Are recs obsolete?

[texgal]

Originally Posted by carnation

But see, there are schools where it's so selective to get in--plus their recruitment is competitive--and there are no grade cuts. It's so hard to get into UGa now that there's no way there are any freshman grade cuts! That leaves the sororities with hundreds of girls they must cut in a short period of time and no easy way to choose who to drop. Georgia Tech has no freshman grade cuts either.

What do you mean, they have no grade cuts? As in, there is no minimum GPA set by Panhellenic to go through recruitment, or each individual chapter doesn't have a minimum grade that they will cut for? Because that seems very odd if individual chapters don't have minimums, even if they don't publicize them.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by texgal

What do you mean, they have no grade cuts? As in, there is no minimum GPA set by Panhellenic to go through recruitment, or each individual chapter doesn't have a minimum grade that they will cut for? Because that seems very odd if individual chapters don't have minimums, even if they don't publicize them.

The chapters and university do have minimum GPA requirements. The issue is that the girls (PNMs) have GPAs that are equal to or above the chapter's GPA minimum requirement. Thus the chapter is not able to base cuts on grades since every PNM is at or above it.

[blueangel]

While I understand the idea behind recs, I do want to point out that they can put girls hailing from certain geographical locations at a supreme disadvantage.

Where I live, sororities and fraternities are just not a big deal. I literally had never met a single Greek until I moved south and arrived on campus at UF. Nobody in my family had ever belonged to a GLO, nor had any of my friends or their families.

I've since moved back to the north-east, and nobody here I know is Greek (other than those I've met in my alumnae chapter).

[33girl]

Originally Posted by blueangel

While I understand the idea behind recs, I do want to point out that they can put girls hailing from certain geographical locations at a supreme disadvantage.

Where I live, sororities and fraternities are just not a big deal. I literally had never met a single Greek until I moved south and arrived on campus at UF. Nobody in my family had ever belonged to a GLO, nor had any of my friends or their families.

I've since moved back to the north-east, and nobody here I know is Greek (other than those I've met in my alumnae chapter).

Well, you can look at that this way.

I've lived my whole life in Pennsylvania. I get accepted at Louisiana State and decide to go there.

Well obviously...I'm going to need a different wardrobe (especially for the winter), I'm going to probably be eating different things etc...so I'm going to investigate and look into all that. The same should apply to sorority rush, or any other campus activities for that matter. If you're quite aware that you're going to be a fish out of water, research your situation before you get there.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Well, you can look at that this way.

I've lived my whole life in Pennsylvania. I get accepted at Louisiana State and decide to go there.

Well obviously...I'm going to need a different wardrobe (especially for the winter), I'm going to probably be eating different things etc...so I'm going to investigate and look into all that. The same should apply to sorority rush, or any other campus activities for that matter. If you're quite aware that you're going to be a fish out of water, research your situation before you get there.

I do agree, but I feel bad for girls like me, who never intended to rush going into college. I only did because my mother wanted me do, and it turned out to be the best decision I ever made. But I hadn't done any legwork, had no recs and just happened to be a legacy to one chapter on campus.

LUCKY ME, that I didn't need recs at a private Midwestern University, but I didn't know what they were til I went through recruitment on the other end.

[kdonline]

Originally Posted by texgal

What do you mean, they have no grade cuts? As in, there is no minimum GPA set by Panhellenic to go through recruitment, or each individual chapter doesn't have a minimum grade that they will cut for? Because that seems very odd if individual chapters don't have minimums, even if they don't publicize them.

No grade cuts means that, in order for the girl to get accepted to the university in the first place (traditionally, let's think of Duke, Northwestern, etc), the student has a high SAT/ACT and a high GPA (over 3.0).

Many state schools (like UGA and UF) now have these higher standards for accepting freshmen. So if a freshman PNM is rushing, she HAS the academic requirements...and you can't cut her for "academic" like you can for a soph or junior who has a university GPA already.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by kdonline

No grade cuts means that, in order for the girl to get accepted to the university in the first place (traditionally, let's think of Duke, Northwestern, etc), the student has a high SAT/ACT and a high GPA (over 3.0).

Many state schools (like UGA and UF) now have these higher standards for accepting freshmen. So if a freshman PNM is rushing, she HAS the academic requirements...and you can't cut her for "academic" like you can for a soph or junior who has a university GPA already.

I'm surprised that since the bar is so high just for entrance, that some sororities (and I'm sure there are at least a few that do) don't make their GPA Req. even higher. Example: Prestigious U has an entrance requirement of 3.5 so XYZ sets their GPA Req. at 3.75, which seems ridiculously high for someone like me from an IL state school, but might not even cut enough girls for their first round of cuts.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I'm surprised that since the bar is so high just for entrance, that some sororities (and I'm sure there are at least a few that do) don't make their GPA Req. even higher. Example: Prestigious U has an entrance requirement of 3.5 so XYZ sets their GPA Req. at 3.75, which seems ridiculously high for someone like me from an IL state school, but might not even cut enough girls for their first round of cuts.

Grades are only one part of being in a social GLO. Thus if a girl (PNM) already demonstrates that she can "make the grade" (pun intended), then it seems that it would behoove the chapter to look at her extracurricular life and how she might fit with the chapter. Then again, an even higher GPA might be the norm (and a fit) for the chapter. But then it seems like the chapter would be moving more toward being an academic organization than being a social organization.