I was dropped immediately by all the groups where I didn't know someone personally.

*edited to add - I posted at the same time. Thanks for the NPC clarification AZ-AlphaXi. :)

We can cite the Green Book up and down and until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what it says - if you go into rush at some schools with no recs, you are going to be seriously SOL.

If a PNM doesn't care enough about searching out a rec, it's my opinion that she doesn't care enough about getting a bid. I feel that it is every PNMs job to get their own rec. If recs are the end all be all of getting a bid at a certain school, then by all means, stress the importance. However, they should not be required (to go through recruitment) and should definitely not be a chapter responsibility. If not having a rec will prohibit you from recieving a bid, go find one for yourself.


-Lindsay

So what you are saying that even do I do not know any alum very well I (as a PNM) should go up some one from every GLO from my school and say "Hi my name is Christia, I want to join a sorority, can we have lunch so you can write me a rec.? Or even better yet start to harrasse people on this board. "oh you are a KD can you write me a rec? I only need Chi-Omega next." Like a little girl on a scavenger hunt?


Christia

I would agree with you IF the complete necessity of recs was made clear to rushees, but it rarely is. Many PNM's do not know what recs are, let alone whether they are important at their school, and just as many PNM's do not know any sorority women well enough to ask for one. That is why the responsibility for recs (theoretically anyway) rests with the chapter that requires them.

christia,
 

i think that you are on the right track by visiting greekchat and learning about the general workings of formal recruitment. as has been said, it is different on every campus, and it behooves each pnm to educate herself as to what is required to be successful in her campus' formal recruitment process. on a lot of college panhellenic council websites it will plainly say that it is suggested that the pnm try to secure letters of recommendation prior to the the commencement of formal recruitment. if your colleges website doesn't state that, call the pan-hel office and point blank ask them.
it will also give suggestions on what to wear for each day of recruitment, and some sites even have women in the suggested clothing to help you know exactly what to wear.

as for getting recs for yourself, it can be done. i grew up in a small town, but through networking i acquired recs. to almost every house at fsu. i'll bet some of your teachers were in sororities. call up a favorite one and ask-if she wasn't she may know a teacher who isand that sorority alumna will probably know women who were in other sororities-just ask them. ask people at your church,at your parents work place- not strangers, but people you know. i can promise you, we alums. are delighted when someone asks us to write a rec. for them. i just know that someone you know will know someone in a sorority, and will connect you with them. it's called networking-just like when you are trying to get your foot in the door at a certain company. and when you do secure those recs., be sure to write a thank you to each woman who wrote you one, and let them know what sorority you joined. it will make their day. lisa

That post is kinda cold. Some people actually accept the information that is given to them. Why would the recruitment guide be wrong? Many recruitment guides say they are optional, not necessary, or the responsibility of the chapter when we know that is not true.

Example. When I went through rush the pamplet said something similiar. I was so naive that I didn't even realize that it was possible to not get a bid if you had the grades, activities, etc. I am not saying I would have gotten a bid, but as a sophmore, it would have helped things if I had gotten recs. I was in Rhode Island, none of my friends or family even mentioned recs. Back then the internet was just for computer geeks, I didn't even know anyone with a pc. Because I am the type that likes to have every advantage I called the university. They said recs were not necessary, but I could call my city panhellenic. I called directory assistance and asked for something called a panhellenic. But no phone number was available. (I was in Newport for the summer, then rushing in Texas). I didn't pursue it further because the guide, and the school said it was not necessary.

I think everyone should be on a level playing field going into rush. Let everyone know up front what is needed and expected at that campus. I think at most schools they are not necessary, maybe not even at that school anymore. But it should be emphasized at schools where it is known that they can make a difference during formal rush.

Re: christia,
 

I have talked to my school, ( I will be transferring there this summer/fall, I go to a tech school to get basic credits). They said recs would help but thats it.

Let me tell you about myself. I was born and raised in PHX, AZ. I moved to a small town in GA about a year ago, after I was out of high school. My mom works, but 50 miles away. My sister is the only one in my entire family who has a B.A (and she thinks greek life is a waste of time/money) my cousins does have technical degress from the school that I am getting core classes from.

I have talked to alum from my area, who are very nice. I have even met one. ADGLynn, who just happens to be the advisor to the Gamma Tau chapter of the school I will be going to. But I would feel weird asking her. I would feel like the only reason I talked to her was for a rec. But I talked to her becuase she made me feel really confidant about rush (weather I go AGD or not, which she has stayed very Panhellenic and talked about greek life as a whole, not just AGD, unless I asked how the NM class was or whatnot) I know she would write one if I asked her (not sure how much she would be able to say, but she has met me and we have chatted a few times) so if AGD is one of those groups that requires a rec to be able to be giving a bid, she could say she has talked to me before rush.

I would feel strange to post of the other 5 boards that represent my school and give them a low down and have them write me one. What would they say, good or bad. They don't really know me.

My question is what would stop me from going to some alum from one of the 6 at my school and writing to them/ their alum club to write a nice rec for me? Wouldn't posting online for anyone to write me a rec be the same thing?

Christia

This is my problem with the whole rec situation. I was lucky enough to know a lot of sorority women when I was a HS student who were more than willing to write me a rec 'cause they knew ME on a personal basis, but what about the other girls who aren't and weren't? They don't know what the Green Book says...

I'm very big on people who take initiative. Secure recs for yourself. If you're a GCer and you need a rec for my sorority then by all means ASK ME! I would be more than happy to write you a rec as would (at least I think) most other people on this board. I'm not trying to be cold when I say you should find your own rec, but IMO it reflects better on you that you took the intiative to find your own rec, without me having to find one for you.

-Lindsay

So, it doesn't matter the quality of the rec, it's just that you have one.

That's flown in the face of every rule about recommendations I have ever heard.

If the particular school/chapter recquires a rec, then a rec is a rec. There are going to be some better than others. Even if the chapter was made to secure recs some are STILL going to be better than others. Not every girl going through recruitment is going to have a glowing rec. In a perfect world maybe, but that just isn't the case. Every chapter wants the best of the best. If every PNM coming through has the same "glowing rec" and similar GPAs, ect... how do you distinguish? By requiring PNMs to take initiative and secure their own recs, you are going to get a wider variety of the type of rec you recieve.

-Lindsay

I'm repeating this because I really do think it necessary!

Most GreekChatters who have followed more than one rush thread have seen the heartbreak NOT having a rec can cause!

This is a crude example, and I do hope y'all will forgive me in advance, but at a school where a rec is strongly advised, it is as irresponsible to allow someone you know to try to rush without recs as it is to send a sexually active teen out on a date without protection!

What needs to be done:

ALL schools/Panhellenics should put into words exactly how much a rec is needed prior to the beginning of the school year and/or rush, perhaps using one of the following:

a) If it's not important at College A, put that into words!!: "While a recommendation from a sorority alumnae is always welcomed, we have found that not having recommendations will not hurt your chances during recruitment." How hard is that?

b) If it IS important at College B, warn the PNMs, AND advise them as to obtaining them!!: "A written recommendation from an alumnae from each sorority at College B will greatly improve the PNMs' chances during recruitment. If you are unsure of the procedure for obtaining a recommendation (or rec), please notify (Panhel person) at (email/phone) and she will suggest ways of obtaining recs."

Simple. Easy. Honest.

Then, make sure that the contact person has a standard list of the local Panhellenic, local alumnae groups, people the PNM may already know (teachers, church members, etc), even GreekChat. AND make sure that the list is kept up to date!


If I can meet a PNM, or get a good feeling about one through telephone conversation and internet chat, I would be happy to write a standard rec - which, after all, means soley "Please take a second look at this PNM. I have made no guarantees to her." If it's someone I really know, or have gotten to know, needless to say, I'll pump that rec up as much as possible - as long as I'm being honest about it.

You may differ in how you feel about writing a rec, but the bottom line is, why penalize someone who doesn't know the system? It's that type of attitude that gets us called elitest.


ETA: Yes, this flies in the face of the Green Book. But maybe that part needs to be rewritten. I honestly feel that every woman who signs up for rush should be given at least a sporting chance!

christia,
 

a rec. can come from any alum. from any part of the country. they do not have to be from local alums. and they do not have to be from alums. from the college you will be attending. for instance, i live in southwest florida. i went to florida state university in north florida. i can write a rec. to any chapter of zeta tau alpha anywhere. i have a cousin who is an adpi, a sister-in-law who is a pi phi, a step-niece who is a phi mu, cousins-in-law who are axo,
chi o and theta. i can send them the info. on a girl i know and they will write a rec. for her on my recommendation. the girl can be going anywhere in the country(or canada) to college.

since you have recently moved to ga., call ladies in your old town, if you don't feel comfortable asking ladies in your new town.
and ask lynn if she would feel comfortable writing you a rec. i bet she'll tell you the truth. and ask her if she knows any women who are members of the other sororities at your soon to be college. i bet she'll hook you up with some, or at least pass on your info.
like i said before, we alums. LOVE to write recs. it is an honor and a pleasure. lisa

Seriously, this is all that needs to be done, and it would clear up tons of confusion and make things so much easier at so many schools. I don't understand why sororities go out of their way to make things tougher on themselves and the PNMs.

You said it, sistah!

I agree that GCers on this board should be able to figure out if they are important at their school. And the information on this board gives adequate instruction about how to obtain recs for themselves.

It is the PNMs that do not frequent this board and blindly walk into rush based on the recruitment pamplet sent to them that concern me.

honeychile's posts is excellent! Sums it up nicely.:)

This is so true, Kristin. Anyone who reads these boards and is going through recruitment in the future should realize that recs never hurt and are absolutely necessary at some schools. When my daughter went through recruitment, the rush booklet didn't mention recs at all, although they are extremely helpful at her school. Those who don't know about GC (probably the majority) and are relying on their Greek Life office for information may be misinformed.

:blush:


Thank you, ladies! I just believe that honesty is the best policy!

If I do not know a girl personally, Zeta allows me to write an "Information Only" sheet which can then be cleared to the Advisory Board for approval. I have been asked many, many times to write recs for girls whom I don't know and this is what I have done. I will not write a "recommended" or "highly recommended" sheet unless I know the girl personally and, preferably, her family. When I was an advisor, I insisted on being heavily involved in rush and talking in depth with the girls who the chapter was interested in and who would be cleared to the Advisory Board because they did not have a rec on file.

It is the responsibility of every alumna to send recs on any girl that she knows who is entering college. If the girl chooses not to rush, no harm has been done BUT harm may be done if an alum does not take the time to write that rec and the girl does rush. The rec can make the difference - especially if that school has a very competitive rush. It is the responsibility of the chapter to attempt to secure recs on girls for whom an alum has not voluntarily sent a rec. Zeta has Key Women in most major areas who will assist the chapters with securing information on a girl.

As I have posted on another thread, Zeta does require recs on each girl prior to her being invited to pref. As mentioned, these can be from the Advisory Board if one has not been sent voluntarily.

Nhfulmer, your Information Only sheet sounds very similar to the one part of our rec sheet; what I've referred to as our "please take a second look at the PNM" section.

When I suggest that a Panhellenic spokesperson pave the way for the PNM to obtain recs, I'm suggesting that a list of the local alumnae be given to the PNM, who should then be responsible for making the actual contact/interview.

Just thought that bit was worth re-emphasizing. As alumnae, it's our responsibility, our right, and our privledge to write recs wherever and whenever possible.

very well stated! :)

My whole problem with the whole issue is how many girls do this? Sororities spend so much time telling the girls on campus to "Go Greek" - we're trying to increase Panhellenic numbers by reaching out to the girls on campus who don't know much about sorority life anyways. How are they going to know they need a rec? Again, as honeychile said, honesty is the best policy.

I don't know very much about recs, and as I said in another post on the subject I had never heard of them before coming here a few months ago. I still don't know very much about them but it seems that they are consistently inconsistent from campus to campus.

Thank to both of you (exlurker and FSUZeta)

I am contacting my local alum office (in PHX and GA)


Christia

i think this bears repeating. maybe this isn't the best way, but this is the current policy. my guess is that most cph's don't put "please get your own recs" in their pamphlets or tell people when they call the office.



i think this is another good point. it is definately easier for a sorority alum whose group doesn't require recs to know if the pnm's college is one for which recs are absolutely necessary.