[barnard1897]

Recs are very important at UTK. I know for a fact that in the past, at least one very competitive house down there essentially "pre-selected" their NM class from the recs that came in, before recruitment even happened. Ie, they'd sort all the recs over the summer into piles, and pretty much figure it out--so many from this high school, a few from that one, a couple from this neighborhood, and so forth. Totally against policy? Yes. Did it rule out anyone who didn't have a rec? Pretty much.