Schools where you absolutely positively need recs

[Greek_or_Geek?]

Originally Posted by mizmama

I have a question about recommendations, and I have searched this forum but cannot find similar discussions. My daughter will be participating in recruitment at a large school with a very active greek life. When we attended orientation earlier this summer, the greek life rep responded to a specific question by saying that recs "aren't needed" and even went so far as to give the impression securing them is a waste of time. Fast forward to a couple of weeks before rush and I learn on this forum that recs are "absolutely necessary" at her school.

Fortunately she was able to secure a few in the short time we had prior to the rec letter deadline, but had we gotten accurate information at orientation, she could have gotten recs to all the chapters. Why would the greek life representative give incorrect information?

Because the offices of Greek life at some schools are much too focused on making students and their parents feel warm and fluffy and wanted than on helping the students have successful recruitments.

[PNM128]

Quick Question:

I contacted my local alumnae group back in early June (I went to their meeting and gave them copies of my resume and picture for each of the sororities that I have on campus). However, I have only been contacted by a couple of ladies that have received my information from the organization. Is it safe to say that I also have recommendations from other ladies that just simply had all the information they needed and didn't need to contact me or should I be worried? I'm assuming there's no way to check and see if someone has actually submitted a recommendation for you is there?

[Titchou]

IF that's the only way you attempted to get recommendations, you're up the proverbial creek. You could try to find out which groups followed thru and sent them but if you haven't done anything towards getting the others, it's going to be tough

[PNM128]

Titchou,

I also directly contacted a few women by email towards the beginning of June as well and a couple of women that I knew personally. However, the amount of responses I got and women that I personally knew did not nearly cover all the sororities (17) and I strove for at least one per sorority, so thats why I went through my local alumnae group.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by mizmama

I have a question about recommendations, and I have searched this forum but cannot find similar discussions. My daughter will be participating in recruitment at a large school with a very active greek life. When we attended orientation earlier this summer, the greek life rep responded to a specific question by saying that recs "aren't needed" and even went so far as to give the impression securing them is a waste of time. Fast forward to a couple of weeks before rush and I learn on this forum that recs are "absolutely necessary" at her school.

Fortunately she was able to secure a few in the short time we had prior to the rec letter deadline, but had we gotten accurate information at orientation, she could have gotten recs to all the chapters. Why would the greek life representative give incorrect information?

She may have just been ignorant.

[ChioLu]

Originally Posted by HQWest

Think about recruitment like a job interview. At a school where not many people have recs - a rec can be like a letter of introduction to someone you don't know or someone sending you to talk to someone about an unadvertised job opening that might be a good fit for you. It can help your resume get into the "must look at" pile.

At a school where everyone has recs - it can be kind of like a background check - is your resume really as good as you say? Or it can be like a really good letter of reference - she's awesome you should take her! Again, it can help your resume get into the "must look at" pile. (unless you don't make grades....)

In either case, member selection is up to the chapter, so while a really good reference can help, there very likely wouldn't be any decisions made on just that.

Great analogy HQWest. If you want a job at a certain firm and a current or past employee gives you a referral, it can increase your chances of being hired. Granted, that doesn't guarantee you'll get the job, but it's better than sending your resume, blindly, to that company. Would you rather have an employee walk your resume to the hiring manager or you emailing your resume through an internet job website?

Since this thread is now 20 pages about recs/referral letters, let me ask one (crazy) question:
Does anyone know of ANY college, university or GLO where it would be a DISADVANTAGE to HAVE a rec?
(I'd be really fascinated if there is & why.)

If there is NO school or group that is adverse to recommendations, the answer is simple:
GET RECS, get recs, get recs, get recs.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

Since this thread is now 20 pages about recs/referral letters, let me ask one (crazy) question:
Does anyone know of ANY college, university or GLO where it would be a DISADVANTAGE to HAVE a rec?
(I'd be really fascinated if there is & why.) If there is NO school or group that is adverse to recommendations, the answer is simple:
GET RECS, get recs, get recs, get recs.

Occasionally I hear of specific chapters that don't like to get recs or ignore them. Usually it's when they feel the alumnae are telling them what to do. But sometimes it's an alumna whose favorite PNM wasn't pledged.

[npkurtz]

i am going to be rushing at ole miss and still need a few more rec letters from pi beta phi or kappa delta and kappa kappa gamma if anyone can help me with this please let me know

[WCsweet<3]

Originally Posted by npkurtz

i am going to be rushing at ole miss and still need a few more rec letters from pi beta phi or kappa delta and kappa kappa gamma if anyone can help me with this please let me know

Posted in the Ole Miss thread:

there is an Ice-Cream Social for Potential New Members to meet with the Oxford Area NPC Alumnae. It's Sunday, August 19 at 1:00 pm at The Powerhouse on University Avenue.

Oxford Area NPC invites all the ladies going through Ole Miss recruitment to attend a brief social event to help find sorority alumnae recommendations, get a better understanding of what Greek life means and the benefits of going Greek.

Typically, asking for recs from strangers on the internet is not the best way to go and is often not appreciated by posters here. Just a heads up. Try asking the women who have already written you recs. The social might also help you.

[shesliketexas]

I have a question about recs. I'm rushing at SMU in the spring and need recs, and the NPC alumnae group in my area is not active anymore. The only other one near me won't let you register unless you have a zipcode of that city (Dallas), so I can't register. I've tried asking around but I only have a rec for one house, and all the other people I know that were in NPC sororities were in sororities that we do not have in campus. Does anyone know what I can do? Thank you.

[ComradesTrue]

^^^If you are near Dallas then you just need to keep asking around. You absolutely can not spit in the North Texas area and not hit a sorority alumna. When you find one, ask her if she knows others.

The chapters at SMU all have very strong ties in Texas. There are ample alumnae of those chapters that I assure you that you know one of each. Keep asking around- friends' moms, church, neighborhood, high school teachers, your parents' friends, etc. Go back and ask the alums of chapters not at SMU if they have friends that are alumnae of the groups there.

Good luck. It may take some work, but this is very, very, doable.

[Titchou]

Ask the people who were members of the groups not on campus if they know people in the ones on campus. Most of us know a lot of other Greek women....

[armywife]

Don't stress over getting recs. My daughter went through rush Fall 2012 at the University of Texas. We stressed out all Summer putting packets together and trying to get recs for all sororities. She had a very successful rush (as a sophomore - so don't stress about not being a Freshman either!). She was invited back to houses that she did not have recs for. I think a key element that gets overlooked during rush is having conversation skills ... make sure you brush up on those - be able to talk about all subjects and make conversation. Don't sit in silence. Some of the sorority girls that will be talking to you are sophomores and this will be their first experience being on the other side of rush, so they are nervous as well, so you will stand out if you are able to keep the conversation going and put others at ease. I am not saying not to get recs, but don't think you will get cut if you don't have them. Keep an open mind when going through rush. Don't have your heart set on one sorority from the beginning, wait and see where you make a connection. My daughter had friends that went through rush at Texas A&M, Michigan State and SMU - these girls had no recs going into rush and all had a successful rush and pledged wonderful houses. In addition, I have nieces in sororities at the University of Colorado and the University of Missouri and they have both said rec letters are not something to stress about getting.

[GeorgiaGreek]

Originally Posted by armywife

Don't stress over getting recs. My daughter went through rush Fall 2012 at the University of Texas. We stressed out all Summer putting packets together and trying to get recs for all sororities. She had a very successful rush (as a sophomore - so don't stress about not being a Freshman either!). She was invited back to houses that she did not have recs for. I think a key element that gets overlooked during rush is having conversation skills ... make sure you brush up on those - be able to talk about all subjects and make conversation. Don't sit in silence. Some of the sorority girls that will be talking to you are sophomores and this will be their first experience being on the other side of rush, so they are nervous as well, so you will stand out if you are able to keep the conversation going and put others at ease. I am not saying not to get recs, but don't think you will get cut if you don't have them. Keep an open mind when going through rush. Don't have your heart set on one sorority from the beginning, wait and see where you make a connection. My daughter had friends that went through rush at Texas A&M, Michigan State and SMU - these girls had no recs going into rush and all had a successful rush and pledged wonderful houses. In addition, I have nieces in sororities at the University of Colorado and the University of Missouri and they have both said rec letters are not something to stress about getting.

While you've said good general advice for recruitment (keep an open mind, etc.), I would have to disagree with your advice to not "stress about getting recs." It's not the end of the word if a PNM doesn't get recs for every single house, but at some schools, if the sorority doesn't know who you are before recruitment and you don't happen to be Ms. Teen Tri-State Area, valedictorian, and Nobel Prize-winning common-cold-cure-finder, you're more likely to get cut even if you have a great conversation. Recs are the biggest advantage you can get before going into recruitment, aside from having a strong connection with active chapter members.

No, they're not always easy to get, but they're not impossible. It's worth the effort. While your daughter and her friends may have had great rushes without them, they may have been exceptional PNMs, while the average PNM will appear to be...well...average to the other houses, especially the most popular ones during rush. A Rec letter may be the thing that keeps a wonderful girl who isn't an outstanding PNM from slipping through the cracks.

Summary: There is no reason to not try your best to get recs.

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by armywife

Don't stress over getting recs. My daughter went through rush Fall 2012 at the University of Texas. We stressed out all Summer putting packets together and trying to get recs for all sororities. She had a very successful rush (as a sophomore - so don't stress about not being a Freshman either!). She was invited back to houses that she did not have recs for. I think a key element that gets overlooked during rush is having conversation skills ... make sure you brush up on those - be able to talk about all subjects and make conversation. Don't sit in silence. Some of the sorority girls that will be talking to you are sophomores and this will be their first experience being on the other side of rush, so they are nervous as well, so you will stand out if you are able to keep the conversation going and put others at ease. I am not saying not to get recs, but don't think you will get cut if you don't have them. Keep an open mind when going through rush. Don't have your heart set on one sorority from the beginning, wait and see where you make a connection. My daughter had friends that went through rush at Texas A&M, Michigan State and SMU - these girls had no recs going into rush and all had a successful rush and pledged wonderful houses. In addition, I have nieces in sororities at the University of Colorado and the University of Missouri and they have both said rec letters are not something to stress about getting.

This is simply horrible advice. The end.