Upperclassman Status + GPA Concerns
 

I will be a sophomore this coming school year and I have been debating on going through with either formal or informal rush. Unfortunately, I had to work my first year in order to pay off at-school expenses, which was the reason my GPA dropped down to a 2.4. I am going to be re-taking a class I did badly in last semester and have set up a schedule that will easily boost me up to a 3.1 by the end of the semester. There is no set minimum GPA to rush, but my school's recommended GPA for upperclassmen is 2.7.

Some have encouraged me to go through with formal rush with an open mind anyway because they said I'll never know unless I try. I have a strong resume with plenty of leadership positions, including a position from last semester that allowed me to network with a bunch of groups on- and off-campus. I am also planning on getting recs for all of the houses.

Do you think I should go through with formal recruitment this fall, wait for the spring to do informal, or possibly go through formal rush as a junior next year?

It depends a little on your school and if you already have good friends in sororities - but my recommendation would be to wait until informal recruitment unless you are at a campus that has only one or two chapters doing informal spring recruitment. Oftentimes the summer credits would not count in your GPA and so you would be still a significant grade risk this fall.

If you are re-taking the course this summer at your college, it will count in your GPA. If you are taking it at branch of your college, it may take a few weeks to get done. If you are re-taking the course at another college closer to your home, it will not raise your GPA at all. So hopefully you are taking the course at your college.

If you are re-taking the course at your college and your GPA will be updated, I would suggest going through formal recruitment. You'll have a 3.1 GPA, letters of rec and connections on campus. I don't think it will get better than that. Just keep an open mind, as not all chapters are as equally interested in upperclassmen. Some won't care, some might.

Hold on. You will need to take 14 hours this summer, and get a 4.0, to raise your cumulative GPA to a 3.1 (handy-dandy "how to raise your GPA" calculator). I'm not sure that it's possible to take that many units at your college during the summer, but it may be; I don't know your college's policies on this. I hope, for your sake, that it is - and that you get a 4.0!

Many other PNMs work, and their GPAs are not adversely affected, so please reconsider that as the "reason" your GPA was a 2.4. It is what it is, accept it and move on. My concern is that you might also have challenges meeting the time demands of a sorority, and if you have to continue to work, your grades may continue to suffer.

You should already have obtained recommendations, if you haven't started - get going!

I'm being honest, not negative or nasty. I wish you good luck!

I'm going to echo AZTheta.

If your grades slipped because you had to work, what's changed?

Sorority membership is going to increase your costs and need to work.

How will you manage school + work + sorority if school + work was already a struggle?

Not necessarily. My university offered an option called FX. If you failed a class, you filled out a form in the registrar's office when you re-took the class, your original F went away and the new grade took it's place. I had a dormmate who did this and just one class raised her GPA significantly. She failed the class first semester freshman year. It was a math class that she should not have been placed in during registration. Second semester she took the course before it to bring her skills up to speed and then first summer session she re-took the original math class and earned a B+. With so few credit hours, it does make a BIG difference in your GPA. This may be what the OP is doing with one or two courses.

Yes, I understand what you are saying. It's also known as "Grade Replacement Option." The bottom line still is that 14 credits of A are needed to raise a 2.4 to a 3.1. So, she could GRO two classes for six units, get As in those, which would raise her GPA some - and then take 8 units of other classes and get As.

See what I'm saying?

Yes, but i think you're forgetting that the 0.0 from the F is removed from the original 2.4, so it goes up. If she only has one year in, replacing that F will raise her GPA more than some, it might make her eligible for recruitment. It did my dormmate. She went from 2.4 to a GPA after freshman year to a GPA making her eligible for informal recruitment in the fall after just replacing the math class F.

I KNEW I was missing something. Thanks! :D

I plead hot brain. It's just freaking hot hot hot. I'm stuck in the house today. UGH.

Owww-my brain hurts. (GPA figuring)

OP, on most campuses you will most likely have a hard time achieving a successful outcome going through recruitment with a 2.4. Raise that GPA and the outcome could be quite different. Work hard, and good luck!