University of Mississippi - Ole Miss Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment 2013

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by MaryPoppins

In the Ole Miss Panhllenic FAQ:

What is a letter of recommendation? Do I really need one?
• A recommendation is a personal letter of reference written by an alumnae member of a sorority to introduce a Potential New Member to her sorority. In the recommendation, the alumnae will write about your activities and talents so the sorority can get acquainted with you before recruitment begins.
• Recommendation letters are not required to go through recruitment. They are helpful in the recruitment process. You may send more than one letter of recommendation if you wish.
• DO NOT include transcripts or test scores with your recommendation letters. Sororities will receive your overall GPA before recruitment begins, therefore transcripts are not necessary. This includes not sending it to local Alumnae Panhellenic Associations or the sorority.

The red is an appropriate message for the Panhellenic to be providing, but I think it only tells half of the story as my previous posts here on recs would indicate. However I do like getting transcripts and test scores even if I do not send them on to the Chapter because it helps me write a more informative letter of reference (recommendation.) If a PNM struggled early in high school due to a death/divorce and then excelled at the end, I think the Chapter needs to know that. It could make the difference for the PNM. I've had mothers fail to tell me that there as a dip in grades due to a catastrophe, and I wouldn't have suspected a thing if I hadn't seen the transcript.

Oh, this has set me off!

Where does the campus Panhellenic get off telling the girls what to send to the local Alumnae Panhellenics? I write dozens of recs each year, and am VERY uncomfortable writing a rec without a transcript. You have mentioned some of my reasons, but I also like to see the quality of classes that the PNM has taken and the types of electives. However, mostly I want a school confirmation on their academic ability. I have seen some very generous "roundings" of GPA. I fully understand that the chapters can sniff this out with the Panhellenic transcript but if I am signing my name to a rec then I want to confirm that what I am telling the chapters is true.

I find it very odd, not to mention inappropriate, for a campus Panhellenic to tell the girls not to send the transcripts to the APH's and to their rec writers. If the individual chapters do not want me to pass along the transcript, then I won't. But please don't interfere with the information available to me through the APH.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

Oh, this has set me off!

Where does the campus Panhellenic get off telling the girls what to send to the local Alumnae Panhellenics? I write dozens of recs each year, and am VERY uncomfortable writing a rec without a transcript. You have mentioned some of my reasons, but I also like to see the quality of classes that the PNM has taken and the types of electives. However, mostly I want a school confirmation on their academic ability. I have seen some very generous "roundings" of GPA. I fully understand that the chapters can sniff this out with the Panhellenic transcript but if I am signing my name to a rec then I want to confirm that what I am telling the chapters is true.

I find it very odd, not to mention inappropriate, for a campus Panhellenic to tell the girls not to send the transcripts to the APH's and to their rec writers. If the individual chapters do not want me to pass along the transcript, then I won't. But please don't interfere with the information available to me through the APH.

I also thought that was odd advice. I have always advised girls to include a transcript with the packet passed along to their rec-writers, and appreciate these when I am writing a rec.

The GPA doesn't always reflect what went on academically -- if there was a hardship or a circumstance during high school that should be noted, then this can be included on the rec. If a PNM took a lot of AP courses, then this can be highlighted too.

[HQWest]

If I had to guess its a privacy issue. They have no control over what is done with the transcripts afterwards and so they advise not to send them.

The chapters would obviously prefer a letter from a long time friend or a teacher who could answer those questions about activities or AP classes or a problem outside of class but that is not always possible.

[DG Illinois]

While I actually have no idea the reason behond Panhellenic not wanting transcripts etc., I will share something I have actually seen happen more than once.

A PNM's rec transcript not matching the one in the admissions office.
There are some amazing editing tools out there that can change a few grades to make the gpa survive the sorority minimum.
I'm sure someone has heard of this happening before, and it caused a lot of confusion. I'm not guessing that's what happened either, the pnms confirmed it. My job is very creative and I have all the tools to do this in about 5 minutes. Scan it, open it in InDesign 6, clone out the grade and then font match to input the new grade etc. Scary easy

Originally Posted by Blondie93

Oh, this has set me off!

Where does the campus Panhellenic get off telling the girls what to send to the local Alumnae Panhellenics? I write dozens of recs each year, and am VERY uncomfortable writing a rec without a transcript. You have mentioned some of my reasons, but I also like to see the quality of classes that the PNM has taken and the types of electives. However, mostly I want a school confirmation on their academic ability. I have seen some very generous "roundings" of GPA. I fully understand that the chapters can sniff this out with the Panhellenic transcript but if I am signing my name to a rec then I want to confirm that what I am telling the chapters is true.

I find it very odd, not to mention inappropriate, for a campus Panhellenic to tell the girls not to send the transcripts to the APH's and to their rec writers. If the individual chapters do not want me to pass along the transcript, then I won't. But please don't interfere with the information available to me through the APH.

[OleMissGlitter]

I've viewed every type of "rec" you can imagine as a past chapter advisor. The handwritten letters from a 90-year old alumna are by far the best, those are special in my opinion. The "rec" form that each NPC group provides for alumnae to use is the best (I think). Some have online ones now. I know this year I have asked anyone who needs a rec to send me their information in "electronic format". I did send a typed rec to Alpha Phi when they were colonizing at Alabama. A young lady I knew was going through and she didn’t know any Alpha Phi alumnae and none in her area. So I typed it as a fellow NPC alumna. I know every now and then those can appear.

As far as why the Panhellenic doesn't want their transcripts...I am not sure why they don’t want them. I have heard about PNMs doctoring up their transcripts. Personally, I’m not sure why University Panhellenics don’t check grades when they register using ICS or other recruitment database tools. But I’m sure that’s because of FERPA and other laws and plus that would probably be a headache at larger schools where you have 1000+ PNMs going through recruitment. So just my two cents

[carolkr]

Thanks for all the advice and information. Daughter put together a stack of packages to mail or deliver to the women who have offered to write recommendations. We've got 2-3 for each sorority, so hopefully all the ladies will get the recs in on time. Most of them only do a few each year so I don't think we are in crunch time yet.
Thanks again for the help.