How should I get recommendations?

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by Cream
I never saw a recommendation in my chapter. First select your college, find out what the policy is there, and then worry about recs. Good luck!

newbie,
I don't know what recruitment is like at UCD or UCI. However, at some schools where recruitment is ultracompetitive, I think it helps to have rec's where possible.

What I would do is ask your friends, who might have older sisters etc, who went to college, did they go Greek, and can they write you a recommendation? Same with your high school teachers...maybe your teachers are not Greek alums, but maybe they know someone who is. Same with people that you might have known from Girl Scouts, etc. Ask, because you never know. If you know that someone went to college, ask if they went Greek or not. I am a believer in DIY, because this is of utmost importance to you, no one else.

Secondly, if you want to make it easy for someone to write the recommendation for you, it never hurts to procure the blank Recommendation Form yourself, then you can just give them the form straight away if they say yes, they'll do it. Many of them have the forms on the National Website, you just have to click around and hunt them down. Some might be behind password protected areas, but many of them are not. So happy hunting and Good Luck.

P.S. I wanted to also mention/clarify that Sigma Alpha is not one of the 26 NPC groups, so I would imagine that they would do their own recruitment, outside of formal recruitment.

[aephi alum]

I never saw a rec either - honestly, I don't think we would have known what to do with one - but my school didn't have a terribly competitive rush. It depends, as several people have already said, on how competitive rush/recruitment is - you may need a rec for each sorority to rush at all, or at the other extreme, recs may not even be read.

Good luck!

[Chrysanthemum]

I am a new advisor to one of the NPC sororities at UCI, and although that's not where I attended college, it is my understanding that the campus is on the laid-back side. It's comprised of a lot of commuters, and a friend who did go there said that in general student life is very relaxed. However...

It can only be considered a positive thing to have recs. Think of what you do for a job interview: You put on a suit (I don't care if you're interviewing to be a cashier at McDonalds, a teacher, or the CEO of Ford Motors, you ALWAYS wear a suit to job interviews), learn what you can about the company you're interviewing with, and put your best foot forward. A lot of companies won't ask for letters of recommendation, but they cannot hurt you. It always helps the collegieate members to learn about you before Recruitment, and a rec that isn't one of 1,000 will make you easier to remember.

Asking your favorite teachers for recs is a great idea, you never know who's a member. Get recs if you can, but I get the feeling that it won't be the end of the world if you can't come up with one for UCI.

[TPApenguin]

I'm confused about the whole recommendation thing. Can someone please explain it to me?

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by TPApenguin
I'm confused about the whole recommendation thing. Can someone please explain it to me?

A recommendation is where an initiated member of a specific sorority will write a letter of recommendation for a rushee.

So, let's pretend you are rushing at a school that has AOII, DZ and XO.
You know that your biology teacher is an AOII alum and your former girl scout leader is a DZ. You don't know any XO's, because you asked around. So you ask the 2 ladies to fill in a recommendation form for you. Basically the ladies are vouching that they are members of their respective sororities and that there are providing a reference letter; they are attesting that you would be a good candidate for membership. This helps sororities (especially at LARGE SCHOOLS) because if there are thousands of rushees, it helps them to know which ones have been "vouched" for by an alum. That way, when they are extending bids, it helps lessen the chance that a new rushee that they bid will be a good new member, not a "trouble maker", not a "bad apple".

After all, an employer would not hire you without checking your references first...well, a recommendation form is exactly that, a letter of reference.

Here are some examples of Reference Letters (sometimes known as Sponsor Forms)
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Legacy Form and Reference Form
Kappa Delta
Alpha Xi Delta

Hope that cleared it up for you!

[TriSigmaTX]

Achtung Baby...just answer your question. Some sororities that do require recommendations if you don't bring one and they are required by their organizaiton to do this (silly still, but may be useful for some schools), I've seen where the chapter will write one or 'sponsor' you. Does that make any sense?

Ok, I used to work from Tri Delta in Recruitment....and they required recs for women to move on in the process, so if they liked a woman and needed a rec, they have a committee where the chapter or the rec chair writes one or sponsers the PNM.

Just an fyi

[justamom]

Even at the smaller school of La. Tech, AXO INSISTED on a rec. The good news is-if they really liked you, they would get their advisor to write one. In a large, competitive system, this would not be feasible.

However, be careful-our lovely town's alumnai assoc. said DG-DZ-ZTA and Pi Phi and KAT did not need a rec. This was HOGWASH!!! That would have meant that any girl who did NOT have a rec for those sororities would have been cut AUTOMATICALLY!

Just cover your proverbial butt and do what the NORM is for your school. Consider a rec a letter of introduction and ONE never hurt a soul! (TOO many is nothing more than redundant)

[aggieAXO]

In the early 90's at A&M, if you did not have a rec. for some of the sororities you were not invited to that house AT ALL. They would not even give you a chance to introduce yourself-which in my opinion is bullsh**. I hope things have changed. I believe every rushee (or PNM) should have a chance b/c you may not know who you are missing out on. Does anyone know of any other school that practices this way? Hopefully not.

When I went through I got recs by asking my friend's mother's, my roommates sister who was an AXO at UT and of course family members that had been greek. I also sent a picture and letter of introduction into the local San Antonio panhellenic and obtained recs that way. I am not sure how many recs. I received by sending my info in to the local panhellenic, but I know of at least 1. At the school I went to you HAD to have them unfortunately.

[TriDeltaGal]

Newbie,
The Greek system at in the UC system is very laidback, and I know for a fact UCD is very low-key. I was talking to our reference chair and she said that most houses really don't get that many. However, having one at each house can make you really stand out and be noticed at each house because they will be on the lookout for you. But I know you don't have to worry about it if you don't have one for all the houses at your campus. I was talking to a TriDelt at USC who is originally from the south and she had numerous recs. from each house because it is the norm in that region but that is DEFINITELY not standard here.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally posted by Hootie
Newbie,
You asked if actives could write a recommendation, and I thought I'd let you know that Chi Omega, unfortunately, does not accept Active's recs.

True, most GLO's do not accept official recommendations from actives, however, the letter of introduction can not hurt. Also, it is possible in some chapters to get a rec from the rush advisor if a collegian writes an intro letter.

[CutiePie2000]

One more thing I wanted to add....if a woman does not know you that well, she might be uncomfortable writing a full fledged Recommendation.

Therefore, if you ask people, give them the option of a "Letter of Introduction"...ask them "Would you be willing to write a Recommendation for me or a Letter of Introduction?"...that way, you're giving them flexibility and they won't feel as put on the spot!

[bruinaphi]

Hey Car,

Both the UCI and the UCD greek systems are VERY laid back. I am unaware of any sorority on either campus that requires you to have recommendations.

In Alpha Phi a recommendation can be written by any active member of the fraternity. I'll send you an email about getting one written.

Hope you're doing well!

Laura

[newbie]

Thank you for all your help everyone!!

Unfortunately, I highly doubt that a teacher at my school would be in a sorority. Reason being that my high school is extremely liberal and talking about Greek life is passe. In fact, many teachers urge us to stay away from it!

But, I will ask my sister if she still keeps in touch with her Greek friends to see if I can have some recs/letters of intro written for me.

BTW, I know that recs on the West Coast aren't an important thing -- I just wanted to stand out .

Thank you again for all your help!