Potential New Members This Is Important

[33girl]

On the other side of this coin...don't exaggerate or straight up lie. You will get pwned if you do. Watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon for 5 minutes does not make you a "Muscular Dystrophy Association volunteer."

Not everyone was president or chair of something. Don't say you were if you weren't. Everyone in a sorority (even at a supercompetitive school) was not Tracy Flick. I just feel like PNMs are going to look at the first post in this thread and say "oh God, I have NOTHING, I'm not even going to try to rush."

[BeeBee23]

I didn't read through this entire thread, so I apologize if this has already been posted.

But my chapter really really likes to see dates. Like how long you were involved in an organization.

For example:

Spanish Honor Society: 9-12th grade
Varsity Cheerleading: 11-12th grade; Co-Captain

We also love to see senior superlatives and those types of things listed because it helps us get a feel for your personality. Ex: If you are prom queen, you're probably outgoing. Or, if you were voted funniest, well...you will probably add humor to our chapter. ect.

Basically, being really detailed and listing anything that could boost your resume will help a ton!

[CluelessIllini]

After reading this thread, I am a little worried. Am I able to go back and change stuff on my application to make it more detailed or should I just send my resume?

[BeeBee23]

You probably won't be able to edit it as the chapters probably get it sent in after you submitted it. At least the PNMs here can't edit.

Contact the women who wrote you recs and see if they are willing to send a photo and resume in too. Often times they will list or mention some of your HS activities, but I always think a resume is better.

[CluelessIllini]

Thanks. I do not have any recs, so should I send a resume to each sorority on campus or just to Panhellenic? And would it be better to send it by mail or email?

[shermanyh]

　
Ugh I feel like a slacker. But in reality because of at home situations (which I will not say because I have been studying on how to be a good pnm) I was not able to participate in many after school activities or even go out much to do volunteer work.
But here are some things I listed on my application

Activities-Leadership, Drama, Culinary Arts, and Mentorship.

Interests-Music, Reading, Learning more about Animal and body Science., Experiencing cultures varying from mine. Cooking and making people smile. Analyzing movies.

Honors and Awards-Student of the day twice, Cardinal caught caring, Junior Achievement, Honors in Human Anatomy and Multicultural Literature and Service Superstar.

Community Service and Volunteer Activities-N/A

I put N/A because I wasn’t sure if I should out down activates to do with church. But this is what I can put down Diamonds in the rough- Church group volunteered at nursing home. Luckily I can change the info so should I put that? Is there anything I should change? There is always room for improvementJ

[BeeBee23]

It's only appropriate for alumnae of the individual chapters to contact/send things to the sororities on your campus.

Is your recruitment competitive? Do you need recs?


EDIT: Shermanyh, I put down church activities on mine as well as camp volunteer stuff I did. If you think about it for a little while I'm sure something will come to you that you've volunteered for that you may not automatically think of.

[CluelessIllini]

Well, the people I know said that its not too competitive. Recs are not required. We have a lot of chapters on our campus.

On here, people have told me that it is better to have recs if I can get them.

So I guess I should email it to panhellenic?

[BeeBee23]

Well, if you have women who are willing to write you a rec, just give these women a copy of you resume and a photo---you can even email these things to them. Then, the woman writing the rec will send all of that over to the chapter they are writing it for.

If you can't find women to write recs for you, contact your local alumnae association.

[shermanyh]

Originally Posted by BeeBee23

EDIT: Shermanyh, I put down church activities on mine as well as camp volunteer stuff I did. If you think about it for a little while I'm sure something will come to you that you've volunteered for that you may not automatically think of.

Thanks Beebee and no i really dont have anymore volunteer thanks to certain at home situations but i do have an honor in culinary arts i could add and Junior achievement maybe i should explain what that one is

[KSUViolet06]

This thread is certainly not meant to freak PNMs out, or make them think that they need to run out and get involved in something new RIGHT NOW.

I think the point is to say that if you have some outstanding accomplishments, please list them.

You also shouldn't assume that because you're not a High School Mother Theresa or Serena Williams mixed with some Hilary Clinton, that you have nothing.

There are things PNMs did that they don't put down because they don't think it "counts."

Ex: I had a girl tell me, I didn't do alot in HS, I just worked at a YMCA camp during the summer. No, it's not saving starving orpans in 3rd world countries, but it is worth noting.

[jwright25]

Originally Posted by tinytina10

I second the comment about application pictures. Not only with the silly things, but I specifically remember how surprised we were with the "seductive" pictures that were sent. I realize it might be your favorite picture of yourself but showing cleavage, mid drift or too much thigh isn't appropriate for recruitment application pictures. It sounds obvious but it happens SO often. There's nothing wrong with flattering pictures, thats great, but it shouldn't be seductive.

QFT. Please also avoid prom pics. I know you spent hours on that look, but unless you plan on coming to recruitment parties with the same hair, makeup, and attire, it will do you no good. Chapters use the pics for recognition purposes so that they can match your real-life conversation to your application and remember all your wonderful qualities. Submit a photo that looks like you do at any given time.

[MaggieXi]

This is more for sophomores and people with deferred recruitment: Do not lie on you online application about being involved in certain clubs or activities on campus. There is a very good chance that there is an active sister involved in that specific campus activity and you will get caught if you lie about belonging to it.

We had a PNM write on her application that she was an active member in habitat. One of our sisters was the president of habitat, she didn't know the girl and looked on her list of habitat members and the girl wasn't listed.

[AXOrushadvisor]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

This thread is certainly not meant to freak PNMs out, or make them think that they need to run out and get involved in something new RIGHT NOW.

I think the point is to say that if you have some outstanding accomplishments, please list them.

You also shouldn't assume that because you're not a High School Mother Theresa or Serena Williams mixed with some Hilary Clinton, that you have nothing.

There are things PNMs did that they don't put down because they don't think it "counts."

Ex: I had a girl tell me, I didn't do alot in HS, I just worked at a YMCA camp during the summer. No, it's not saving starving orpans in 3rd world countries, but it is worth noting.

KSU is right, this was not meant to freak out PNM's it was merely a caution to take the time when filling out the application. It might even be a good idea to pull it up see what type of information the school is asking for and think about it. I do not think that most people go through HS and don't have a thing to list on the application. Even my son who was not involved AT ALL in HS -seriously I could find stuff to put on his application. If your stumped ask your parents or friends, look at old yearbooks. I bet you can find some stuff. The point is don't leave it blank because all things being equal and you have one invite left; which PNM are you going to invite back?

[gee_ess]

Some suggestions - unless you went home and sat in front of the tv every day, then you probably DID do something that you can list.

Try to think of random, seemingly insignificant things. You will be surprised.

Church activities count
Blood drives (volunteer or participant)
Did you help your friend decorate for the prom/homecoming/etc? You were on the decorating committee.
Did you get nominated for Who's Who (where they try to sell you a book?) list that.
Teacher's aide
summer activities - definitely list camps, jobs, etc.

And, if you do have a particular situation that kept you from being very involved - maybe your mother was seriously ill and you had to come home every day and take care of the house, then that is definitely something your rec writers need to know. It should be included in your letters because it will shed light on your lack of activities and will help them get to know you.

Also, a note to tired/lazy pnms - when filling out their online applications, my daughters just cut and pasted their resume word document into the application. This saved a ton of time and ensured that the info was complete.