Schools where you absolutely positively need recs - Page 12

princessamy · #**166** 12-30-2010, 09:17 PM

does anyone know about troy university in alabama?

Titchou · #**167** 12-30-2010, 09:25 PM

Troy is in the south so it would be best to get them.

And Bamabelle96, they do not have to be from relatives. Do you know friends in the needed sororities? They will know alums to introduce you to. Ask parents' friends, teachers, counselors, girl scout troop leader, employers, etc. In other words, network.

ktbug5693 · #**168** 01-08-2011, 02:31 AM

does anyone know about western kentucky? i know its in the south and all, but i didnt know how competitive their recruitments are. hopefully someone knows!

IndianaSigKap · #**169** 01-22-2011, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thetagirl218

Ok, I am coming into this post late, but I would think recs would be needed at a school like DePauw simply for the mere fact that two of the six NPC chapters have their Alpha chapters there (Kappa Alpha Theta and Alpha Chi Omega). However, someone from DePauw might have more insight.

I am glad I checked this though, I am writing a rec for someone going to LSU. I told her it is probably a good idea to get recs for every sorority there!

Very few of the women at DePauw get recs. It's a small campus and every girl I know who has been Greek (40+) there did NOT have a rec. Pretty much every girl who maximizes her options will get a bid.

aross · #**170** 03-28-2011, 02:48 PM

I know USC is definitely competitive not exactly sure about UCLA though, my best bet is yes.
As for CAL I know they have have the biggest Greek system on the west coast I would say that you will probably want some recs but I don't think they are required. What I do know is that CALs greek like if absolutely amazing, the houses that I have been to are so fun and the people are completely down to earth! GO BEARS!

ellebud · #**171** 03-28-2011, 06:41 PM

USC is an extremely competitive recruitment. That being said, my daughter rushed with three recs: one to a house that she wasn't interested in, one to a house that wasn't a fit, and one to a house that she preffed. Outcome? She pledged a house where she didn't have a rec. Not having a rec isn't fatal at USC, but I'd certainly advise that you should. UCLA is far less stressful. But if you can get recs, do it. (And do not pay attention to the recruitment advice that UCLA gives that you can wear cutoffs and flipflops to recruitment. Even if you can carry the look off, it shows a lack of respect.)

DeltaBetaBaby · #**172** 03-28-2011, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellebud

USC is an extremely competitive recruitment. That being said, my daughter rushed with three recs: one to a house that she wasn't interested in, one to a house that wasn't a fit, and one to a house that she preffed. Outcome? She pledged a house where she didn't have a rec. Not having a rec isn't fatal at USC, but I'd certainly advise that you should. UCLA is far less stressful. But if you can get recs, do it. (And do not pay attention to the recruitment advice that UCLA gives that you can wear cutoffs and flipflops to recruitment. Even if you can carry the look off, it shows a lack of respect.)

I'm going to try to be polite about this, but please don't show up and give bad advice. You do NOT know which chapters had recs for your daughter. Also, your daughter's outcome has nothing to do with PNM's who may be reading this thread and getting ready to go through recruitment. We've discussed this time and time again: women attending USC should obtain recs to every chapter.

IndianaSigKap · #**173** 03-28-2011, 07:10 PM

That is so true. You may not know if someone sent in a rec for you. I had no idea that I had two recs to the same chapter when I went through recruitment. A girl from my hometown was in the chapter and secured a rec from the same hometown alum who wrote one for her. The other rec came from a friend of my family's. She told me after recruitment that she had written it, I had no idea before hand.

ellebud · #**174** 03-28-2011, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I'm going to try to be polite about this, but please don't show up and give bad advice. You do NOT know which chapters had recs for your daughter. Also, your daughter's outcome has nothing to do with PNM's who may be reading this thread and getting ready to go through recruitment. We've discussed this time and time again: women attending USC should obtain recs to every chapter.

Now I'm going to be polite about this: I absolutely DO know where my daughter had recs. Why? Because in my part of town, west Los Angeles, most of us either didn't belong to sororities or they belonged to AEPhi or SDT.
Sorority membership for girls from Orange County is different and yes, more widespread. We don't go to Neimans and ask around. It is different. My daughter, who was told that a friend of a friend was writing a rec for her in the house that she joined, absolutely didn't have a rec. She checked. An alum wrote her one on Pref night.

As I said, yes, you should have recs. But, as my daughter saw last year a good number of girls didn't have recs. They still got bids. Might they have had a different/better outcome? Possibly. But Los Angeles is a different animal.

DeltaBetaBaby · #**175** 03-29-2011, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellebud

An alum wrote her one on Pref night.

Uh, someone wrote her a rec? Then guess what? SHE HAD A REC!!!

In any case, unless you were privy to the membership selection of every chapter on campus, you do not really know who had what on your daughter or any of the other PNM's with which you were acquainted.

ellebud · #**176** 03-29-2011, 12:36 PM

In my view a rec is a letter of introduction that a sorority reads prior to recruitment. Some houses require someone to vouch for a new member. That is what my daughter received on bid night. Of course I don't know who had what and in any/every house. What I do know is that a good number of girls who I know went in to recruitment without any recs and they got bids. And this bespeaks some very fine points about USC recruitment: Houses are open to meeting pnms. The houses read the applications and know who they are meeting. And I mean this in a good way. Does it help to have a rec going in? Obviously. Will it paralyze you in the process if you don't? No, not if you are open minded/you click with someone in a house/if the house really wants you.

Yes, really try to get recs for SC. But ultimately, not having them going in, for most houses, is not the ultimate deal breaker.

crescent&pearls · #**177** 03-29-2011, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellebud

Does it help to have a rec going in? Obviously. Will it paralyze you in the process if you don't? No, not if you are open minded/you click with someone in a house/if the house really wants you.

Yes, really try to get recs for SC. But ultimately, not having them going in, for most houses, is not the ultimate deal breaker.

I have to agree with ellebud on those points as applicable at most of the schools in California. The important thing is that women should not be deterred from participating in recruitment because they don't necessarily know NPC alumnae write personal letters of reference. You can try to contact your local area alumnae Panhellenic (if there is one) and they usually try to be helpful as much as they can. IMO a reference written by someone who does not personally know you is not going to contain information that can't be obtained from the recruitment application, so is that a huge help? Probably not.

What pnms can do is try to network to the best of their ability. What is really important is get your recruitment application/registration and any information your campus Panhellenic asks for i.e. transcripts or grade releases IN ON TIME.

shirley1929 · #**178** 04-03-2011, 08:36 AM

Hi All...I dug around looking for this one and didn't find it. Apologies if it's been mentioned somewhere else.

A relative is going through rush at Alabama this fall. She's from out of state, and the state where she's from has a very organized alumni/panhellenic system. Typically, you would ask one XYZ person to write a XYZ rec, and then any other XYZ women you knew would write letters of support of that rec. That means you could have as many as 10 letters (or more!) of support for XYZ.

Alabama Panhellenic has (both on their website and at the sorority weekend) stressed that letters of support are absolutely NOT considered, and if you MUST do them, please do not send more than two. This is throwing a wrench in my relative's better sensibilities, since we're of the mindset that more is always better!

There's also the factor here that people will ask (and assume they'll be asked) to write letters. Does she politely tell them "no, we don't need your letter"? Seems wrong on so many levels...

Does anyone know about this or have any input on it? Thanks in advance!

FSUZeta · #**179** 04-03-2011, 08:52 AM

shirley, if bama panhell is stressing that no more than two support letters are necessary, but that they would prefer no letters of support, there are a couple of options:

1)your niece or sister could ask their local panhellenic if they know anything about bama's views on letters of support, which might prompt them to call a bama alum and get to the bottom of the situation.

2)once your niece has two letters and a rec. she graciously thanks everyone else who offers her assistance and explains the bama situation to them.

3) she ignores the recommendation from bama that she heard about at panhellenic weekend and that is posted on the bama panhellenic website. after all, the recs. are going to go directly to the sororities, not be filtered through the panhellenic office, so she would only incur the wrath of the specific sorority that the mailbag of recommendation letters went to. she might risk becoming infamous before rush even starts and be known as "letter girl".

we do have a couple of gc members who are advisers to bama chapters. maybe they will be able to answer your questions.

33girl · #**180** 04-03-2011, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

we do have a couple of gc members who are advisers to bama chapters. maybe they will be able to answer your questions.

I would DEFINITELY wait until some of these posters weigh in on what the real scoop is, shirley, before you decide what to do.

The way that is written on the Alabama Panhel website really really REALLY seems to be stepping over the bounds of individual chapters' membership selection practices, IMO. Plus, what if the alum doesn't even mention it to the rushee and just goes ahead and sends a letter? I'm sure some alumnae do/will.

http://www.uapanhellenic.com/index.p...d=15&Itemid=32