Sorority Recruitment

rolltide2016 · #1 12-12-2015, 05:09 PM

I am planning on rushing at at The University of Alabama in the fall of 2016. I am from Iowa and do not have a lot of family or friends who are familiar with sororities. I am beginning to prepare recommendation packets to be sent out and I have a few questions.

I am including 2 wallet size photos, a resume, an addressed envelope, an unofficial transcript, and a note to be sent to me when the rec has been filled out. Anything I am missing? Do I need a cover letter?

Is it too early to send these out yet, what is the earliest that you would send them out?

Answers and any other advice are appreciated! Thank you!!

Titchou · #2 12-12-2015, 05:42 PM

Yes, you need a cover letter to the alum thanking her in advance for writing the rec. I would give them to the alums in January. They can send them up until about the first to middle of June at the latest.

You will need 2 for each of the 16 groups. Quite a few of those are at schools in Iowa so you should be able to network and find them all. Make a list of all college educated women you know (teachers, employers, parents' friends,neighbors, etc). Ask if they are a sorority member or if they know any. If someone agrees to write a rec, ask if they know someone else in their group who could write you one or anyone in any other groups.

THEN,ask the men you know (teachers, coaches, etc) if their wives,mothers, sisters,daughters are members and go thru the same process. You have to work all your connections.

thetalady · #3 12-13-2015, 12:23 AM

Many, many sororities have completely done away with paper recs. Everything is done on line... submission of the rec, photographs, resume, transcripts, etc.

An on line system allows us to be sure recs get to the correct place and they can be sent to multiple people in our organizations. They won't get lost in the mail.... or if they do get lost in the Interwebs, they can be easily sent again.

I would ask your rec writers if they would prefer that you give them everything hard copy OR electronically. That will save you a lot of money in postage, too.

If you send your resume & pics via email as attachments, PLEASE for the love of Pete, make sure the files are not enormous or in an unusual format that not everyone has easy access to. Pictures should be a separate file from the resume.

Having said that, a lovely hand written, snail-mailed-with-a-stamp thank you note is always neccessary!

Good luck!

AnchorAlumna · #4 12-14-2015, 01:24 PM

Many sororities still do paper recs (although they may prefer electronic) and I don't know of ANY sorority that would turn down a paper rec from an alumna who doesn't do computers. Certainly, ask the alum which she would prefer and get that to her.
After graduation, you could follow up with a final transcript to each person.
Good luck! Roll Tide!

honeychile · #5 12-14-2015, 01:53 PM

As of this date, Alpha Delta Pi still does not accept online recs. It is my hope that this will change soon.

If you are active in any sort of activity where there is an adult, please ask them about recs. My mother treated my rush (yes, I'm old) like an SEC rush, and we got most of my recs from church and clubs where I helped. You will be surprised at how many sorority women are out there, and you just don't realize it!

Sciencewoman · #6 12-14-2015, 03:22 PM

We don't do electronically submitted recs either, but I hope we do soon. I've scanned/emailed rec packets to individual rec chairs, but we don't have an actual online submission system.

When my daughter went through recruitment 3 years ago, Theta was the only group on her campus with an online system.

ComradesTrue · #7 12-14-2015, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thetalady

I would ask your rec writers if they would prefer that you give them everything hard copy OR electronically. That will save you a lot of money in postage, too.

If you send your resume & pics via email as attachments, PLEASE for the love of Pete, make sure the files are not enormous or in an unusual format that not everyone has easy access to. Pictures should be a separate file from the resume.

Good luck!

As someone who does many of my recs online I am going to agree wholeheartedly with the first point and add a note of clarification to the second point.

I have never received a photo too large but I receive TONS that are too small to really be worth anything. Downloading photos from Facebook really, really lessens quality of the photograph. When most photos are uploaded to FB they are done so with *lower* resolution than the original. By the time a PNM just sends me a copy of her profile pic- not original, but downloading from FB, which , hey I could have done that- the file is small and grainy. If there were a need for me or the chapter to have that photo printed in even a 4x6 size (hey... it could happen....

) it is often not large enough to do so.

I recommend my PNMs have their moms or friends take pictures of them in the back yard with their phone. If they text it to me it is in perfect size and resolution. If they email it to me I ask them to do so in "large" or "actual size" format.

That was a long way to go, but I probably have 10-15 PNMs a year in which their photos aren't worth anything and I have to go track them down to get something better. Of course their reaction is always "just go pick one from my Facebook page."

DubaiSis · #8 12-14-2015, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComradesTrue

I have never received a photo too large but I receive TONS that are too small to really be worth anything.

If in doubt, before emailing off a picture, print it out yourself in full page format, 8 1/2 X 11 or so. If it uses up one little corner of the page or is so grainy you can't see yourself in it, then find another picture.

Remember that the purpose of the picture is so that the members can see you and get ready to meet you. If you make it too difficult then they may just not consider you worth the effort. Girls have gotten cut for sillier reasons.

FSUZeta · #9 12-14-2015, 07:05 PM

I have gotten photo files that were so large I could have printed off a poster. So large that when I printed it, only the upper left quadrant of her face printed.

Great advice to print off a copy for yourself before sending it to alumnae.

AnchorAlumna · #10 12-14-2015, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComradesTrue

As someone who does many of my recs online I am going to agree wholeheartedly with the first point and add a note of clarification to the second point.

I have never received a photo too large but I receive TONS that are too small to really be worth anything. Downloading photos from Facebook really, really lessens quality of the photograph. When most photos are uploaded to FB they are done so with *lower* resolution than the original. By the time a PNM just sends me a copy of her profile pic- not original, but downloading from FB, which , hey I could have done that- the file is small and grainy. If there were a need for me or the chapter to have that photo printed in even a 4x6 size (hey... it could happen....

) it is often not large enough to do so.

I recommend my PNMs have their moms or friends take pictures of them in the back yard with their phone. If they text it to me it is in perfect size and resolution. If they email it to me I ask them to do so in "large" or "actual size" format.

That was a long way to go, but I probably have 10-15 PNMs a year in which their photos aren't worth anything and I have to go track them down to get something better. Of course their reaction is always "just go pick one from my Facebook page."

This is EXCELLENT advice! And wallet sized won't cut it. Make it a 5" x 7".
Want to know what the sororities do with these photos?
They scan them into a program that throws your picture up on a huge screen or even a big-screen TV. Members study your photos (for hours!) to learn who you are and get familiar with your looks so they can spot you right away during a party.
You DO want to get a GREAT photo up there!

ChioLu · #11 12-16-2015, 01:51 PM

And don't include animals or props in your photo. They are not joining a sorority -- only you!

AnchorAlumna · #12 01-09-2016, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChioLu

And don't include animals or props in your photo. They are not joining a sorority -- only you!

Or boyfriends!

ladybug12 · #13 01-09-2016, 06:28 PM

Or your sister's baby.

AnchorAlumna · #14 01-09-2016, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladybug12

Or your sister's baby.

Hartofsec · #15 01-09-2016, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rolltide2016

and a note to be sent to me when the rec has been filled out.

I completely understand that it would be reassuring to have a confirmation that the rec was sent, but I don’t think including a pre-addressed note to be completed by the alum and sent to you is necessarily a good idea. I don’t know what is customary in your area of the country (perhaps this is), but it might be perceived as a little forward by some alums who agree to do you this favor. And if you don’t receive the confirmation, contacting the alum to ask about it might be a little awkward.

Instead it might be better to send all your rec-writers a hand-written thank you around mid-June (after the time you have submitted your final transcript) communicating your anticipation of rush and how much you appreciate their help with recommendations (you need to write a thank-you anyway). Not as straight-up practical as a confirmation to be sent to you --but if they have not yet sent your rec, your note will serve as a gracious reminder. Some alums will let you know that they sent your rec anyway (hope yours do!).

Good luck with your recruitment. Roll Tide!