Confused about Recs...

From adpiucf's great General Advice thread:

A recommendation is not required to be given a sorority bid, nor is it a guarantee that because you had a recommendation you will receive a bid. It's a little "extra" to help you stand out at recruitment. If you are attending college in the south or the midwest, you should especially consider getting recommendations. The west coast and northeast are a bit less concerned with recommendations (notable exceptions include University of Southern California), but it still is beneficial to do all you can pre-recruitment to make your application stand out in a postitive way.

Why recommendations? There are many women who go through recruitment. They all fill out recruitment applications. The recruitment apps go to the sororities before recruitment begins so they have an idea of who is coming through. A letter of recommendation serves as a good way for the sorority to ear mark your application with special interest. The recommendation helps you to positively stand out from the other applicants as someone the sorority should really make an extra special effort to meet and consider-- alumnae are respected members and if they take the time to make a suggestion or recommendation, chapter members are going to take this into consideration.