Recommendation Caution to PNM's

[aopirose]

Originally Posted by Luz

How does one go about discovering if recs are a big deal on their campus? I'm in an odd situation as I'm going to be a grad student and I wonder if it would really make a difference for me.

One of the purposes of a recommendation is for a member to introduce you to the chapter prior to recruitment. It doesn't hurt to have one. They best way to find out the extent of their use at your school is to talk to someone there.

[CallieQ]

Do you mind if I brag a little? I've been lurking a bit, but studying a LOT, and have a perfect GPA going into the end of the school year! Which means my parents are a lot less worried that I'm going to ruin my life if I continue cheering and all in my Senior Year!!!

And, I think I will have recs for the sororities where I'm applying--or at least, I should, after all the socials I've been to! To how many schools did you all apply? My list just seems to get longer, not shorter!!

I guess I'll see you all in less than a year, for last minute advice!

[AChiOhSnap]

Originally Posted by CallieQ

Do you mind if I brag a little? I've been lurking a bit, but studying a LOT, and have a perfect GPA going into the end of the school year! Which means my parents are a lot less worried that I'm going to ruin my life if I continue cheering and all in my Senior Year!!!

And, I think I will have recs for the sororities where I'm applying--or at least, I should, after all the socials I've been to! To how many schools did you all apply? My list just seems to get longer, not shorter!!

I guess I'll see you all in less than a year, for last minute advice!

You've been actually posting a lot and lurking only a bit...I want to caution you to be DISCREET from here on out.... I think you know what I mean.

Work on getting into the best college you can with your GPA. Greek life comes later. Don't worry about how many socials you've been to or how many connections you have to GLOs. If you have a perfect GPA (I'm assuming you mean a 4.0 on a 4.0 scale) you should be applying to top tier schools. Worry about Greek life after you're actually accepted to a university.

[AGDLynn]

Just to be a little cautious info...there will be LOTS of girls with your same credentials.

[alum]

Originally Posted by CallieQ

To how many schools did you all apply? My list just seems to get longer, not shorter!!

In our area, the top echelon of hs seniors tend to apply to 6-8 colleges, usually broken down into several reaches, several matches, a couple of safeties. According to our cousins, this is the case in their Boston suburb as well. A lot of kids who are shooting for an Ivy may apply to all the Ivies just because admissions is such a roll of the dice at those schools. There are so many applicants with perfect GPAs, 2400 SATs, multiple 800 SAT IIs, who also have amazing ECs.

[fantASTic]

Alum: same here. In my experience, too, colleges will take a kid with a 3.4 and multiple AP or IB classes over a kid with a 4.0 who slid by on all lower level classes.

And if your ACT and SAT scores don't back up that 4.0, too, then it won't count for much.

But, good luck and have a good day

[KSUViolet06]

I posted this in another thread about recs and I thought it might be helpful if I posted it again here:

Girls, understand that getting recommendations can be difficult, especially if you don't live in an area with lots of greek women or you don't have many greeks in your family.

It just takes persistence. You have to exhaust all of your available resources & contacts. Think of EVERY place you go regularly where there are women who know you well. Any of them could be a sorority alumna.
Some of these places include:

*school (teachers, counselors, coaches)
*church or other place of worship ( sorority women might attend your church service or lead your bible study)
*camps you attend(ed) (your camp counselors might be sorority women)
*work (co-workers or their family members might be greek)
*your parents (their co-workers or friends, get their Christmas card or email lists out)


Also, you can even ask the MEN you know. For example, your dad's bowling buddy might me married to a sorority alumna or have a daughter who is Greek.

Good luck ladies!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Good post. As an addition, if you know sorority women who are not in the groups that have chapters on your campus, ASK THEM ANYWAY. They are likely to know more sorority women, or be able to help point you in the right direction. Off of the top of my head, I could think of at least 5 orgs I could help with, and most other sorority women have that same ability.

[dukemama]

I agree, definitely ask ANYONE you know for recs. I wasn't a Greek in college and even I could direct a PNM to alumnae in at least 4 different NPC sororities.