Questions about recruitment at University of Alabama

[greekcurious]

Hello!
I recently got accepted to University of Alabama and I am so excited to possibly become part of such a wonderful school in the fall. I definitely want to rush. I think I have a general idea of what rush is like, but I have a few questions.
1. I am from the northeast and have a 2.81 high school GPA (as of now...I think it will go up between now and the end of senior year). Will this end up hurting me? I've been looking on these forums and it seems like when sororities look at PNM's general profiles, a low GPA could harm me before I even get a chance to rush.
2. What exactly are letters of recommendation and how do I get 2 for each sorority if I hardly know any Greek alumni? Also, can they be Greek alum from any school? or does it have to be Alabama? When should I go about finding/sending out these letters of recommendation?

I hope you guys can help me out here! Thanks so much!

[SigKapSweetie]

I think your GPA will be a very large stumbling block for you. You will find that the sorority GPAs are relatively high. I was under the impression (which evidently was untrue) that Bama wasn't taking freshmen with GPAs below 3.0 anymore.

[DubaiSis]

You have some homework to do. Start by reading here about recommendations. And I will almost guarantee you know at least a few sorority women. Start by asking your teachers. And every time you find someone who is a sorority women, ask her who else you might ask.

Second, an insufficient GPA will get you cut regardless of how much they like you. I can't tell you if your current GPA is good enough to make the cut but I would do everything you can to get straight A's this semester and next.

This site can be extremely helpful. Do more reading and less typing. Then later on you can ask some more specific questions.

[Titchou]

Do a search for Bama or Alabama recruitment. And read the sticky at the top of the sorority recruitment page about schools where you absolutley must have recs because you must have them at Alabama. Northeast is going to be hard because most people there don't do them because most of the schools up there don't require them. But read the threads and NETWORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, they do not have to be Alabama alumnae.

And yes, I'm surprised you got in with a 2.8. It's going to hurt you in recruitment. Your ACT must have been outstanding.

[AZTheta]

Here you go!

[greekdee]

Hi -- Congrats on your acceptance to Alabama! It is one of the schools a lot of girls in my community attend -- and one of the schools I send a lot of sorority recs to. BAMA's Panhellenic does not have a minimum GPA requirement to take part in recruitment, BUT they advise (strongly) that PNM's have a minimum GPA of 3.0.

My advice is to really commit yourself to earning all A's your last semester of high school. Sometimes, once a senior gets accepted into their college of choice, they relax their last semester of high school and let the grades slip. You won't have that luxury if you want to be in a sorority at Alabama. Also, whatever time you have left of this semester, make the most of it -- nail your finals, etc. You're actually close enough to pull this out of the fire.

Here is a link to Alabama's Panhellenic website -- specifically the Formal Recruitment Overview. It is from Fall 2012 Recruitment, but you will get the idea. Read everything on their website and bookmark it so you can easily check back for updates (when you aren't studying to make all those A's)

http://www.uapanhellenic.com/index.p...d=13&Itemid=30

[HQWest]

Strange - I didn't think Bama had early admission for fall 2013?
Applications aren't due until February...

[AGDee]

They have rolling admissions. I know of a few seniors who have been accepted for fall, some with a full scholarship.

[Hartofsec]

I think Alabama will accept applicants who have a 3 GPA and a 21 ACT, so it is not that difficult to be accepted. I know they must have accepted students with less than a 3.0 and below average ACTs last spring -- I know of two who are currently freshmen.


It is possible to pledge a sorority at Bama with a 2.8 -- I know several girls who have over the last several years. However, their options were significantly reduced after the first round or two. These were also girls who knew actives in many of the houses.


Chapters differ in what they will accept in terms of GPAs during member selection. The individual chapter GPAs at Alabama vary widely -- some chapters have high GPAs, while some barely have a 3, and a few are below a 3. However, this should not be extrapolated to indicate member selection requirements. The Greek semester grade reports can be found here:


http://greekaffairs.ua.edu/resources.cfm



greekcurious, it would really help if you could raise your GPA to a 3 at least -- it is to your advantage to be as stellar on paper as possible. If you excell your senior year, you might consider listing your senior-year GPA separately on your rush resume, just below your overall GPA (I've seen this done before). This would at least help the alums who write your recs see a trend toward improvement.


As long as you know and accept that a lower GPA will limit your options -- you have nothing to lose by trying. Good luck with it (study hard!).

[AnchorAlumna]

I believe this past recruitment, even Panhellenic urged women to not sign up for recruitment if they had less than a 3.0. Many sorority chapters' own local requirement is well above a 3.0, as high as 3.5.
Has there been a reason your grades are low? Illness? A challenging course of study? Make sure your rec writers know this so they can feature it in their recommendations.
But if your final grades are below 3.0, you will not make it past the first round with the majority of chapters. There are hundreds and hundreds of Potential New Members with over a 4.0, and many more with 3.8 and above - so many that the sororities can fill their new member classes with them and not even have to consider someone with less than a 3.0.