Rec/Rif confusion...please help!

[NutBrnHair]

You know what I think it usually comes down to? If the active chapter LIKES the PNM who has a lot of alumnae support -- it's great. If they DON'T like her -- the extra letters, food, posters, etc. will be to the girl's detriment.

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

You know what I think it usually comes down to? If the active chapter LIKES the PNM who has a lot of alumnae support -- it's great. If they DON'T like her -- the extra letters, food, posters, etc. will be to the girl's detriment.

BINGO!

Also, a note about TSteven's comment about Polly PNM having three unsolicited recs... most NPC orgs' rec forms require information that a random person would not have about Polly (like her GPA, class rank, parents' Greek affiliations, NHS membership, or other stuff that you don't just randomly share with every person you know). I would see it as unlikely that a woman would be able to fill out the entire form without consulting the PNM for information.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

You know what I think it usually comes down to? If the active chapter LIKES the PNM who has a lot of alumnae support -- it's great. If they DON'T like her -- the extra letters, food, posters, etc. will be to the girl's detriment.

That sounds about right.

Its just like dating...

If you really, really like a guy and he showers you with attention, you'll be thrilled. If you're neutral and/or dislike a guy and he showers you with attention, you'll find it annoying.

[UGAalum94]

Would the average member even know about the recs the girl had in terms of number, etc?

I really do have rush amnesia in a lot of ways, but I don't remember even being aware of the recs/rifs that a pnm I rushed had. I might just be me or this size rush that we had.

I'd be very wary of giving too much direction here. Current members of the chapters on her campus are really the only folks who are going to know the answer to the how-many-recs-is-the-right-number question, as far as I know.

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

Would the average member even know about the recs the girl had in terms of number, etc?

I really do have rush amnesia in a lot of ways, but I don't remember even being aware of the recs/rifs that a pnm I rushed had. I might just be me or this size rush that we had.

I'd be very wary of giving too much direction here. Current members of the chapters on her campus are really the only folks who are going to know the answer to the how-many-recs-is-the-right-number question, as far as I know.

Generally my experience has been that cuts based on recs (what they said, lack of them, etc.) were not something that was discussed with the membership as a whole. Suzy Q Rusher might really like Polly PNM, but if Polly doesn't have any recs Suzy Q isn't going to be able to keep her from getting cut if they chapter requires a rec to get through the round (that is, at a big SEC school like Arkansas). I'm betting it was the same way with your chapter, alphagamuga... because how on earth could every chapter member read every rec at a school like ours?

Again, to the OP: I know someone who graduated from a strong chapter at Arkansas only two years ago. She says five is way overboard. I highly doubt that it has changed a lot since 2005. I don't believe any of us have asked yet, but was the person who told you that each chapter required five recs a student at Arkansas?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by dgdramadawg

Generally my experience has been that cuts based on recs (what they said, lack of them, etc.) were not something that was discussed with the membership as a whole. Suzy Q Rusher might really like Polly PNM, but if Polly doesn't have any recs Suzy Q isn't going to be able to keep her from getting cut if they chapter requires a rec to get through the round (that is, at a big SEC school like Arkansas). I'm betting it was the same way with your chapter, alphagamuga... because how on earth could every chapter member read every rec at a school like ours?

That's what I was thinking, so I guess my rather limited point was that the people meeting you might not even know how many recs you had.

I have no idea how many you should have even at UGA other than to say you ought to have at least one to each chapter.

It's really hard even to speculate without tipping your hand about membership selection.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

At Illinois, we considered it overboard when we got letters of introduction written by women who were not Phi Mu's, and yes, we did get them. I know every other chapter got them as well, but you are giving us zero information that is not on her registration form, and we don't know you from Adam.

The one exception to this was a letter we once got from a high-ranking national officer of a group that was not on our campus. Obviously, we respected it because we had some sort of basis for knowing who she was (and yes, we did check her status).

[irishpipes]

I advise at Arkansas and I can assure the OP that 5 recs is over the top. Many PNMs will have at least 2 for each sorority, however. I believe the prevailing reasoning is that if the rec is not from an alumna of the chapter at UA, the PNM may try to procure a second rec to make sure adequate weight is given. (And no, I am not making a judgment on the proper weight to be given to recs from alumnae of different chapters, I am just saying that this is an Arkansas thing that some PNMs feel is necessary.)