Questions about recommendations
 

Hi everyone- I was wondering if anyone might know how letters of recommendation work? I have a friend who's going through recruitment at her school and wants to get rec letters for Phi Sigma Sigma, but neither of us know any alumna. Is it frowned upon to ask for one on here? And if it is, can anyone tell us the proper way to go about finding someone to write a rec letter? She got one for another sorority that had an online form; does Phi Sigma Sigma have something like that?

Thanks so much!

Not a Phi Sig, so I can't answer that part, but in general it is considered poor form to request recs on GC. Contact people you know to see if they are a Phi Sig, or if they know someone who is. See if there's a Alumnae Panhellenic group in your area--they will know Phi Sig alums. Read through GC, there is so much info on recs here.

Is your friend only getting recs for two sororities, or are there only two sororities at her school? If the former--she should get recs for ALL the sororities at her school. If the latter--for a lot (but not all) schools that small, recs may not be necessary.

It is something that regular readers here might take out of context. There are schools where they are really really required, but there are PLENTY of schools where they most definitely are not. As a rule of thumb (although I'm sure there are exceptions) if there are 5 or fewer NPC sororities on campus, it's probably not that critical. Also, the further north and east you go, the less likely they are that important. Or stated another way, the less a school resembles an SEC school, the less important the recs will become.

Before you knock your head against a tree, you might find out how important they are for your school. If they ARE, then you need to kick it into high gear to find someone.

If you are saying that she filled out an online form HERSELF for a group, that is a HUGE no no. Those forms are to be filled out by sorority members/alumnae ONLY.

This is how I read it, and thought :eek:

I didn't catch that. I agree :eek:

Oh, no! A family friend filled one out for her online, she didn't do one for herself! I'd imagine that being immensely awkward haha :)

There are 3 chapters at her school, and she got a rec for one so she only needs two more. She just couldn't figure out Phi Sig, because neither of us know any Phi Sig alumnae and it seems like you have to be a member to see where alumna chapters are located. I'll look for an Alumnae Panhellenic group though, thanks!

Much better answer. You can find the list of chapters, including alumnae chapters, on their website. It's there, but it took a little digging.