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In regards to Alabama and Recs vs Letters of Support:
As already stated, a Rec is the actual form that each GLO has generated for its alumni. A Letter of Support is just that, a hand written letter. Typically a Letter writer doesn't provide all the info that a Rec form does such as GPA & activities unless they attach a resume.
With that being said though, different chapters consider things differently. Some give Rec forms & Letters equal weight as a Rec. Some dismiss the letters because they aren't on the official form and don't have all the needed info. Then others may give "partial credit" (for lack of a better phrase) to Letters as long as the PNM also has at least 1 Rec form. There is no way of knowing how each chapter treats them.
But the undeniable truth at Bama, regardless of what anyone anywhere says, is each PNM needs a minimum of 1 official Rec form submitted to each chapter and two is better. More than that though, unless coming from family members (Mom, Grandma, Aunt, etc.) or important/influential alumnae, is a bit of overkill. More than 2 Recs are especially unnecessary if they come from random alumnae who don't know the PNM personally.
PNMs without a Rec form are an easy automatic cut. With the sheer number of women participating in the process (1500-1600 the last few years) and typical 1st round RFM mandatory release numbers, chapters are often looking for easy automatic cuts. GPA is another easy one (and that's regardless of whether a PNM has Recs or not.*) FWIW and anecdotal proof only, while I always hear of PNMs getting cut for not having any Recs, I have never heard of anyone getting cut for the sole reason of not having 2 or more.
*Please note: while most I/Natl have policies that having a Rec insures at least a 1st round invite, most chapters on campus have received permission from their I/Natl org to not honor that promise. Why? Because most chapters at Bama have more PNMs with Recs than Panhellenic allows to invite back with RFM.
Back to the original topic. What is Panhellenic saying here and why? In a nutshell, chapters are being drowned in paper. It takes an enormous amount of man hours to process all of these: collecting & opening mail, recording that it has been received, tracking/crediting a PNM's Recs/Letters, sending out Thank You's, etc. Panhellenic is trying to help the chapters by communicating to PNMs and alumnae that sending a dozen Recs and/or Letters are not going to increase a PNM's chances in comparison to a PNM who has just 2.
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