Schools where you absolutely positively need recs

[ellebud]

In my view a rec is a letter of introduction that a sorority reads prior to recruitment. Some houses require someone to vouch for a new member. That is what my daughter received on bid night. Of course I don't know who had what and in any/every house. What I do know is that a good number of girls who I know went in to recruitment without any recs and they got bids. And this bespeaks some very fine points about USC recruitment: Houses are open to meeting pnms. The houses read the applications and know who they are meeting. And I mean this in a good way. Does it help to have a rec going in? Obviously. Will it paralyze you in the process if you don't? No, not if you are open minded/you click with someone in a house/if the house really wants you.

Yes, really try to get recs for SC. But ultimately, not having them going in, for most houses, is not the ultimate deal breaker.

[crescent&pearls]

Originally Posted by ellebud

Does it help to have a rec going in? Obviously. Will it paralyze you in the process if you don't? No, not if you are open minded/you click with someone in a house/if the house really wants you.

Yes, really try to get recs for SC. But ultimately, not having them going in, for most houses, is not the ultimate deal breaker.

I have to agree with ellebud on those points as applicable at most of the schools in California. The important thing is that women should not be deterred from participating in recruitment because they don't necessarily know NPC alumnae write personal letters of reference. You can try to contact your local area alumnae Panhellenic (if there is one) and they usually try to be helpful as much as they can. IMO a reference written by someone who does not personally know you is not going to contain information that can't be obtained from the recruitment application, so is that a huge help? Probably not.

What pnms can do is try to network to the best of their ability. What is really important is get your recruitment application/registration and any information your campus Panhellenic asks for i.e. transcripts or grade releases IN ON TIME.

[shirley1929]

Hi All...I dug around looking for this one and didn't find it. Apologies if it's been mentioned somewhere else.

A relative is going through rush at Alabama this fall. She's from out of state, and the state where she's from has a very organized alumni/panhellenic system. Typically, you would ask one XYZ person to write a XYZ rec, and then any other XYZ women you knew would write letters of support of that rec. That means you could have as many as 10 letters (or more!) of support for XYZ.

Alabama Panhellenic has (both on their website and at the sorority weekend) stressed that letters of support are absolutely NOT considered, and if you MUST do them, please do not send more than two. This is throwing a wrench in my relative's better sensibilities, since we're of the mindset that more is always better!

There's also the factor here that people will ask (and assume they'll be asked) to write letters. Does she politely tell them "no, we don't need your letter"? Seems wrong on so many levels...

Does anyone know about this or have any input on it? Thanks in advance!

[FSUZeta]

shirley, if bama panhell is stressing that no more than two support letters are necessary, but that they would prefer no letters of support, there are a couple of options:

1)your niece or sister could ask their local panhellenic if they know anything about bama's views on letters of support, which might prompt them to call a bama alum and get to the bottom of the situation.

2)once your niece has two letters and a rec. she graciously thanks everyone else who offers her assistance and explains the bama situation to them.

3) she ignores the recommendation from bama that she heard about at panhellenic weekend and that is posted on the bama panhellenic website. after all, the recs. are going to go directly to the sororities, not be filtered through the panhellenic office, so she would only incur the wrath of the specific sorority that the mailbag of recommendation letters went to. she might risk becoming infamous before rush even starts and be known as "letter girl".

we do have a couple of gc members who are advisers to bama chapters. maybe they will be able to answer your questions.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

we do have a couple of gc members who are advisers to bama chapters. maybe they will be able to answer your questions.

I would DEFINITELY wait until some of these posters weigh in on what the real scoop is, shirley, before you decide what to do.

The way that is written on the Alabama Panhel website really really REALLY seems to be stepping over the bounds of individual chapters' membership selection practices, IMO. Plus, what if the alum doesn't even mention it to the rushee and just goes ahead and sends a letter? I'm sure some alumnae do/will.

http://www.uapanhellenic.com/index.p...d=15&Itemid=32

[Titchou]

Can the poster clarify: are you concerned about excess letters of support or recs? At Bama, 2 recs for each group are really needed. More than 3 or 4 are overkill. My group doesn't do "letters of support" as we consider such letters as recs, or sponsor forms as we call them. In other words, the rec doesn't have to be on the form - it can be a letter for us.

And when someone from XYZ agrees to do one for you, you should ask her if she knows anyone in the remaining groups which you still need.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Hang on, I am confused by the language here, "letters of support"? I'm wondering if that is something other than a rec. Like, maybe PNM's are having non-affiliated women (high school teachers, for example) send in letters. I remember my chapter getting those back in the day, and I was certainly not at a school like Bama.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Hang on, I am confused by the language here, "letters of support"? I'm wondering if that is something other than a rec. Like, maybe PNM's are having non-affiliated women (high school teachers, for example) send in letters. I remember my chapter getting those back in the day, and I was certainly not at a school like Bama.

No, in this instance a "letter of support" is an actual letter, not the rec form, that sorority alumnae write and send to the chapters. It is a common practice in Texas, and may be elsewhere too.

[AnchorAlumna]

My opinion, for what it's worth, which isn't much:
**If you're from Texas and she gets 80leven letters of support OR recs, the sororities at Alabama will know what the deal is. Don't sweat it.
**Don't NEVER turn down no letters of support, recs, or whatever you call 'em (Southern colloquialisms deliberately used here). It's not nice. Smile and say thank you!

[shirley1929]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I would DEFINITELY wait until some of these posters weigh in on what the real scoop is, shirley, before you decide what to do.

The way that is written on the Alabama Panhel website really really REALLY seems to be stepping over the bounds of individual chapters' membership selection practices, IMO. Plus, what if the alum doesn't even mention it to the rushee and just goes ahead and sends a letter? I'm sure some alumnae do/will.

http://www.uapanhellenic.com/index.p...d=15&Itemid=32

I agree with both your points here...I'm wanting to hear from a Bama advisor (apologies that I don't know which normal posters are the advisors...have I heard from one yet?)

And yes, it seems rather presumptuous of Panhellenic to blur the Membership Selection boundaries!? Unless it is something that the chapters asked/voted on for them to mention.

Originally Posted by Titchou

Can the poster clarify: are you concerned about excess letters of support or recs? At Bama, 2 recs for each group are really needed. More than 3 or 4 are overkill. My group doesn't do "letters of support" as we consider such letters as recs, or sponsor forms as we call them. In other words, the rec doesn't have to be on the form - it can be a letter for us.

And when someone from XYZ agrees to do one for you, you should ask her if she knows anyone in the remaining groups which you still need.

Yes, I'm concerned by excess rec/letters. Where I'm from, since the rec is a standard form...one "head" XYZ fills out the form and the other XYZ ladies send the "head" person letters supporting her recommendation. It all goes in one packet to the chapter house. There may be some stray letters that get sent separately, but the "in the know" folks get it organized so it's all put together.

Yes, of course, we're pulling together recs for all the houses. Even the ones where we don't know a member of ABC...we are definitely "working the connections".

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Hang on, I am confused by the language here, "letters of support"? I'm wondering if that is something other than a rec. Like, maybe PNM's are having non-affiliated women (high school teachers, for example) send in letters. I remember my chapter getting those back in the day, and I was certainly not at a school like Bama.

DBB - Not exactly. Letters are sent (from my area anyway) by additional members of XYZ. It is basically to say "hey, these 5 ladies (as opposed to one) really believe that Rhonda Rushee would make a fabulous XYZ" Let me know if you need more clarification.

Originally Posted by Blondie93

No, in this instance a "letter of support" is an actual letter, not the rec form, that sorority alumnae write and send to the chapters. It is a common practice in Texas, and may be elsewhere too.

^^Exactly.

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

My opinion, for what it's worth, which isn't much:
**If you're from Texas and she gets 80leven letters of support OR recs, the sororities at Alabama will know what the deal is. Don't sweat it.
**Don't NEVER turn down no letters of support, recs, or whatever you call 'em (Southern colloquialisms deliberately used here). It's not nice. Smile and say thank you!

This is exactly what we're thinking...I would hate my niece to 1) be the ONE person from our area who doesn't "play the game" and have it look weird. and 2) It seems SO against everything we're taught to turn down a kind offer from someone looking to help her have a successful rush.

Oh, and yes...I'm not going back and fixing everywhere I said "rush" "rushee" or anything like that. If it dates me, so be it...

Thanks for the input everyone! If anyone else has more, I'll listen!

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Hang on, I am confused by the language here, "letters of support"? I'm wondering if that is something other than a rec. Like, maybe PNM's are having non-affiliated women (high school teachers, for example) send in letters. I remember my chapter getting those back in the day, and I was certainly not at a school like Bama.

I just checked the Idaho Greek FAQ and once I stopped being verklempt over the phrase "alumni sorority members" I read that people who are not "alumni sorority members" can write letters of reference to the Dean of Students office that are passed on to the chapters. They also say these things (recs, letters etc.) do not provide an advantage, but they do not hurt. We don't have an organized Alumnae Panhellenic but I wish we had one locally with satellite members in places we draw students so we could do this as an organized group and PNMs could submit things or be referred to someone in their local area. We draw so many in state students that a lot of it is handled through collegiate members knowing someone from back home.

Originally Posted by Blondie93

No, in this instance a "letter of support" is an actual letter, not the rec form, that sorority alumnae write and send to the chapters. It is a common practice in Texas, and may be elsewhere too.

I've written letters with our official forms for any PNM and for legacies, but I attach it to a form. Usually it is to explain some extenuating circumstance, especially academic and the grades or activities aren't stellar or are borderline for some reason. I also have done it for a legacy to explain why the member didn't send one on her legacy, which has always been a result of said member having entered Chapter Grand. I also have done a couple for women who aren't official legacies but have relatives who are members, to make that relationship known.

[Zillini]

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.

[princessamy]

What about Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana?

[KSUViolet06]

^^^I'm familiar with Southeastern, and it's not a MUST HAVE RECS school. If you can get them, cool. But it doesn't hurt you if you don't.

[SWTXBelle]

I received a panicked call from a pnm's mother who had gone to Panhellenic Preview at Bama and came away with the impression that she was supposed to get the information packet back from the alumnae panhellenic and send it - registered mail no less - to the chapter houses ALONG WITH THE REC. They even gave out a list of chapter houses and contacts.

I told her that the advice was counter to everything I knew about other sororities' recommendation process, and that I could not imagine any group giving rec forms to the pnm. I freaked out - and then called Bama panhellenic. Mystery solved, I think - apparently (and the woman I spoke with said she was also at Preview) girls who DON'T register with alumnae panhellenics were given the information in order to make sure they had recs and my pnm's mom misinterpreted it.

If they are inundated with paperwork after that mis-communication I can understand why!