University of Tennessee-Knoxville Recruitment

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[KSUViolet06]

Recs are good to have at UTK. If your town doesn't have an Alumna Panhellenic, you can still contact other ones in TN for help.

Also, I posted this in a thread about recs and it may help you brainstorm places where there may be women who can write you recs.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...t=53908&page=7

Getting recommendations for every sorority requires some effort and some leg work, but it can be done (even by girls who aren't from Greek families).

[gee_ess]

Where I live, there is not an organized pan group, but there are still several women from various NPC groups. Just start asking anyone and everyone if they happen to belong to a sororityand explain you are going through recruitment. Eventually you will locate what you need. Usually a sorority woman will be able to lead you to others.

You don't mention whether or not you are entering Tenn this fall, but if so, you need to have your resume, pictures, SASE envelopes for each house, etc ready to hand out when you find your alums. If rush is in the fall, then recs are (usually) due early to mid summer.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by gee_ess

Where I live, there is not an organized pan group, but there are still several women from various NPC groups.

There's not an organized pan group in the NWA area?

I didn't know that! I figured there was a pretty good one. Little Rock has one, right?

[gee_ess]

^^^I am not in NWA...

Yes, LR has a very active and involved Alumnae Panhellenic Association.

[honeychile]

ec7721, chances are very good that you DO know quite a few Panhellenic women, but you just don't know who or which sororities. And you are going to need each one!

As another poster mentioned, ask everyone you know - male & female. Many men you ask may have a wife or sister who will write a rec for you. One creative woman at my mother's church was listed in the church bulletin as graduating from high school, & would love to have help with recommendations! I really admired her ingenuity - she knows what she wants, and is going after it! Have both of your parents ask around - or even siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. Leave no stone unturned.

Good luck!

[violetpretty]

Often, if you can find one alumna, there is a really good chance that she will know of alumnae of other sororities. As a sorority alumna, I know alumnae from almost the whole NPC and I live in the North where Greek life is not popular. Fraternity alumni might be able to point you in the direction of sorority alumnae, so ask them too.

[Tippiechick]

Originally Posted by ec7721

Hi, I'm new here to GC.

I’m hoping to attend the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in the near future. While I have a ways to go before I begin recruitment, I'm trying to do my research now. I live in Tennessee and I’m a double legacy at UTK, so I’m very familiar with the school, but I’m clueless when it comes to recruitment there. My family has no history of sororities, so they are a bit clueless as to how to help me with this process. I realize that it’s very competitive here in the South, especially with SEC schools; however, after researching it, I haven’t been able to get a decisive answer regarding the competitiveness of UTK. I’ve searched, only to find a wide array of answers, ranging from “very competitive” to “not too competitive.” So my first question is, from someone that is familiar with it, how competitive is UTK compared to other SEC schools?

I realize with a school of this size, that there are probably many young women like me, who did their share of extracurricular activities in high school and have a good GPA, but there isn’t anything that sets them apart on paper. While I realize that a lot of it depends on how well you “click” with a particular sorority, is it possible for an average person like me, with no prior affiliation, a good GPA, and some extracurricular activities, to get a bid at a competitive school?

My last question is how do I go about obtaining recommendations if I don't know anyone affiliated with a sorority and Knoxville doesn't have an Alumnae Panhellenic Group that I can contact?

Thank you very much for your help!

Try contacting the sorority alumnae group for each group. I know there's a Knoxville ZTA alumnae group. Just look them up online. Start there for your recs.

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[volmom]

ec7721
Approach recruitment with an open mind and just be yourself.
Form your own opinion of where you fit in best, because the sorority that may "sell" itself best is not always the "best".

[barnard1897]

Recs are very important at UTK. I know for a fact that in the past, at least one very competitive house down there essentially "pre-selected" their NM class from the recs that came in, before recruitment even happened. Ie, they'd sort all the recs over the summer into piles, and pretty much figure it out--so many from this high school, a few from that one, a couple from this neighborhood, and so forth. Totally against policy? Yes. Did it rule out anyone who didn't have a rec? Pretty much.

[ZetaBeta]

Do the sororities at UTK look at the girls regionally? What I mean, is do they take so many from Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, etc.? What does this mean for out-of-state girls?

[formerlurker]

Many of the chapters at UTK do regionalize their pledge classes. They want girls from every city and even from certain high schools in those cities. However, most of them also want some girls from small towns and some from out of state. Some of the chapters take a lot of out of state girls and others just a few. It may help you to stand out since you will be in a different category from the girls who are from the big Memphis or Knoxville high schools.
Also, Barnard 1897 is correct that some of the chapters use recs and resumes to make a preliminary list of who they want to recruit before rush even starts. (I assume this is probably done at most SEC schools.) Get a rec for every chapter- When chapters are only allowed to invite a certain number of girls to their parties, the first to be dropped are those with poor grades, poor resumes, and no recs.
Recruitment at UTK is competitive, but if you are open to ALL of the chapters, ignore the tent talk, and maximize your options you should have a good outcome. Good Luck and Go Vols!

[ZetaBeta]

Thanks for clearing that up!

[tennesseemom]

anyone know the numbers for UT rush this fall? I've heard they are really up this year, with the committment of new sorority houses for all of 2010.Go Vols!