When should I start getting recommendation letters?
 

Hey ya’ll! I’m currently a senior in high school and am planning on attending Clemson University in the fall. I want to rush, but when should I start asking for reccomendation letters? Someone recently told me February.

Put out the word now - and make sure to register with your local alumnae panhellenic. Remember to check with friends' mothers, teachers, coaches, etc. You may be surprised at how many sorority women you know who could write an effective recommendation. Good luck.

As a Clemson sorority alum, I'll add that while it's a great idea to start working on your recs now, they really don't need to be sent in until after school gets out in May. Clemson isn't as crazy as Alabama or Ole Miss where they have to been in before the semester ends.

Thank you all!! I didn’t know about contacting my local alumnae panhellenic!! clemsongirl, do you have any other tips or things I should know about Clemson recruitment?

There's all sorts of great advice on this website about recruitment in general, which is all applicable to Clemson. I would add that if you know women in chapters there already, reach out to them before the end of the semester to let them know you'll be going through recruitment so they can keep an eye out for you.

Also, don't let tent talk sway you in your opinions of the chapters. Lots of women come into recruitment with a pre-determined list of sororities they will and won't accept bids from and then drop when they're cut by all the sororities they deem "worthy" of joining. They miss out on many amazing sisterhoods by thinking they're too good for some chapters.

There may or may not be an alumnae panhellenic in your area, but it won't hurt to search.
Just enter your city and state name, or the closest big city, and "alumnae panhellenic" and see what pops up. They may not have a website. A lot of groups have abandoned websites for much cheaper and esier to maintain Facebook pages.
Even then, the local AP may not do much about helping PNMs. Some go all out and have an info session, take info and help with recs. Some don't do any of that. But again, it couldn't hurt to look around.
I would definitely start compling a list of sorority alumnae. Ask everybody...get your mom to help. Write down the person's name, phone number, e-mail address and sorority.
Feel free to tell the person you are going to go through recruitment at X university. Don't be surprised if they jump right up and offer to write a rec.
And never, ever turn anyone down, even if you already have 10 recs for a group. Extras won't hurt. They won't help, but they won't hurt.

Our local Panhellenic quit doing this a couple of years ago... not sure why, it was very helpful.