Number of recommendations?

[FSUZeta]

the chapter usually knows if a pnm has a rec. and someone with 22 would be famous!

i'm afraid that we are not going to be able to say "at uga, for abc sorority a pnm will need 3 recs. because if they are just 3 rec. forms, all with identical information, then there might as well have been one.

one terrific rec./letter should be sufficient, providing the pnm meets the criteria the chapter is looking for in a new member. one or two more should not harm the pnm. at chapters i have advised,the chapter recruitment v.p. usually keeps multiple recs. clipped together, and they are kept thruout recruitment in a filefolder in alpha order.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

the chapter usually knows if a pnm has a rec. and someone with 22 would be famous!

i'm afraid that we are not going to be able to say "at uga, for abc sorority a pnm will need 3 recs. because if they are just 3 rec. forms, all with identical information, then there might as well have been one.

one terrific rec./letter should be sufficient, providing the pnm meets the criteria the chapter is looking for in a new member. one or two more should not harm the pnm. at chapters i have advised,the chapter recruitment v.p. usually keeps multiple recs. clipped together, and they are kept thruout recruitment in a filefolder in alpha order.

I don't think I ever knew as a chapter member who had recs, but I may have been especially clueless. I'm often amazed at what I either never knew or don't remember.

FSUZeta, is your standard answer when a girl asks how many recs she needs that "you need at least one really excellent one from someone who knows you well and one or two more wouldn't hurt"? It sounds pretty good to me.

And as long as not too many PNM exceed that by a wide margin, it shouldn't ever a problem. I just see some potential problems emerging if the moms start taking things to extremes.

[FSUZeta]

i guess it is, if i am not familiar with the desires of that particular chapter.

while recs. are important at many campuses, it really has so much more to do than just a great rec. like i said earlier, if the pnm is not what the chapter is looking for in a new member, a dozen recs. are not going to earn her a bid. on the other hand, many a great girl have been dropped because they did not have a rec. there is no perfect formula-the best a pnm can do is to do her homework, find out if recs. are expected at her school and find alumnae that can write recs. for her.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

i guess it is, if i am not familiar with the desires of that particular chapter.

while recs. are important at many campuses, it really has so much more to do than just a great rec. like i said earlier, if the pnm is not what the chapter is looking for in a new member, a dozen recs. are not going to earn her a bid. on the other hand, many a great girl have been dropped because they did not have a rec. there is no perfect formula-the best a pnm can do is to do her homework, find out if recs. are expected at her school and find alumnae that can write recs. for her.

I agree. And I guess that's one thing about advising girls to get more that concerns me. PNMS and their moms and alumnae may end up putting a great deal of effort into producing multiple letters of recommendation that ultimately won't do that much to affect the PNMs chances.

If she is well-qualified, has a good rec, and is a good fit for the chapter in the eyes of the current active members, she will do well. If she isn't otherwise well-qualified or isn't a good fit for the chapter in the eyes of the current members, a bunch of recs won't do any good.

And then of course there's just how my mind boggles at paper management of a multiple recs on each girl at a really big recruitment. 1000+ just seems like enough without having to handle 3000.

You are lucky to have an inside understanding of what particular chapters are looking for. Most of us, I'm afraid, don't have any idea of what goes on at any but our own undergraduate chapters.