What GPA is too low for your campus?

[UGAalum94]

One of the girls is looking at recruitment at Ole Miss with a 3.0 out of high school.

Is that likely to be a problem with some groups there or is that okay?

To me a 3.0 out of high school today, unless its a realllllly good high school probably, isn't going to equal a 3.0+ in college.

ETA: There's no course of action that I'm considering based on this information. (I'm not looking to write harsh recs or anything. I don't think I know something the chapter doesn't.) I'm just curious about whether it's likely to hurt the PNM, or if I've just gotten used to seeing really high GPAs most of the time and that this grade range out of high school is cool.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

One of the girls is looking at recruitment at Ole Miss with a 3.0 out of high school.

Is that likely to be a problem with some groups there or is that okay?

To me a 3.0 out of high school today, unless its a realllllly good high school probably, isn't going to equal a 3.0+ in college.

ETA: There's no course of action that I'm considering based on this information. (I'm not looking to write harsh recs or anything. I don't think I know something the chapter doesn't.) I'm just curious about whether it's likely to hurt the PNM, or if I've just gotten used to seeing really high GPAs most of the time and that this grade range out of high school is cool.

I have no idea about Ole Miss, but I know grade inflation is a huge issue which makes me look at the whole package instead of GPA. I am lucky enough to have the luxury of not having a lot of recs to write so I can really get to know women and their whole story.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I have no idea about Ole Miss, but I know grade inflation is a huge issue which makes me look at the whole package instead of GPA. I am lucky enough to have the luxury of not having a lot of recs to write so I can really get to know women and their whole story.

Right, general grade inflation is so common that I wonder if chapters look at grade risk cut-offs a lot higher than they used to.

I just wonder if the girls in question need to be prepared from some kind of hard early cuts or if they are in pretty good shape. It's strange not to have any idea.

[texas*princess]

I think that really depends on the GPAs of the entire pool of pnms each year.

In year 1 - you might have 100 pnms, all with very close GPAs above all of the campus & chapter totals. They might range from 3.0-4.0. If most of the pnms have closer to a 4.0, those who have 3.0-3.2 might be at a greater risk of being cut from the most competitive houses based on grades than those who have higher GPAs. So that year, a GPA between 3.0-3.2 might be "too low" even if they are above the minimums

In year 2 - you might have the same number of pnms - all with GPAs above all of the campus & chapter totals, but the range is 2.7-4.0. That year "too low" might be considered 2.7-3.0 because the range is a little bit bigger

But that's based on grades alone... there are so many different areas that are looked at and chapters use different MS processes to get different types of members. One chapter for example, might only want girls with a 3.8-4.0 because they have won grades every semester for the last decade and they want to keep that up. Another chapter might be OK with someone who got a 3.0 because they had a lot of philanthropic work or whatever. So I think "too low" is also a function of the way chapters are selecting members

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Right, general grade inflation is so common that I wonder if chapters look at grade risk cut-offs a lot higher than they used to.

I just wonder if the girls in question need to be prepared from some kind of hard early cuts or if they are in pretty good shape. It's strange not to have any idea.

This is why I try to get a lot of information on a woman so I can honestly represent her to my sisters and she is given a fair chance to not fall through the cracks because grades are often a method many sororities use to make initial cuts. I am very honest that GPA is a method for initial decisions, and they shouldn't take it personally if they aren't invited back.

I'm not talking about women who have below the campus minimum, though that has happened. I've only written one rec for a woman who was above a 2.0 but below the majority or all of the campus chapter minimums. I've been surprised and amazed at what the real story is (sick family member, watched siblings because parent lost job and they had no money for daycare, personal illness, took on employment to pay for college, and so on) and that these experiences are not just explanations for not having a 4.0, but are an example of character and personality. One woman had academic issues early in high school, but did amazing work junior and senior year, she had a 4.0 during senior year and had attended previous summer school/alternative school so she could graduate on time. If I hadn't taken the time to get to know her and looked at her transcripts, she would have probably been released completely the first day.

If I feel strongly about a PNM with a GPA that might be a deterrent, I also contact women I know in other groups and try and help her get a fair chance.

Grade inflation can also be a result of schools, and not all schools grade the same, finding out that information can be difficult.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

One of the girls is looking at recruitment at Ole Miss with a 3.0 out of high school.

Is that likely to be a problem with some groups there or is that okay?

To me a 3.0 out of high school today, unless its a realllllly good high school probably, isn't going to equal a 3.0+ in college.

Do you know anything about the high school? Do the girls in the chapters come from enough of a spectrum that they know which is what? I mean, are the girls in the chapter going to look and say "Trust me, 3.0 at Blue Footed Booby High is like getting a 4.0 at Woody Woodpecker High - BFBH makes you read War & Peace in 7th grade."

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Do you know anything about the high school? Do the girls in the chapters come from enough of a spectrum that they know which is what? I mean, are the girls in the chapter going to look and say "Trust me, 3.0 at Blue Footed Booby High is like getting a 4.0 at Woody Woodpecker High - BFBH makes you read War & Peace in 7th grade."

It's a good school for Georgia, no doubt, but its grading is probably about typical for the Atlanta suburban area. I don't think these kids will necessarily flunk out of college or anything, but I have no reason to believe they would have been 4.0 scholars at a different school.

Since I think these girls are going out of state (good luck getting in to UGA with a 3.0 out of high school these days), I doubt there will be a ton of people who really know anything about the schools.

These are kind of average students from a good public school.

In the olden days, there was still a place for you in Greek life with these kind of academic credentials, but I don't know what GPAs really look like these days in new member classes.

I would say that about 90% of the PNMs I know of have GPAs above 3.25, with most being higher than 3.5.

Are the PNMs I'm seeing typical?

ETA: the majority of girls that I end up writing recs for are going to SEC schools plus Georgia Tech. So I know that the PNMs aren't typical for everyplace. I just wonder if these GPAs are typical for these schools. These lower and hovering around 3.0 PNMs stick out in my pool. Will they stick out on campus?

[MaggieXi]

You must have a 2.75 and at least 12 credit hours to go through recruitment at Elon and you must be at least a 2nd semester freshman. Each chapter then has its own grade requirements, I believe. Based soley on my opinion - certain chapters may have higher grade standards then other chapters, which may cause heavier cuts in the beginning.

[UGAalum94]

I guess I can kind of figure this out for myself by look at that average high school GPA of students at the schools. There'd be no reason to think the PNMs would be lower than average.

https://oira.auburn.edu/factbook/enr...ts/newstu.aspx

Auburn’s average enrolled student GPA last year was a 3.69. Wow.

This says Alabama's is a 3.4 http://education.yahoo.com/college/facts/9105.html (It has Auburn's as a 3.5)

Same source with a link at the bottom says Mississippi State is a 3.18. Doesn't have one for Ole Miss. (These admission policies suggest Ole Miss's is likely to be kind of low, comparatively. If you have a 3.2, you don't even need test scores.http://www.olemiss.edu/admissions/fap.html#regad) Says Ga Tech's is a 3.7. Says South Carolina's is a 3.8. Beginning to see a big problem with site's reporting.

[PhoenixAzul]

This may be somewhat dated information, but I believe that at Otterbein you had to have a 3.0 to rush, and because it was deferred that came from your college GPA. Chapters had no way of knowing your GPA (they weren't given that information). If I remember my pledge manual correctly, in my sorority you had to have a 3.0 to activate as well.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

This may be somewhat dated information, but I believe that at Otterbein you had to have a 3.0 to rush, and because it was deferred that came from your college GPA. Chapters had no way of knowing your GPA (they weren't given that information). If I remember my pledge manual correctly, in my sorority you had to have a 3.0 to activate as well.

Are you all locals?

In an NPC recruitment, they'd have to reveal the GPAs, I think, because the individual groups have minimums. ETA: I guess a campus could just set the minimum requirement to rush higher than the lowest required by any group, but that seems unlikely to me.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Are you all locals?

Yes they are. The sororities are, anyway.

[AlphaXi_Husky]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Auburn’s average enrolled student GPA last year was a 3.69. Wow.

This says Alabama's is a 3.4 http://education.yahoo.com/college/facts/9105.html (It has Auburn's as a 3.5)

According to that link, UW's (Washington) average admitted freshman GPA was 3.69. I would say that's fairly average for the (freshman) PNMs who come through Recruitment. This is not to say that anyone below that will have an overly difficult time - I have seen quite a few with lower GPAs who receive bids. And as far as I know, there is no minimum GPA to actually go through Recruitment, however, per the norm, each chapter has their own standards.

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Do you know anything about the high school? Do the girls in the chapters come from enough of a spectrum that they know which is what? I mean, are the girls in the chapter going to look and say "Trust me, 3.0 at Blue Footed Booby High is like getting a 4.0 at Woody Woodpecker High - BFBH makes you read War & Peace in 7th grade."

Oh big whoop; everybody knows that BFBH lets you read it in English translation.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by exlurker

Oh big whoop; everybody knows that BFBH lets you read it in English translation.

Well played.