Question about grades for recruitment
 

So this past semester my grades did not end up being as good as I had hoped. I will be participating in recruitment in January, and I know that some chapters will cut me immediately for grades. The reason for my poor academic performance has to do at least somewhat with a medical issue. For any chapters that may not cut me immediately, is there a chance that they might ask about my grades? And if so, how should I respond?
Thank you in advance for your answers.

respond honestly.

The issue that I think would be on people's minds is, if you are having grade issues without being a member of a sorority, what will be different should you become a member?

Academics comes first. That's why you're there.

The true answer to what would be different is completely inappropriate to mention during recruitment.
I do, however, completely understand this concern, which is why I'm not sure how to address this situation if it comes up. I suppose I probably should just say that I've realized my mistakes and have worked out ways to fix them or something to that effect. Hopefully it will just not come up.
Thank you both for your responses!

Sorority women a) have heard it all before and b) are good at reading between the lines. You can always say "I had some personal difficulties that I've since been able to resolve". That would cover illness, death in the family, suicide attempts, sudden diagnosis with a learning disability...pretty much anything, but it lets you acknowledge the elephant. Now, the chapter still has to decide if they are going to take a risk on you moving on and doing better, grade-wise, but I think that at least a brief mention is better than nothing.

That's a great way of saying it! Thank you for your help :)

Every chapter (speaking specifically of the recruitment people) will know your GPA prior to you walking through their door. That's a given. That should lessen some of the anxiety. If they bring it up, you now know what to say...phew! more anxiety gone.

So: stay focused on the positive, which would be the chapters that continue to invite you back. That's where your energy needs to be; and be sure to go to every chapter with a great attitude.

Good luck!

Depending on the school, if this is a more laid-back rush and you didn't sign up till a few days in advance (these kinds of schools are usually deferred which is why I bring it up), no, the chapters won't know anything about her GPA until she signs in or registers.

Either way, it's in the OP's best interest to address the problem.

33, didn't think about that (obviously). Question: when would the schools you're describing look at GPA? Is there any specific time frame for considering GPA at all under the circumstances you mention?

Okay, I am confused.

First, you blamed a medical situation (which usually indicates it was out of your control) for last semester's poor grades, then stated that you've "learned from your mistakes" and fixed things. I don't quite understand that, but anyway, you're saying that the reason doesn't exist anymore.

But then last month, you said that your grades were low the first time you went through recruitment the year prior.

So what's the story? Was it just the last semester and due to a (temporary) medical issue that you've now "fixed"? (Not asking you to answer here, but to think about that) I think if you're going to talk about medical issues, you need to be prepared for some concerns (even if they don't say them out loud), only because you thought it was important enough to bring up during recruitment, and people are curious.

I think that it's a lot of information to share during the likely brief amount of time you'll get with any one person during the first round, and like others said, there's a good chance people might already know your GPA. But if not, and you feel the need to prepare everyone, people will be curious as to how you're going to do better academically with the added stress/work/time required to be a New Member/Member.

Because she "knows" now that a "required" upperclassman quota and knowing girls will trump her continuing lackluster GPA? Her school is different from what Greekchat says and she knows this even though she isn't Greek.

Oh snap!