grade question

[chelc8807]

ok so I have a 2.5 hs gpa, average to above average involvement in hs activities, and same with community service, but I did fairly well on my ACT and SAT. The reason for my gpa in hs is that i worked the entire time and i went to a competitive private school. I plan on going through formal recruitment this fall at a fairly competitive sec school and I was wondering if I should write some sort of letter to supplement my application explaining my grades, get stellar recs, or forgo recruitment altogether? please help! thanks

[SoCalGirl]

dity?

[chelc8807]

sorry but what does dity mean?

[SigKapCoug]

I'm going to be brutally honest: I'm from a laid-back, NW not very competitive school. And with grades like that, you would probably be lucky to get a bid here, IMO.

Chapters will see it like this: if you got a 2.5 in hs (which, for all intents and purposes is pretty easy), what will you get in college? How will you hurt (or help) the chapter?

Good luck, but you better come up with some darn good reasons you have a 2.5.

It's always worth a shot, you know, but don't get your hopes up for a dream recruitment.

[kddani]

I'd agree that your chances are slim. If you got a 2.5 in high school, chances are that your grades will be even worse in college. You worked in high school? Big deal, the majority of teenagers have a job in high school, and a lot of people have a job in college. Working isn't an excuse for poor grades- it shows a lack of time management.

I would suggest that you start college, get some decent (i.e. better than 2.5) grades and get your time management figured out, then rush.

[FSUZeta]

what is the minimum gpa required to enroll in recruitment at your college?

[adpiucf]

I also want to point out that while the above advice may seem negative, it is realistic. We very much want you to go through recruitment if sorority membership is something that interests you.

That being said, there are many factors that can preclude you from having a competitive recruitment, depending on where you are going to school. (You don't have to tell us where, so please don't think I'm trying to pry!).

Grades are the very first thing the sororities look at, so if you are coming in with a less-than-stellar GPA, that will most likely account for cuts in the very early rounds. They don't really care why you don't have a 3.5, because there are plenty of other young women competing for a spot in their new member classes who do have the grades.

Someone who is a "grade risk" is offered a bid as a rarity-- she is the extreme exception, not the norm. She's usually got some high profile title, like an NCAA athlele, a pageant title holder, a triple legacy to the chapter/descendant of a sorority founder, cured cancer, won an Oscar/Emmy/Tony award, etc.

This doesn't mean you wouldn't make a great member, but in a competitive setting, the sororities really don't have to comb through everyone's applications and look at "soft factors" when they have 100+ women with 4.0's, Community Service awards and campus leadership positions on their resumes, recommendations and/or legacy status.

I wish you the best of luck if you want to give recruitment a try-- just know that your grades may cause you to receive heavy cuts early on and to be prepared for this. We have a lot of stickied threads in the forum with basic advice. Read through them and do call your university's office of Greek Life if you have questions about how your university conducts recruitment, the min. GPAs to be considered for membership in each chapter, etc. While the national groups have min GPAs, the collegiate chapters on each campus often have substantially higher GPA requirements to be considered for membership.

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

I also want to point out that while the above advice may seem negative, it is realistic. We very much want you to go through recruitment if sorority membership is something that interests you.

Absolutely. We're not trying to be harsh... we just want you to go in with realistic expectations.

At an SEC school, it's difficult to get a bid as a sophomore, but I think it's MUCH more difficult to get one as a freshman with a low GPA. I think you would be more likely to receive a bid if you rushed as a sophomore (assuming you became involved on campus and had a high - as in 3.5 or higher - GPA during your freshman year). It's totally your choice if you want to rush this year, but the reality is that you're probably not going to end up with a bid, especially if you are attending UGA, LSU, Alabama, or Ole Miss (and there are plenty of threads on GC that will help you see why I would say "especially" about those).

[_Lisa_]

Originally Posted by dgdramadawg

(assuming you became involved on campus and had a high - as in 3.5 or higher - GPA during your freshman year).

Although I can't say its true at every SEC school, the college GPA requirements are usually lower than the high school GPA requirements.

I'd also say that if you were a legacy, you might be given special consideration despite your low GPA, but even with great recommendations you probably wouldn't make the GPA cut. But hey, if you want to spend the money going through recruitment, why not go ahead & do so? You'll meet lots of new people & get an idea of what each sorority is like! Maybe you can do COB in the second semester once your first semester GPA is posted?

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by _Lisa_

Although I can't say its true at every SEC school, the college GPA requirements are usually lower than the high school GPA requirements.

Not all competitive SEC schools have a separate quota for upperclassmen, though, and most chapters would much rather have a member for four years than for three... so in many (but not all) cases a PNM would need to be exceptional to be considered as an upperclassman. As we've discussed previously, the required GPA to participate differs (sometimes greatly) from the GPA that chapters actually require. The fact is that if you're up against tons of freshmen with 3.5-4.0 GPAs, you aren't going to look so hot if your college GPA is a 2.5 or anything in that area... I would think that to be considered competitive against those girls who'll be paying dues for four years who also have excellent high school GPAs, an upperclassman PNM would need really stellar grades (3.5+) or really good grades (3.0+) coupled with lots of involvement on campus.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by dgdramadawg

Not all competitive SEC schools have a separate quota for upperclassmen, though, and most chapters would much rather have a member for four years than for three... so in many (but not all) cases a PNM would need to be exceptional to be considered as an upperclassman. As we've discussed previously, the required GPA to participate differs (sometimes greatly) from the GPA that chapters actually require. The fact is that if you're up against tons of freshmen with 3.5-4.0 GPAs, you aren't going to look so hot if your college GPA is a 2.5 or anything in that area... I would think that to be considered competitive against those girls who'll be paying dues for four years who also have excellent high school GPAs, an upperclassman PNM would need really stellar grades (3.5+) or really good grades (3.0+) coupled with lots of involvement on campus.

I agree with you completely. I do think she's still better off waiting, but I think you said that too. She just needs to make sure she makes some awesome grades and gets involved.

[MaggieXi]

I believe it depends on where you are going to school. At Elon (when I was there) there was a min. of 2.5 first semester of college just to register for recruitment. Then it was up to the sororities to determine where their GPA cut off would be -- some stayed with the panehellenic min. and some went a little higher (like 2.7 or even 3.0). I am not sure how a Fall Rush calculates your HS grades into the equation or how the members would even have access to verify your hs records, but I guess its possible. (i.e. Jane Doe writes down on her app. that she had a 3.0 in hs when in fact she had a 2.0 -- how are they going to verify that????)

[cuteASAbug]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

I am not sure how a Fall Rush calculates your HS grades into the equation or how the members would even have access to verify your hs records, but I guess its possible. (i.e. Jane Doe writes down on her app. that she had a 3.0 in hs when in fact she had a 2.0 -- how are they going to verify that????)

My guess is through the high school transcript in her admissions packet.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

My guess is through the high school transcript in her admissions packet.

Yeah, I remember signing a paper that they could have access to my GPA.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

My guess is through the high school transcript in her admissions packet.

Yep. There's a spot on the recruitment form for it and Greek Life would send out any "corrections" that had to be made from that master list. Don't lie, you will get caught.

Also, whoever thought it was a good idea to make someone's GPA on a 7 point scale, my calculator doesn't like you.