Rec question

[e813]

Hi everyone,

I'm a high school senior who is interested in possibly joining a sorority in college. Right now, I am not sure where I am going to go to school - my list of schools is very diverse and ranges from schools with no Greek system to schools with small/unconventional Greek systems to a big SEC school. I could also wind up at a school that defers recruitment to January. I won't be making up my mind about where to attend until April.

I just had a few questions about recs. Should I wait until April to start asking for recs or will that not give people enough time? If I start asking earlier, should I assume that I will be rushing at the SEC school and ask for recs for all of those sororities, even though I may not need them if I decide to go elsewhere? Also, if I go to one of the deferred recruitment schools, should I submit my recs over the summer or should I wait until later in the semester? Thank you!

[Titchou]

My advice is to make a list of all the groups on all the campuses that you MIGHT need a rec for. Line up your writers for all -advising them that you aren't sure at this point where you are going to school or which ones you will need - you're just doing "due diligence" at this point.

Then, when you accept the school you want, you can contact them and let them know by providing your resume, envelope to mail the rec in, etc.

And yes, no matter when recruitment is, you should go on and have the recs sent. Ones on deferred recruitment will then use them to check you out fall semester.

Hope this helps.

[ComradesTrue]

I agree whole-heartedly with submitting recs for deferred recruitment over the summer. There are two big advantages to doing so:

1. As Titchou mentioned it gets you on the chapter's radar from Day 1 of the Fall Semester. That is lots of time for the chapter to learn about you, have the opportunity to meet you, etc.

2. Once school starts your mind and attention turns to school- not recs and certainly not the alumnae back home who will be writing them. Despite our pleas/warnings every year PNMs contact our rec board over Thanksgiving or Christmas to write their recs. We alumnae are SUPER busy that time of year and you do not get a well written rec. December is just not the time to be asking women for favors- it's almost the equivalent of us asking you to do a favor for us during finals.

I know that our rec board finishes up Fall Recruitment recs in June and then we immediately turn to writing the deferred recs. Goal is to have all recs mailed by Sept 1. This is optimal both for the PNMs and the alumnae who have been working hard all summer.

The recommendation of listing out all potential sororities from all the schools that you are applying to was a good one too. Have your writers lined up, then on April 1 you are good-to-go with getting your stuff to them (and they will be expecting it too!). It would be very possible for them to have the rec to the chapter by May 1. Very reasonable, even for the most competitive of schools.

[OPhiAGinger]

Ever since my oldest daughter hit middle school last year, I have started paying more attention to all things related to high school and college prep. (OMG. When did college costs go through the roof?) Since I didn't go through NPC recruitment in college, I don't have first hand experience soliciting recs so bear with me if my questions are silly.

Do rec writers submit recs to the national org or directly to the local chapters at the school you will be rushing in? In other words, if e813 finds an old family friend to write a rec for XYZ sorority, would she need to send a copy to each of the finalist universities that have a chapter of XYZ on their campus?

[Titchou]

Rec writers send them to the chapter in question and they should ONLY be sent once the woman has signed her acceptance to the particular university and, hopefully, has signed up for recruitment. Please do not ask a woman to send a rec to more than one chapter. Very bad form.

[e813]

Thanks so much! Your advice was really helpful. I also was wondering something about legacy status - does the legacy introduction form count as a recommendation? So, if I'm a XYZ legacy do I still need two XYZ recs or just one? I'm just not sure if the legacy forms contain information also found in a rec.

[Titchou]

It depends on your group. Different groups have different rules. I would check your org's website. In my group, the mother/sister/grandmother can write the rec. In fact, I'm always curious when they don't. And yes, you would need another rec but whether yours qualifies as a rec or a legacy intro form is something your group would have to tell you.

Since you evidently haven't been real active in your group since you left college, I would suggest contacting your province/regional collegiate officer and having a chat to get up to date on XYZ and NPC. It would be very helpful to you.

[DubaiSis]

And something I have found out recently: if you are not current on your dues, your rec or even legacy form may not count. The alumnae dues are teensy; pay up!

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

And something I have found out recently: if you are not current on your dues, your rec or even legacy form may not count. The alumnae dues are teensy; pay up!

That does not apply to all NPC organizations. As DubaiSis said.... the legacy form MAY not count. She did not say that it WILL not count

[e813]

Thank you all again! I put together my list and started thinking of people to ask to write a rec for me. A lot of the women I thought of are in college, so I was wondering if it would be better to find adult women to write for me and if collegiate rec letters would be viewed in the same light by chapters. I'll definitely only ask college women who are good writers. Thanks again for the advice!

[pinksequins]

e813, don't limit your rec search to collegiate women only. For one, some NPC groups permit collegiate recs and some don't. Second, you preferably want the best recs available to you. Those may come from older alumnae, such as a teacher or neighbor or sports coach.

[AnchorAlumna]

You can always ask your friends in college who wrote THEIR recs, and how to contact them if there's a chance they know you or your family.

[KSUViolet06]

I posted this in another thread about recs and I thought it might be helpful if I posted it again here:

I understand that getting recommendations can be difficult, especially if you don't live in an area with lots of greek women or you don't have many greeks in your family.

It just takes persistence. You have to exhaust all of your available resources & contacts. Think of EVERY place you go regularly where there are women who know you well. Any of them could be a sorority alumna.Some of these places include:

*school (teachers, counselors, coaches)
*church or other place of worship (sorority women might attend your church service or lead your bible study, sing in the choir, etc.)
*camps you attend(ed) (your camp counselors might be sorority women)
*work (co-workers or their family members might be greek)
*your parents (their co-workers or friends)
*your local Alumnae Panhellenic (if you are in an area with an active one, and are planning to attend a larger SEC school, many of them have alumnae who regularly write recs. This requires you to register with them and in some cases, attend their info session. These are not everywhere, but I know that some of the larger Southern APHs do this regularly.)

note: don't forget dad's friends too. They might be married to sorority alumnae. Again, you never know until you ask!

More advice: Some of the more competitive schools ask for 2 to 3 recs per chapter. This may be true of the SEC school you're attending.

And something else: For the more competitive fall recruitments (i.e. if you end up attending the SEC school and it is one with fall recruitment), do not wait! There are SEC schools at which recs are due to chapters by June!