Frustrations with Rec's
 

Do you know if the Alumnae Panhellenic is active in your area? Groups in some cities are more active than others, which could potentially explain the delay in contacting you back.

Also, I don't know if its this way in every city, but the Alumnae Panhellenic in my area is going through a change in officers right now. (As they do at this time every year.) If its the same way in your area, its possible that the old officer in charge of responding to your request has passed it on to the new officer?

If you are from a big city, I would be very surprised if your Alumnae Panhellenic did not have some sort of event for high school senior women. Check their website (if they have one) or try writing them again.
Did you register with the Alumnae Panhellenic? If so, then you would not necessarily hear from them, but they will forward your information to the GLOs on your campus, and they will then handle the recommendaton process.
Once you register with your college Panhellenic, your information will be shared with the GLOs and I would be very surprised if they did not seek recommendations for you. Having said that, I must say that you are taking the correct approach - do not count on it, but pursue getting your own recs. Continue to network with your mom's friends, teachers, etc.
HTH - best of luck.

I saw in one of your earlier posts that you depledged a sorority last year. Did you explain this in your rec request? That is, what time it happened and such. Women would not want to write recs for you if they thought you might be ineligible to pledge.

I think you mean "a big city in the South". I have never heard of anything like this here in Chicago.

(that's not to say it doesn't exist, but if it does, it is not much publicized)

Just want to emphasize the part about not counting on the GLOs to get recs for you. I would never, ever count on that, especially if you are going to school where recs are essential.

Also, as a public service, please change your font color!!! :)

http://www.geocities.com/chicagoalumnaepanhellenic/

You can contact them through their site.

Nice of them to credit me on their Sorority Life FAQ. :rolleyes:

No joke.

I have attempted to contact them..


Above is my "real" question

What's wrong w/ her font color? It's a nice medium blue on my screen.

It was another color.

Try contacting some of the area alumnae chapters directly. If ther are multiple chapters for one organization in your area, just contact one. State what you need and offer to meet the potential writer for a chat or a phone conversation. As others have pointed out, May/June is a time for officer transition and sometimes things get inadvertantly lost in the shuffle.

The APH probably gets dozens if not more requests for recs. As suggested, I would contact the local alumnae chapters to see if you can network with them. If you want to PM me the name of the school I can (possibly) tell you if the 'recs are not needed' thing is true or not.

Agreed. Especially since you said you will be a sophmore.

It was turquoise/aqua before - pretty but very difficult to read. :)

I have an update for you -

The nearest alumnae panhellenic to you does not currently have reps from the chapters at the school you're attending. (per the delegate from my group) So, they will not specifically be able to assist you in getting a rec letter.

They suggested that you try contacting the local alumnae chapters from each sorority directly for assistance, as they don't have the contact info. (Which is what aopirose suggested earlier also.)

Not exactly a great update, but at least you know and won't waste time attempting to contact the panhellenic group again. :)

If you can't find contact info, there is a GC thread somewhere with women you can PM for help. PM one from each org, and do it nicely, and maybe they can get you the local chapter info.

The same thing is happening to me!

Yeah, I'm awaiting a response too. I hope it all works out for you!

You can also make an effort to contact your family's Christmas Card list, and your email list, teachers, etc., to give them an update on what's new with you, that you're going to XYZ college, going through sorority recruitment and seeking alum recs from sororities A/B/C/D if anyone can assist. You'd be surprised at how people can pop out of the woodwork.

At my school, recs are NOT important at all. I've even heard that some chapters don't even look at the recs they get. They go straight to the trash.
Even as a sophomore, I don't think recs are necessary at some schools--especially if you say that Greek life at your college isn't a big deal.

If I were you, I'd be more concerned about talking to friends who are already in the Greek system. Make sure they know that you plan to go through rush. I mean, it can't hurt. (But know that having friends in a house isn't a guarantee that you'll receive a bid from that chapter.) And know what you're going to say when they ask why you didn't rush as a freshman. Also, I think that campus involvement is very important, too. In my pledge class, there were only 3 sophomores and one junior out of 61 pledges. The upperclassmen were very involved on campus before going through rush. So, I guess play up your activities.

My point is that I think there may be a little too much emphasis on getting recs.

There are GLOs which have a national/international policy that you cannot pledge a girl without a rec. It is far better to have one, and not need it, then need it, and not have it.

In the OP's situation (search on all her posts for clarification), it would behoove her to do all the things you say AND get recs. She may be having some stormy sailing. Plus, as SWTXBelle said, some groups have a national policy that the girl must have a rec to be pledged. She may have limited options already due to being a sophomore, and it would be a shame if the group that she could have clicked with blew her off because she didn't have a rec.

This is really interesting to me. What school has 61 member new member classes but would have a number of chapters who threw recs right in the trash?

The schools that I know of that have classes that big also have super competitive rushes in which you would NEED recs.

At U of Illinois, recs just aren't as important. It's quite different than SEC, I think. In fact, I have heard from very reliable sources that many of the top houses throw out recs.

As for this particular situation, I don't know where this person is going to school... maybe I missed it. I'm just talking about my own experiences. I'd agree that recs certainly wouldn't hurt, but if she's going to my school (or probably many of the other state schools in Illinois) she shouldn't worry about them so much.

She is going to the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.

Illinois is quite different than anywhere else in the country. I doubt many sororities in IL would even know what to do with a rec if they got one. BUT - why take that chance? So what if it goes in the trash? Better to have gotten the rec, and not needed it, than to have not gotten it and needed it.

I would say that recs would be manditory at Arkansas. They may tell you that they aren't, but as a sophomore I would err on the side of caution and secure recs well in advance.

In fact, I remember what one of my gamma chis said when someone in my group asked about recs:
"Sometimes they can help, but you really don't need one." I was one of only a few in my rush group that came in with recs.

As for sororities that have a national rule that they can only pledge women who have recs... I don't know. I'm not sure of any of the official rules. But I know people (some in large, prestigious houses) who came in knowing nothing about the Greek system, much less about getting recs. I know people in these houses here who didn't have recs for the house they ended up in:
1. Pi Beta Phi
2. Alpha Omicron Pi
3. Delta Gamma
4. Kappa Alpha Theta
5. Sigma Kappa
6. Phi Mu
7. AE Phi
8. SDT
9. Delta Zeta
10. ADPi
11. Alpha Phi
12. Tridelts

There are probably more. Those are just the ones I know for sure. I'm really not trying to start a fight or anything. I'm just saying what happens at my school. Or course, this sort of thing varies from school to school. And of course, it wouldn't hurt. I'm just saying recs may not be the be all and end all of recruitment at her school.

ILLINOIS =/= ARKANSAS

There are people here FROM Arkansas telling her that YES, SHE NEEDS RECS.

Once again, Illinois is different from the rest of the country.

And, yes, there probably IS a girl or two that got into top houses at AK-F without a rec. But, I still wouldn't recommend going in without one, if people from that school are saying to get them.

Also, you don't always know if you HAVE a rec or not. Once you register with your college Panhellenic, those chapters which have to have recs often have alumnae who solicit them - and they can get them without the rushee's (PNM) knowledge. So, your friends (or you, f or that matter) may well have had an information only rec that you didn't know about.

You are drawing a conclusion that you really can't draw. Just because the girl didn't line up her rec for those houses doesn't mean she didn't have one.

A lot of groups have people who they requests recs from based on sharing a home town with the PNM.

Sure, it points out that the group really will secure a rec for you if they want you bad enough, but it also means that you can't conclude that just because the girl didn't ask for a rec that she didn't have one.

Good point.

Like I've said before in this situation - if you end up preffing at one of those sororities that HAS to have a rec to bid a girl, and you and another girl come up equal on all other counts, but the other girl has a rec, guess who gets the spot?

um.. no im not.

Sorry - I must have confused you with another PNM. Where are you going?

I went to the University of Illinois and I advise a chapter at the University of Arkansas. The likelihood is extremely high that she will be cut first round by every chapter at Arkansas if she has no rec.

At Illinois, my chapter did not throw away recs, and they were very helpful since there are so many PNMs. There were definitely chapters at Illinois that would not give bids without recs, probably due to a national policy (but maybe they would procure them on their own if they want you badly enough.) There were also great chapters at Illinois that gave bids without recs.

irishpipes is telling it like it is.
Or, as the University of Arkansas Panhellenic says -- in italics and boldface on their recruitment info site --
it is encouraged to have at least one letter of recommendation per chapter.

Sweetgirl424 is the PNM rushing at the University of Arkansas this Fall.

If you need a refresher: the OP's recruitment situation. DBB was kind enough to quote. :)

Orange Juice, you may know quite a few women who were placed in 12 different GLOs "without a rec", but you really don't know the full story. Some of them may have had a friend or relative send one in without her knowledge, others may have been SO outstanding that the chapter scrambled to find one for her immediately after the first round. I know of more than one GLO which keeps 2-5 alumnae around for the first party simply to somehow get a rec on an incredible PNM.

Yes, there are schools were recs are not expected - but unless you know that every GLO at said schools doesn't require a rec, you are doing a grave disservice to the PNMs!

When my older daughter went through rush, an alum who wrote a rec for her called me to ask about four girls from our HS who were invited to pref at her sorority at two different colleges. She was our high school's contact person and she needed to secure a rec for every girl who was going to pref in case they were offered a bid BECAUSE IT WAS REQUIRED.

Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean that a rec was not required or secured for the PNM. Think of it like a thank you note. No, it's not required, but it's the right thing to do. Maximize all your options by getting recs to every sorority on campus if possible, whether they say they require it or not.