PNM Question
 

Ok, quick question.

This year I am (possibly) going to be a sophomore going through formal recruitment in fall 2008. It has really been a hope of mine to do this all year. I've made a ton of friends in all the sororities on campus (there are 7) and they're all really great girls. I just feel like I really missed out the first time and that this is something I would benefit from and could contribute toward. My school is also not very discriminatory toward sophomore PNMs.

This year I've been preparing a lot. I've found recommendations for all the chapters and I've gotten involved on campus. There is just one thing I don't know about right now that is bothering me:

First semester, I had great grades. I made the dean's list, was in the top 10% for my major, and I was invited and joined the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. This semester, though, was a lot harder for me. I went the whole semester and I was tired and couldn't focus, and I didn't know what was wrong. It turns out I was diagnosed with anemia at the end of April, right before the week of finals. Needless to say, my grades were not as good as the first time through.

My health, though, is back in order. I was told to take it easy over summer with no schooling, focus on eating well and staying hydrated, and take iron supplements. Thus, summer school wasn't an option for me in trying to make my grades prettier. I am doing everything I was told to do, and I have no concerns that I will do well next semester and boost my GPA back to where I know I can.

The thing is though, I know GPA is a big deal for sorority recruitment. I contacted the Greek life office and found out that there is no requirement to go through formal recruitment. I am just waiting to hear back about chapter requirements for sophomore PNMs. I am not on academic probation by any means, but I know my GPA will hinder my chances, despite other circumstances.

***I would like to add, even despite the circumstances I am still on the level of the average GPA for women at my school.

I am just wondering, is there any way I can let the sororities know about my situation? Is there anything I can do to boost my chances for success during recruitment? This might be my last chance -- my school doesn't participate in informal recruitment and chapters generally reach quota quickly.

:confused:

You might want to let the ladies know who have written your references. There is usually a space for remarks on the reference and this is an opportunity for them to explain your drop in grades. I know that often when there are grade issues girls who have requested references explain on their resumes issues that want the members to know. As a reference board member I have seen it all from losing a family member to a change in schools being put on a reference.

Others may disagree with this but if it is a real concern this might be an option. It sounds to me like you have all your ducks in a row.

May I ask what your GPA was last semester and this semester? That might help others help you in shaping your approach.

Things happen to people all the time, and temporary shifts in grades/performance isn't all that uncommon. The chapter will want to know if:

A. You are well enough to carry out the responsibilities of pleding/being a member (for your safety and their Risk Management protocols) without jeopardizing your health, and

B. You will be able to maintain an acceptable GPA the following semesters.

As a person with a chronic illness, I always struggle with the "should I tell them or not", whenever I meet someone new. If your health crisis is temporary, you should focus on the fact that you did great the semester before, and that your health is improved and that you feel that you can bring your grades up.

If your health situation has the potential to flare up again, you might want to talk to the Dean of Students. They can make accomodations for your schedule (priority registration, extra time for test taking, even carrying fewer credits but maintaining "Full time" status. I found out that there were options kind of late into my college career, but it made a world of difference in my life. I was able to keep my grades up (despite being in the hospital several weeks each semester), be an active member, made honor society, and had several leadership positions. I ended up graduating with a 3.65, not too shabby.

Again, how you shade your situation depends on where your GPA is compared to those of the women in the chapters on your campus.
Feel free to PM me if you have questions about the latter part of my email.

The OP said she made a lot of friends in the various chapters. It might be a good idea to let those women know the situation so they can take it to their chapter.

This sort of thing is one of the very, very few situations where I would suggest my members request a grade exception for a PNM. There was 1 semester where grades were bad and it fouled the PNM's whole GPA. There was a legit reason/problem that has been dealt with, therefore this should not be an issue in the future. Also, other semesters grades prove the PNM is capable of not only attaining but exceeding our minimums.

It might not even be THAT big of a deal. She said her GPA is around the campus women's average. Make sure your friends in chapters know why your grades took a dip and that you are getting better.

I would guess if your grades are around the average you will be fine. Check the recruitment materials to make sure you meet the Panhellenic requirements to go through recruitment and each of the individual chapters' requirements as well.

The thing is I seriously doubt they're going to get a semester-by-semester breakdown of your grades. If they just get your total GPA and it's average - well I don't see that as being a huge deal.

I definitely qualify to go through recruitment, as there is no minimum GPA at my school. I am still waiting to hear back from the Greek life office about the individual chapter requirements.

This was a really hopeful response. :)

In any case, I sent an email to the VP Recruitment about this and she told me to email her once again when I fill out the recruitment application and that she would tell each of the Recruitment representatives for the sororities. I will also try to let the women writing my references know and see if they can do anything to let the sororities know in my recommendations!

FYI - Each GLO has an I/Natl minimum GPA. Then depending on the GLO and campus recruitment environment, local chapters may have their minimum higher but not lower than that. No campus I am aware of has its chapters report their minimums to Greek Life. So don't be surprised if Greek life doesn't have this info for you.

Hate to be "that person," but the chapters certainly did report them to Panhellenic at my school and they were published in the recruitment info booklet.

I know that Panhellenic needs to know chapters' minimum GPAs, but do Greek Life offices need to know that kind of info? Over the years we've seen clueless PNMs trying to contact the Greek Life office for all sorts of info and oftentimes they've come back, saying that the Greek Life office were just as clueless as they were.

Additionally, I've seen chapters' minimum GPAs posted on Panhellenic websites over the years, but never on Office of Greek Life pages.

I guess I'm basing this on my experience at a small school where "Greek Life Office" basically consists of the Panhellenic and IFC advisors. So if you called the Greek Life Office, you'd get someone who knew.

I stand corrected. My apologies.

I will say I would like to see more Panhellenics set realistic average minimum GPAs for PNMs. Too often I've heard of them setting pretty low minimum averages and few if any of their chapters go that low. It sets PNMs up for failure and heartbreak.

agreed. that happens much too often and makes it seem like the college panhellenic or the greeklife office is only interested in taking recruitment registration fees.

I'm beginning to think that's all that some do. Several years ago, we knew a metro Atlanta girl who registered at Valdosta and she was cut immediately by everyone for grades. Turns out that her GPA was far below the minimum and it was on her application. Why did they even let her register?

see, this is what we are talking about. i don't see how this could not leave a bitter taste in this girls mouth, and how embarassing for her. it would be so much better if panhellenic had simply posted the lowest minimum required sorority gpa as the required gpa for enrollment and mentioned that other sororities may have a higher gpa requirement, or at the least, sent her check back with a letter explaining that her gpa did not meet the minimum requirements, but they hoped that she would consider informal recruitment in the spring(if any chapters did that) or rushing the following fall.

Yep. It's one thing if the rush fee is relatively low or nonexistent, but if it's at a school where it's like $100 or over, that's just irresponsible on the GL office's part.

But here's a question - are there ever chapters who are hurting for numbers and will take on grade risks and that's maybe the explanation for why the GL office would do it this way? (Of course taking a bunch of grade risks when you have to work extra hard to get your numbers up is a pretty freaking stupid idea, but that's another story.)

I don't know but this girl had a 2.1 in high school and probably no one would even risk that?

(She flunked out of Valdosta right off.)

oh, thanks for reminding me - I was thinking of deferred. But a HS 2.1?? Yipes!! I agree, there would have to be something spectacular about her to grade risk that!!

Our Recruitment Team tells PNMs at our first meeting that if their GPA is below a 2.3 they WILL be cut, as that is the lowest GPA that any chapter on campus will take. If they want to go through to meet the girls, that's fine, but they know up front that they will not be getting a bid until the next semester if they can make some good grades during their first semester.

HELP!
 

I'm a bit worried about this too. I am rushing as a sophomore this fall so I'm assuming that the chapters will be using my college GPA (3.0) rather than my high school GPA (3.7). I go to a UC and I'm afraid that my college GPA will be lower than most PNMs since my high school GPA won't be used. I don't know if I'm actually freaking out more than I should, but is this an issue for me?

Totally agreed. At W&L we had deferred recruitment and you had to get a minimum 2.0 in you fall semester freshman year in order to go through recruitment. Yet all five sororities had a minimum GPA of 2.25 and one was higher (2.33 I believe). So anyone who registered with below a 2.25 was sure to be cut unless the chapter really, really wanted them. I never understood why they didn't raise it to 2.25. I think it was because they wanted parity with the fraternities, which regardless of national rules would pledge anyone above a 2.0 and would in some cases try to "underground pledge" people with below that (eg send them through the pledging/hazing with the winter pledge class and officially register them with their nationals and the school during our short 6-week spring term at the end of the school year).

Only your college GPA will be considered. Sophomores at the UCs don't face the same stigma as schools in the south so you shouldn't freak out. :)

I remember one girl that went through recruitment as a Sophomore that every house wanted. I picked her up the first round and knew I wanted her as my sister-daughter. She was adorable, bubbly, athletic and was really involved in several organizations.

It wasn't until it came time for voting that night that I realized her GPA was 2.3. Not only did we cut her after the first round, most other houses did the same. I was so bummed out.

She ended up pledging the house across the street, whose minimum GPA was either a 2.2 or a 2.25. It was so hard when I would run into her after that because I couldn't say to her, "Gawd, we really wanted you so bad but your grades sucked"

at the chapters i have advised, we take into consideration that there is a difference between hs gpa's and college gpa's. basically we have higher expectations for the true freshmen rushing than for the established college girls, although we want girls with commendable college gpas(at least a 3.0) and an activity or 2. hopefully your sororities feel the same.

Thanks for the feedback. I had an upward trend (2.8 last semester, 3.3 this semester) this past year. The only reason why my GPA was really low during my first semester was cause of one class. If I had not taken it, my current GPA would be at 3.2+ or so. Should I even mention this in my recs at all? I don't want to ask for sympathy, I just want to explain my situation in case it gets misunderstood.

Where did she mention Irvine?

I just wanted to ask...if this PNM had a legitimate reason for her grades (i.e. a death, health problems, etc.) would she possibly have had a better chance (assuming this GPA was above national minimum?)

Obviously I can't give a yes or no answer on that, but if that were really the case (assuming it was isolated incidents in HS), I'd like to think her cumulative GPA would be higher.

Sorry, but a GPA that's barely above the minimum seems like a chronic case of poor academic performance.