<p>I am (finally) hitting my stack of sorority reference letter and rec requests and there are a couple in there for Alabama! My own daughter has chosen not to rush, so I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the Alabama process. In years past, I’ve sent UA recs/letters directly to the UA chapter. One of the girls is asking me to mail everything directly to UA while another is asking for it to go to Dallas Panhellenic. </p>
<p>Does anyone know which one is correct? I know it may vary by sorority.</p>
<p>I always mail to the chapter on campus… the envelopes come pre-addressed by the girls.</p>
<p>That’s the issue… their envelopes and directions differ. One directly to the chapter and other through Panhellenic. But I heard from the resident sorority expert (Ahpimommy) that the chapter is standard, so I will go with that. Glad to know, since that is what I’ve done in years past!</p>
<p>I haven’t heard about mailing to a local Panhellenic, but many sororities in our area that have very active alum clubs want all of our local girls info processed through the alum club. That way the club knows who they have covered and some feel that it is an added endorsement coming from the local club.</p>
<p>lattelady – I am an alumna from UA sorority and a Dallas resident. For the recs that I get asked to write that come in before my sorority’s Dallas recruitment reference board deadline, I always send it through our reference board for the reasons momofonly1 mentions. As far as I know, Dallas Alumnae Panhellenic doesn’t process recs – but perhaps they do for groups that don’t have a local alumnae chapter?</p>
<p>Sorry…was out running…we are supposed to have bad weather here in KC and after grazing my way through Dallas and Tuscaloosa…yep needed to run!</p>
<p>I have pm’d Latte but wanted to clarify. I agree with Paying4college…usually the recs and letters of support go through the Dallas reference board. As I understand it they have a group of women for each sorority that will do 1 rec and then others who will do letters of support. This is something that is a Texas thing so those of you not in Texas don’t panic!</p>
<p>I will tell you that the sororities at UA will not pitch a rec from a Dallas girl just because it didn’t come from the reference board. The advantage is that the women who write the recs are experienced in doing this and I think it carries some “clout” with the reference board seal of approval so to speak.</p>
<p>But…every girl needs two recs…it’s just plain and simple. I spent this past weekend in Tuscaloosa both at my sorority and my daughters sorority. Recs are arriving…they are being looked at, poured over, cataloged and categorized. I am here to tell you that every girl has stellar resumes and recommendations. They have tons of EC’s, awards, philanthropy hours, great GPAs and stats. Many many girls look “great” on paper. </p>
<p>I would also say that it is preferential to have recs from someone who knows you or at least your family. I think this is where the “endorsement” from the Dallas Recruitment Reference Board comes in. It is looked at as a more personal endorsement. </p>
<p>So…1 rec can come from that board and them the gril will be on her own to get the second. </p>
<p>As far as letters of support…am here to tell you that although UA Panhellenic says they don’t want them…they do help. Should you send 10 to each sorority …NO…but one or two good ones doesn’t hurt. If that particular sorority doesn’t want then they will not use them but they will not hurt the PNM.</p>
<p>I only write them for girls who I feel are truly a good fit for my sorority. So do I write them with every rec…no. Have I written them this year…yes I have. If as someone writing a rec for girl, you feel this young woman would REALLY be an asset to you sorority and she has so many wonderful qualities that need to be highlighted and her resume and the form rec don’t do her justice then write a letter of support. </p>
<p>I hope that helps…Crazy times…especially with another record group of girls going through this year. We have been hearing big pledge classes again :/.</p>
<p>Hello, my daughter has definitely decided to attend the University of Alabama and definitely want to participate in the Greek life offered by the University, unfortunately our network of friends here in the Northeast ( Connecticut) does not include many that participated in a sorority. Does anyone have any suggestion on how she might obtain letters from people who do not know her personally? As always any advice would be appreciated</p>
<p>E013502, keep asking around. You may be surprised by how many you know. If you do know a few sorority women, ask if they know others in sororities. Teachers, co-workers, people at church, her friends’ parents, older girls who are now in a sorority at college - ask them where their recs came from. And if you find more than one person from a sorority you already have a rec or two for, write down their name and number anyway. You might need it - you never know! If I don’t know a girl or her family, I look to see if I know somebody at her church, school, team, work etc. that I know who would know her or her family. A personal acquaintance is best, of course, but I often consult with people who know the PNM in question and whom I trust.</p>
<p>Uh oh…ahpimommy, now I’m second guessing myself! At the Dallas Panhellenic meeting for UA, the Alabama Panhellenic girls stated that they DO NOT want the letters of support that we Texans ask for. They also repeated the same thing at Spring Preview during the parent mtg.</p>
<p>We have lots of cousins, aunts, close friends that we would love to have write letters of support. If you are saying that these cannot hurt the PM and may actually help her, then maybe I should reconsider…</p>
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<p>I’ve discussed this quite a bit with the moms of the girls I am writing recs for as well as ahpimommy. I’m sure she will give you an answer, but I can tell you that the girls I am writing for did not request LOS because of this, but I am attaching a letter for each girl along with her resume. I wouldn’t necessarily do this for every girl but have known these girls since kindergarten and know that they will be great additions to whatever sorority they pledge. However, we probably do need to be careful not to send LOS in separately. </p>
<p>This will be different than the recs I write for Texas schools that typically have two outside LOS along with each rec.</p>
<p>Thanks lattelady, that makes sense. I have had several people that are writing recs for my daughter say that they are attaching letters. Being a Texas gal, I write tons of letters of support that are mailed separately each year. Calming down, now!</p>
<p>Another Texan weighing in here. Back in the day in my house at Alabama (thirty years ago) it was pretty rare for us to see a letter of support but we did occassionally see them. I would imagine that with the increasing numbers of girls coming from Texas the girls in the houses at Alabama at least recognize what they are receiving when they get a LOS – what they choose to do with it, however, is another question.</p>
<p>Here is what I’ve settled on with my Texans who are headed to Alabama recruitment regarding letters of support. As mentioned above all my references for all schools will be going through my local alumnae recruitment reference board. For my rec girls who are headed to Alabama, I’m coordinating and sending in the whole reference package (reference, resume, transcript, test scores, pictures and letters of support) – just as I would for a reference that is going to a Texas school. (In the part of Dallas where I live, the rec writer collects everything and either sends it to the recruitment reference board or to the school, as appropriate to the situation.) </p>
<p>The only thing that we are doing differently for Alabama is this – where possible, we’ve asked the alumnae who would ordinarily just be contributing a LOS to also include a rec. In the space for comments, they will include brief comments and also note, “please see attached letter.” I do think that the kind of information typically provided in a letter of support allows the chapters to develop a more clear picture of the potential member than our reference form provides space for.</p>
<p>I definitely wouldn’t send a LOS without an accompanying rec directly to a chapter at Alabama. Additionally if handwritten LOS on personal stationery are common in your area, I would probably also suggest that for Alabama the LOS be typed rather than handwritten. (Most of the LOS I see these days are typed regardless of the school that they are going to – but occassionally I still get handwritten LOS – particularly for the University of Texas and SMU – from older alums.)A</p>
<p>Texas ladies…I think we are all on the same page and in agreement. I would not send separate LOS. I believe the message being sent “don’t send LOS” means that the sororities do not want to have a deluge of LOS mail. And yes…if tons of LOS separate mail comes I think in some instances it might be pitched in the trash. However I do believe that an LOS (yep I would send it typed) attached to a rec packet that is sent to an alum’s sorority is ok.
I have been in contact with my house and I have sent both email LOS (before pre-recruitment teas and events) to urge my chapter to consider inviting certain young women to their events.
Here is the quote from an email response I recently received from our chapter’s Recruitment Adviser , "Thank you for this recommendation letter for XXXXXXX. Wish all alums would write recommendations and letters of support like this. " Notice there is no mention of not sending LOS in fact she thanked me for sending it!
I was in Tuscaloosa last week and personally saw LOS letters at several chapters.
So…if you feel that you want to write an LOS to attach to the rec you are sending do it! I know we all agree we don’t write them for everyone and certainly not for a “blind” rec.
I know there is some concern that having an LOS gives a girl an unfair advantage. In some ways I do understand this. Recruitment at competitive schools means that you as a PNM need to do everything in your power to show that you would be an asset to the chapters on campus. So many girls have resumes that are off the charts and more than one or two rec per house in addition to high GPA’s , great philanthropy and super stats. So yes…sometimes that LOS is just enough to have that chapter look a little closer at a particular girl…fiar …no…unfortunately it is life.
I also tell young women to make sure your resume is comprehensive in your activities, awards, honors and philanthropy. Your rec and resume in many cases is your first introduction to a sorority. First impressions are important!
Ok again I blather…send 1 LOS with the rec packet…it will be accepted!</p>
<p>My D is not rushing, so this is just a matter of curiosity, and somewhat off topic, but . . .
how many girls who are willing to go to any house generally come out of recruitment without a bid at a competitive school like Alabama?</p>
<p>According to the Office of Greek Affairs at The University of Alabama, in their 2011 recruitment report 1746 young women registered for recruitment and 1710 attended the first rounds of Ice Water Teas… At the end of the process 1313 bids were issued. Out of the girls who did not receive bids 190 withdrew and 141 did receive a bid. This reflects formal recruitment for the 15 houses that participated and not for Delta Gammas colonization numbers.</p>
<p>1054 girls got their first choice, 201 got their second choice and 53 were matched with their third choice. Quota was 73 and all houses made quota. In the end 77% of the girls participating received a bid.</p>
<p>There’s a lot that goes into getting to that 77%. You can view the stats at [Student</a> Affairs | Greek Affairs](<a href=“Fraternity and Sorority Life”>Fraternity and Sorority Life). Click on Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment Stats 2011…it will show the statistics since 2001.</p>
<p>Just a note…when we say quota is 73 that is the base number. If your sorority makes quota and is not at house total as determined by Panhellenice (I’m pretty sure its 268 right now) then yo will get to take a “quota addition” that number to be determined by Panhellenic…in addition that 73 is freshman quota and does not reflect Upper Classmen Quota (sophs and juniors)…that is a different number added to the 73 and is also determined by Panhellenic. </p>
<p>Finally…in years past we usually have appx 1000 girls who attend Preview in March. We generally add 500-600 more that will register for recruitment (as you can see some registered but don’t even start). This year we had over 1500 girls attend Preview. If statistics hold that means we will have appx 2200 girls at least start recruitment …we are looking at a quota of 100!!! That’s wayyyyy to big especially if you add in upper classmen and quota additions! This means that house total will most likely rise as well.
Alabama is looking to add a new sorority, hopefully fall of 2013…we desperately need it!
Hope this at least kind of answers your question…</p>
<p>good lord! the numbers were crazy before, and they are getting even crazier!!!</p>
<p>25% of girls not matched is a pretty high number. i thought it had been more around the 15% range in years past. of course, i don’t follow this stuff much, so i could be wrong.</p>
<p>My daughter had five sororities she couldn’t find an alumnae to write her a rec. She googled the local chapter for each sorority she needed and emailed the president or another representative. This has worked out great for three. Two she met with and one just took her info and is sending in the rec. Turns out there were friend/neighbor connections with two of the three. While these alumnae are not close family or friends, they took the time to get to know my daughter and will hopefully write a glowing rec for her. My daughter really enjoyed meeting with the alums and hearing about their sorority experiences. For our friends and family she just sent her packets and a thank you. Meeting with the alums was so much more personal. She still has one sororoity that she needs a rec for and a few second recs. Hopefully she will round those up soon.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, ahpimommy! So it looks like if you count the women who were released prior to signing preference cards, and also the women who signed preference cards but didn’t get a bid, it’s about 12% of those who actually started the process. That’s a significant number, but I guess the odds of getting a bid are still good if you keep your options open.</p>
<p>Southlander, I read somewhere you posted that some of the sororities require home town recs for recruitment. I’m just curious which ones. We have moved quite a bit and some of DD’s recs are from previous hometowns as well as friends and family in other states. She was just feeling good about having most of her recs and then I read that. If you could let us know which sororities so we can get a third rec from someone in our hometown. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Those stats don’t tell you whether a girl ranked all the houses she preffed at, or if she only listed one (or a couple). Not listing all the houses makes it more difficult to get a bid in the first place. It also makes you ineligible for quota additions mentioned above. e.g. if you list all three, but don’t get matched, then you can get placed at a house that hasn’t made total even after reaching quota. If you only list one/some of your pref houses, and don’t get matched, then you are out of luck.</p>
<p>The 12% sounds a lot, but I’m sure most of those were: grades not high enoug, not having recs and NOT LISTING ALL YOUR OPTIONS AFTER PREF!! :)</p>