Rec question

[princesspeach]

I am a PNM rushing this fall. I ran across a blog written by a sorority active who writes about sorority-related advice. I read the section she had about recs, and she said that if a sorority has a rec for you, they are REQUIRED to invite you back to day 2, and therefore since so many invitations will be reserved for girls who have recs, girls without recs are at a huge disadvantage. She also said to tell your rho chi if you had a rec to a house but weren't invited back.

Is this true? From what I've read on Greekchat, I don't think it is. But reading it in context it did not sound like she meant that this was specific to one school or sorority. However, since I am going into recruitment with not a single rec, this has me pretty worried. I wanted to check with you guys before panicking!

Originally Posted by princesspeach

I am a PNM rushing this fall. I ran across a blog written by a sorority active who writes about sorority-related advice. I read the section she had about recs, and she said that if a sorority has a rec for you, they are REQUIRED to invite you back to day 2, and therefore since so many invitations will be reserved for girls who have recs, girls without recs are at a huge disadvantage. She also said to tell your rho chi if you had a rec to a house but weren't invited back.

Is this true? From what I've read on Greekchat, I don't think it is. But reading it in context it did not sound like she meant that this was specific to one school or sorority. However, since I am going into recruitment with not a single rec, this has me pretty worried. I wanted to check with you guys before panicking!

Care to post a link to this blog? You're not talking about the CosmoGirl one, are you?

[FSUZeta]

it is not true. neither is the information she posted about legacies.

If you have a close friend or relative that is in another sorority you should ask her to write you a letter of recommendation to her chapter. Recruitment advisor’s read each of these letters which allows the chapter to pay special attention to you during the rush process. All girls with letters of recommendation have to be invited back for day 2. If you had someone write you a letter of rec for a certain house and get dropped from that house on day 2, let your recruitment counselor know immediately because this is not allowed. Letter’s of recommendation are very helpful because there are so many girls that go through, it’s easy to fall through the cracks. Letters of rec allow a chapter to know more about you and how wonderful you are.

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.

Girls with recs get cut all the time. Recs do not guarantee the PNM an invite for day 2. Recs do help, but they by no means give you an automatic pass to day 2.

If a PNM is dropped by a house, it's suggested that she indicate as such in a thank you note to the woman who wrote her that rec. Recruitment counselors have nothing to do with that.

What school does this chick go to?

[ComradesTrue]

I would not put much credence in what you read in that blog. There are multiple errors, and possibly represent one person's experience with her one chapter.

Just as with anything else, you can't always trust what you read on the internet. (except greekchat of course...)

[KSUViolet06]

This is NOT TRUE.

If you think about it, at a big school in the SEC like Ole Miss or Bama, 99% of the girls have recs. The sororities could not possibly invite back EVERY SINGLE girl who has one. It's impossible, since they can only invite back so many women each round.

The part about recruitment counselors is particularly laughable.

Please do not think that your recruitment counselor has the power to do anything if you get cut from a sorority. There is nothing she can do about it.

If you walk up to your recruitment counselor and tell her "I got cut from XYZ, but I have a rec for them, can you tell them that they have to invite me back" she's going to look at you like you're crazy.

These are my favorites so far:

Panhellenic: This is another name for “Greek” so if you see signs for “Panhellenic Recruitment” this means.. Greek Recruitment.

Legacy: This is a girl who has had a mom, sister, or grandmother in a particular sorority. If my mother was a Delta Nu, I would be a legacy to Delta Nu and therefore would get special attention from the sisters of Delta Nu.

Letter of Recommendation: These are letters written by former sisters of a particular sorority recommending you to a chapter. It doesn’t matter how this woman is related to you or from what school she came from. Letters of Rec are accepted from anyone who was a member of that sorority anywhere in the nation.

Continuous Open Bidding: Some schools with smaller greek systems will offer this throughout the quarter. This is when a chapter can give a PNM a bid after the formal recruitment process is over. For example, if your roommate really wanted to join your sorority, the sisters of delta nu could give her a bid even after sorority rush is over. This is called a COB. This is not very common and does not usually happen at large Greek schools.

VP Recruitment: This is the girl who is the head of recruitment and has lots of say on who gets in and who does not.

[KSUViolet06]

Oh wow. Yeah I would caution PNMs against taking any of that seriously.

[HunterJumper]

Reading those is slightly aggrevating.. I agree with KSUViolet.. PNMs really need to be careful with what they're finding through oh so VERY reliable media..

I went through recruitment as a legacy and every house knew it.

[VandalSquirrel]

Read her recruitment story, she claims to be a legacy to Alpha Phi because her sister in law is a member. Just because a rec is written doesn't mean that a) it is a favorable one b) they received it or care what the alumna thinks or c) that even if there's a good one, it can be canceled out by a NO REC.

The grammar and spelling, not so impressive, neither are the pictures of them in bras at a serenade.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

Read her recruitment story, she claims to be a legacy to Alpha Phi because her sister in law is a member.

That's pretty funny.

I can't think of a sorority that counts sisters-in-law as legacies.

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

Read her recruitment story, she claims to be a legacy to Alpha Phi because her sister in law is a member. Just because a rec is written doesn't mean that a) it is a favorable one b) they received it or care what the alumna thinks or c) that even if there's a good one, it can be canceled out by a NO REC.

The grammar and spelling, not so impressive, neither are the pictures of them in bras at a serenade.

I don't think this person is even legit. I think this blog's author swiped a bunch of pictures of pretty people off the internet and attempted to write something she thought she knew about.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by OTW

I don't think this person is even legit. I think this blog's author swiped a bunch of pictures of pretty people off the internet and attempted to write something she thought she knew about.

I think that should be a warning to people who take pictures and post them online. You can't control it once you put it out there, and even if it was meant to be private or a joke, it will likely not work out that way.

It is blogs like these that can actually hurt some unsuspecting but completely worthy girl in recruitment. The information is mostly incorrect, the terminology is incorrect, and I hope she isn't a creative writing or journalism major.

Who gives it 24 hours for the blog owner, or an anonymous person here saying we're mean and defending it to show up?

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

That's pretty funny.

I can't think of a sorority that counts sisters-in-law as legacies.

Semi-Off Topic: Do any sororities count in-laws as an influence of any kind, like on the level of a cousin or something? Obviously they're not legacies.

Back to the girl's website: She seems to know very little about what she's talking about, like, to the point that I have to wonder if she is actually in a sorority at all. I mean, in her rush story she has a photo of a group of people and comments disdainfully that she would have had people like them as friends were she not in a sorority.

I hate that people are getting rush advice from blogs like that.

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I think that should be a warning to people who take pictures and post them online. You can't control it once you put it out there, and even if it was meant to be private or a joke, it will likely not work out that way.

It is blogs like these that can actually hurt some unsuspecting but completely worthy girl in recruitment. The information is mostly incorrect, the terminology is incorrect, and I hope she isn't a creative writing or journalism major.

Who gives it 24 hours for the blog owner, or an anonymous person here saying we're mean and defending it to show up?

I tried posting a comment or two correcting her, but the comment's "in moderation" -- I get the feeling she won't allow anything on, especially the ones that criticize her blog.