Where are all the Potential PNMs?

[Zillini]

Here is something I heard recently at our Convention from a collegian, an upcoming senior if I'm not mistaken. She came from a small rural area and had few if any GLO alums available. On top of that she was going to school in another state. She said she went to the various GLO's I/natl websites looking for alum associations.

Since there were none in her area, she looked for large active associations, like if they had webpages that were recently updated, had calendars of upcoming events, etc. It didn't matter if it was several states away, she contacted them asking if they could help. She said several were very helpful, digging through their contacts and friends to connect her with women.

Though it's worth pointing out this young woman realized her situation and started her search very early, something like a year ahead of time. She had plenty of time to contact the alums she ultimately found, develop email relationships, make phone calls, and even drove a couple of hours for face-to-face meetings.

[AnchorAlumna]

I've had an interest in doing recs since I was in college - don't know why, it's some obsessive desire to fill out forms!

Recruitment is a crazy time, especially if it's a very competitive school. You have chapters pledge girls they had no original intention of pledging...cut girls that nobody can remember...drop girls that nobody voted against...no matter how many times it's written here or discussed girl-to-girl, it's STILL the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY to get a rec.

Yes, I still believe that. A chapter has years to build up a network of alumnae contacts. If the sponsorship officer is doing her job, and her committee is helping her, there's no reason they can't find an alum sponsor 70 to 85% of the time. The PNM should not have to feel like it's all on her!

The other 30 to 15% of the time? That would be the gals from small towns with no nearby alum...from faraway states...military families who move a lot...100% is idea, but it's never going to happen.

So....you do the best you can, and leave the rest to the chapter to judge.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

No matter how many times it's written here or discussed girl-to-girl, it's STILL the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY to get a rec.

Yes, I still believe that. A chapter has years to build up a network of alumnae contacts. If the sponsorship officer is doing her job, and her committee is helping her, there's no reason they can't find an alum sponsor 70 to 85% of the time. The PNM should not have to feel like it's all on her!


So....you do the best you can, and leave the rest to the chapter to judge.

I know that all of the SEC school's Panhellenic websites say "it is the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO GET RECS."

However, I find that in most cases (and this has been confirmed by several SEC GCers), the chapter IS NOT going to do it.

Sure, they'll do it for some of the girls, but think about how many PNMs there are. They just can't find one for everyone.

That's where finding them yourself comes in.

Also, I find that MOST of the girls who rush at the bigger SEC schools know the "inside scoop" in terms of the chapter securing recs. So they already know to try and get them.

Unforunately, the girls who are not "in the know" (1st generation college students, small town girls, etc) tend to actually believe the official word from Panhellenic and think that every chapter is going to take care of it and they don't need to worry about it.

I'd imagine that these are the girls who get cut the heaviest. This is part of the reason why I WISH that some of the school's Panhellenics would start just being honest with PNMs and saying something like "Chapter can't secure recs for every girl, so try your best to secure them on your own."

[FSUZeta]

while it is stated that it ultimately is the chapters responsibility to find a recommendation for a pnm, i see that happening for girls who are offered bids and who did not have a rec. prior to recruitment starting.

pnms without recs. in a competitive recruitment at a popular(with the pnms)house, often do not fair so well.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

pnms without recs. in a competitive recruitment at a popular(with the pnms)house, often do not fair so well.

Very true, but PNMs WITH recs often don't fare well, either.

As we all know, having a rec, like being a legacy, is a guarantee of nothing.

[Zillini]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I've had an interest in doing recs since I was in college - don't know why, it's some obsessive desire to fill out forms!

Recruitment is a crazy time, especially if it's a very competitive school. You have chapters pledge girls they had no original intention of pledging...cut girls that nobody can remember...drop girls that nobody voted against...no matter how many times it's written here or discussed girl-to-girl, it's STILL the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY to get a rec.

Yes, I still believe that. A chapter has years to build up a network of alumnae contacts. If the sponsorship officer is doing her job, and her committee is helping her, there's no reason they can't find an alum sponsor 70 to 85% of the time. The PNM should not have to feel like it's all on her!

The other 30 to 15% of the time? That would be the gals from small towns with no nearby alum...from faraway states...military families who move a lot...100% is idea, but it's never going to happen.

So....you do the best you can, and leave the rest to the chapter to judge.

While I agree with you in theory, reality can be quite different -- at least for a large SEC campus. Let's look at some real life #'s from 2008 at Bama. There were roughly 1600 PNMs. My chapter received Recs on about 1000 of these women, leaving 600 without. For the chapter to find 75% of the missing Recs, that's still 450 Recs we would need to track down.

Also keep in mind that the majority of PNMs didn't start signing up for Recruitment until the about mid June, plus they have right up until the night before Recruitment starts to sign up. What's known as the "Rec flood" starts in July. So if a chapter were responsible for finding Recs, there's no point in even starting until at least mid to late July. That would leave only a very few weeks to track down those 450 Recs

Considering that most of PNMs from Alabama and the surrounding states know the importance of Recs on this campus, it's pretty fair to say the majority of those PNMs without are from a few states away. Yes we have built up a network of known alumnae who we can call for help out of the blue, but I'm sorry to say our network doesn't extend that far.

[lyrelyre]

Originally Posted by Smile_Awhile

A bit off topic, but I noticed some posts mentioning that there must be a rec in place for a PNM to be extended a bid. This may venture into MS for some groups, so if it does, I understand that I can't know. But is this required by some sororities? Or is it only for larger chapters at bigger schools?

Personally, my chapter wouldn't know what to do with a rec. We might have seen one or two,and I know we've seen legacy introductions, but other than that it just doesn't happen.

I PMed you.

[myalterego]

Hi, PNM here. Sorry, I don't have any questions (yet) as so far they've all been answered by reading threads. I'm sorry if anything seems vague or strange, I'm trying to be as anonymous as possible here (yeah, as if that's truly possible) so I'd rather not reveal my school.

Good luck to anyone rushing this year.

[kddani]

They're heeerrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by kddani

They're heeerrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee

I think a bunch have already been run - or scared - off. Now they're asking questions on Yahoo Answers.

[33girl]

If they are dumb enough to read/ask on YA, I'm happy that we scared them off. I swear there's a year's worth of stupid in every line of that thing.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If they are dumb enough to read/ask on YA, I'm happy that we scared them off. I swear there's a year's worth of stupid in every line of that thing.

Only thing I use that for is problems with excel.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If they are dumb enough to read/ask on YA, I'm happy that we scared them off. I swear there's a year's worth of stupid in every line of that thing.

LOL!