Rushing Sophomore at UA
 

Hey guys! I am a georgia resident who will be transferring to the University of Alabama this fall 2015 to pursue my major in microbiology and hopefully head on to med school when i finish undergrad. I had one experience with sorority recruitment in fall 2014 at mercer university. I had just had abdominal surgery days before and needless to say it was not a very enjoyable experience and i decided not to pledge any sorority given that how my pain was at certain times, i feel it may have tainted my experience with the houses. Feeling better in one may have made me like it more and so forth. SO, I have signed up for recruitment at the University of Alabama and I am TERRIFIED. I have a wonderful resume and I've put so much effort into getting rec letters (was only able to get about 5) but I'm afraid that me being a sophomore will be a problem. I feel like I would really be a wonderful addition to any sisterhood but I'm so afraid that i'll be dropped just because I'm a sophomore. Also, they dont see how much effort I put into trying to get rec letters, just whether or not they have one from me. (I even contacted my local Panhellenic Alumnae Association for help but received little help from them, though the ones willing to help were absolutely wonderful). Any advice? someone please help me ease my mind and nerves!

I would also like to add that even though I am a sophomore, I should still graduate in 2018 rather than 2017 so I will spend a full 4 years at UA

Alabama has a separate upperclass quota and most chapters, not all, use that option. If you live in GA, you should be able to spit and hit an alum of most of the groups at Alabama. Have you asked: parents' friends, friends' parents, employers, coaches, Sunday School class teachers, every teacher/coach/counselor you had in HS (male and female as men have wives and sisters and mothers), your parents' employers? The rec writer does not have to be in college and does not have to have gone to Alabama.

My father is from Ohio and my mother from Canada. Greek life is almost nonexistent where they are from. The only contacts I had for HS teachers and such were school emails which they do not check in summer :( I was able to get in contact with a few of them by endlessly searching through other channels and was able to get one recommendation from an old dance coach for Phi Mu. Unfortunately both of my parents also work for northern companies and were unable to find connections for me there and I was very surprised that there was no one at my work either, especially with Greek Life being so big in GA and with so many of my coworkers going to UGA. Is this going to be a big problem for me during recruitment? I know lack of a rec letter can come across as lack of an effort on my part and that just is not the case. is there any way to convey that to the active members I speak to?

Unfortunately, no. Alabama is very competitive and a lack of a rec can get you cut from a house as they just simply have to release a certain number and they need some method to do that. Did the Phi Mu or the ones from alum PH know women in other groups or did you think to ask them? If oyu didn't ask them, go back and do it now. And Ohio has tons of Greeks! I'm not trying to be argumentative or difficult, just honest. My group's HQ is in Columbus. Ohio State has a great Greek system as do many schools there do. It should not be hard to find rec writers there. Have you looked up the nearest alum group for each group? Recruitment is in less than a month. You don't have much time to spare. Recs were due yesterday.

I have done everything you've suggested so far. Many of the people never got back to me even though I contacted them multiple times. I was able to get recs for most of the sororities that have philanthropies that I am passionate about but not all. I started all of this in march too, so its not like I waited until the last minute. Its just really upsetting to know that so far as i know, ive done everything right, the cards just havent been in my favor. I was hoping maybe someone would reach out with a shred of hope that I will have the opportunity to explain myself. it seems like i dont have a chance befoe even meeting the girls. no matter how wonderful i am or how perfect of a fit i could be for their sisterhood, i will get dropped anyways just because I couldnt get someone to write me a letter even though I asked them 100000 times. Id hate to think that I wont be paired with my best fit because I just didnt get a rec for them.

also, is there any way to know which houses are and are not taking sophomores? I dont want to fill up my choices with ones who wont offer a bid to any sophomores and then miss out on ones who could take me just because I had a to make choices and cuts early on.

No, there is no way to know because they don't have to make that decision until they submit their bid list on Pref Night. I don't understand how when someone said they would do a rec for you, if you asked do you know anyone in these other groups that the conversation just stopped there. I guess I'm just missing something in your narrative.

You don't "cut" in recruitment. You rank the sororities after each set of parties and hope that your top-ranked ones are on your party list the next day. The sororities will not publicize who has decided to use the UC quota.

The sororities are more in the drivers seat than the PNM is when it comes to who returns to their next round parties. Do you know former HS classmates who joined sororities? They might be able to help with a rec. The sororities don't care the reason why you don't have a rec....it won't matter to them, because 1000 or more girls WILL have a rec. You are a sophomore who doesn't have a rec to the majority of the chapters at Bama. Rush does not bode well for you.

You do NOT bring up rec letters at any chapter during rush. Just don't. Not a topic you need to bring to anyone's attention or make excuses about.

You know sorority members at work, but you can't get their help with finding recs from alumnae of their organizations? This is a serious red flag for me... there is something here that you are not disclosing, perhaps just to us, perhaps to yourself.

That isn't what she said - she said she works with a lot of people from UGA and was surprised none of them were Greek since UGA is so Greek heavy.

The part I found more distressing was when she said she got recs for the sororities whose philanthropy she's passionate about. This makesme think that she focused too much on getting recs for some to the detriment of finding the rest.