Quote:
Originally posted by AXiD670
. . . . I had never heard of having to have a recommendation for a sorority before coming here to GC. This obviously isn't a national requirement, because it's not required at all schools (or I wouldn't be asking such a silly question!  ). What I want to know is, how exactly do recommendations work? How popular are they? Does your school require the PNMs to have recs? Is it a Southern/Northern/Eastern/Western thing? Is it mainly some GLOs and not others? Is it larger schools? Smaller schools? What? I need more details!
Thanks!
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AXiD670:
Some partial answers:
A recommendation (or Potential Member Profile, as Alpha Xi calls it in the "Recruitment" section of your Nationals' web site) is sent by an initiated member to a chapter to make the chapter aware of someone who might make a good member. Some GLOs only allow alumnae to write recs; others allow collegiate members -- especially from other chapters -- to do so, too.
Usually, at a minimum, the chapter will make an extra effort (ranging from a little to a lot) to get to know any recommended woman during recruitment.
"Schools" themselves, or even school Panhellenics, do not require recommendations. Chapters or national organizations may do so. At some schools all or nearly all the chapters require them.
For the most part, the schools where recs are virtually required are those with a highly competitve NPC recruitment environment. These can be large or small schools, and can be anywhere. Some of the best known are larger Southern schools.
From what I've read on GC, I'd say Ole Miss, LSU, U of Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, and similar schools are places where not having a rec is very likely to get a woman cut by many chapters. Texas-Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Southern Methodist are other examples.
I'll bet there are some smaller and/or non-Southern schools where recs are vital or pretty important, but I'm just not aware of examples.