General Advice

[KSUViolet06]

Correct me if I'm off-base UGA peeps:

If a chapter secures a rec for a girl who doesn't have one, she's probably Mother Theresa reincarnated or some other type of amazing. That doesn't happen a lot. Don't believe the hype about chapters securing them. The only way you know for sure that you have them is getting them yourselves.

[HQWest]

No - that is not necessarily the case that she is a saint. Because recs arent required to go through recruitment some women will have an alum (a friend of their mom or a secretary from school) write a rec on their behalf but never know it.
The problem at the super competitive recruitments is that you can't count on that for every chapter and it is often better to have a letter from someone who knows you well.
To put your best foot - and have a chance at all the chapters - forward at UGA you should try to get at least one for each chapter.

[uga17mom]

Thank you! My daughter has only secured half of her recs and it is unlikely she will secure all 17 in time for recruitment. Last year, 1100 out of 1400 girls accepted a bid at UGA. Of the 300 who did not accept bid, many received a bid but chose not to accept it. Surely not all the girls had a rec for every sorority? She is completely open minded and happy to consider all the houses, so I'm hoping that the handful she does have will be enough to secure 1 bid! She knows she is at a disadvantage and prepared for anything. We will know just how disadvantaged in 3 weeks' time!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by uga17mom

Last year, 1100 out of 1400 girls accepted a bid at UGA. Of the 300 who did not accept bid, many received a bid but chose not to accept it.

[Old_Row]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Hahaha I love that! It sounds like someone needs to stop listening to gossip. This sounds completely untrue!!!!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I have written recs for women who didn't know it (including one woman who pledged at UGA).

[uga17mom]

Did someone ask you on her behalf or did you simply provide a recommendation on your own because you knew she was rushing?

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by uga17mom

Did someone ask you on her behalf or did you simply provide a recommendation on your own because you knew she was rushing?

The latter. She was an absolute SUPERSTAR, though.

[amIblue?]

On the topic of a rec getting written for you that you didn't know about, this is how I got my Kappa rec. There was a woman that I had grown up knowing in my church who was six years older than I was. I had not heard from her since she left for college. I didn't know she was a Kappa until I saw her again at the beginning of my sophomore year when she was advising the chapter at recruitment. Guess who wrote my rec?

I'm sharing my story to say that it can happen that a PNM can have recs she doesn't know about, but I would do everything I could to secure recs to as many chapters as possible at an SEC school. Things don't always work out so serendipitously.

[DubaiSis]

There are quite a few variables here. One is some sororities by their inter/national bylaws require a recommendation, no question. At less competitive schools they will find an alum to make some phone calls and get it done. At a UGA type school, they REALLY don't have to do this because there are so many girls who have done the tedious work for them. Does it still happen? I'm 100% sure it still happens that a chapter will find a woman to write a rec so that they can check that box for a girl they love. But to rely on that is risky, and that's what people are saying. Also, I believe that whether or not the various chapters absolutely require them is member selection material and therefore secret. I'm also 100% sure that girls get pledged without having recs to some or even all of the chapters. I'm not a fan of recs as a general practice (I think recommendations should be reserved for personal references, not for any Tina Denise or Harriet who comes along), but if I were going through rush today, I'd make sure I had them. Why handicap myself over something I can prevent?

/ETA I'm on my high horse this rush season asking for people to let us know after the fact how rush turned out in comparison to their recommendations. All things being equal, how did cuts go relative to the recs you went in with (that you're aware of anyway). That won't answer all questions, but it will give us an inkling.

[ladybug12]

From official RFM report at UGA. 1399 women registered for recruitment. 1128 women matched for bids. 27 unmatched. 54 released from the system. 90% placement, pretty darn good stats,IMO.

So obviously some voluntarily withdrew from recruitment as well...but not in large numbers....

[DubaiSis]

And to translate some of those numbers, the 27 unmatched didn't maximize their options and got zilch. 54 of 1399 got cut, less than 4% (I'm assuming some of those were for grades which can't be helped by the system). 190 dropped out, or 13.5%.

I would say UGA is doing it about right! Some girls are just not going to accept anything but special snowflake status and some will have just been overwhelmed by the process.

[uga17mom]

Thank you for those detailed numbers. I obviously worded my previous post incorrectly and I can understand why I was questioned on it. Sorry about that! I'm new to this world and new to the lingo. I'm glad we ultimately got the facts!

[KSUViolet06]

I laugh a little when people post crazy numbers, because even at the most competitive schools (Arkansas, Bama, etc.) if you look at the RFM data, placements are usually 90% or above. Meaning that 90% of the women who stick it out, get a bid somewhere.

Now is it always their #1 choice? No. But usually 90% or more of the women participating will get a bid SOMEWHERE, even if it's their second or third choice (for those schools where women pref 3 groups.)

[phimusam]

With the massive numbers and the daily list making, the time to get a rec for someone who didn't have one in the system is scarce.