<p>So I'm a northerner that got a scholarship at Alabama, loved it when I visited, and am going. I decided to rush because I figured I might want to join a sorority and didn't want to close that option off. The issue I'm having is that I've registered and everything, but I didn't know letters of reccommendation were so important. Both me and my mom (who was never in a sorority, much less a southern one) figured that they were just for girls who had their hearts set on a certain sorority and have some sort of connection. So I didn't send in any, much less the 2 per sorority that is reccommended. Since rushing starts in less than 2 weeks, it's definitely too late for me to find them now. I was just wondering what my chances will be rushing. Like, will I be cut by almost everyone right away, will it hurt me but not automatically cause me to be cut, etc. I have a GPA of around 3.8 and am not unattractive; I sent my headshot and transcript in with my registration, but not to individual sororities.</p>
Just curious… I would be in the same position as you (not a lot of rec’s and not a legacy). How did recruitment go?
The OP’s post was just before a major scandal broke at Alabama’s sororities:
http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2013/09/the-final-barrier-50-years-later-segregation-still-exists
http://totalfratmove.com/every-sorority-at-alabama-blackballed-two-black-girls-for-being-black-what-a-goddamn-joke/
@southernbound18 if you are serious about joining a sorority at the University of Alabama, you have to get recs to each one. Not doing so would be like applying to Harvard without taking any SAT IIs. If you start immediately, you may still have time to get them all in but you need to get started now. If you haven’t beaten the bushes for sorority alumnae among your family’s friends other contacts, reach out to your local PanHellenic association. Here’s a link to a site which will be helpful http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=147723
Rush at an SEC school isn’t casual and girls who don’t prepare usually don’t do well.
I agree that rushing at an SEC school isn’t casual and that you should get recs to each house.
But…don’t freak if you can’t? Alabama’s own sorority recruitment website says that in the last 5 years, over 83% of the women who participate in the Open House Round of Recruitment (the first round) received a bid. Out of the women who don’t, the majority of them voluntarily withdrew themselves from the process - usually because they got cut from the house(s) they really wanted. Only around 5% of women are released from the recruitment process (meaning that none of the houses they wanted to visit invited them back for the next round). I am willing to bet that significantly more than 5% of the over 2,000 girls who show up for formal recruitment at Bama don’t have recs for every single house.
That said, you should try to get recs if you can. Start with your family’s network - although that might be useless if your parents didn’t go to college or go Greek themselves (my parents, personally, are friends with exactly zero Greek folks). After that, you can directly contact the local chapters of the sororities at Alabama in your hometown. You can also contact the chapters on Bama’s campus and ask for assistance in getting a letter.
Also, check out Alabama’s website about letters of rec: