[LionTamer]

Coming from a school (Penn State) that doesn't rely heavily on recs, and a sorority that doesn't have the same huge national alum network that other, larger sororities do, I have very little experience with recs (either writing them or using them), and I'm of two minds about them.

On one hand, getting "no" recs might have saved us from one of two psychos. But probably not; sociopaths can be great "social engineers".

On the other hand, one PNM had been a year behind me in high school, and was a total stoner. Not a bad girl, no arrest record, just a dirty jeans, band-t-shirt and too-much-eyeliner stoner. She looked really cute at rush, though, and she approached me and told me she had "changed a lot" since then. Since I completely understood what boredom could drive you to do, I said nothing, she was a big hit with everyone, and became a really stellar member of the sorority and ended up as a successful lawyer.

It would have sucked if someone from our town had written a "no" rec just because the PNM was bored in high school. Plus she had the HS grades to make it to Main Campus her freshman year. Also, keep in mind that it was the same years portrayed in "Dazed and Confused" and "That Seventies Show", so the entire culture was different back then. (Yikes -- did I really just date myself like that?)