OT To Greek Or Not To Greek

[cheerKT]

Bumping this back up, because it's officially summer and that means it's time to gear up for recruitment! Anyone planning on rushing this year?

I'm more than happy to help with recommendation letters for Kappa Kappa Gamma, and I know many others are here are in other greek organizations and willing to help.

 

[Alexx]

I'm not entirely sure how to fill out a recommendation letter, but I'd be happy to look into it for anyone who needs one for Chi Omega

 

[cheernerd5678]

I can for anyone who needs one for Sigma Kappa as well! I don't know of any rising college freshmen who actively post but maybe some people's CP's will need them!


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[cheerKT]

I'm not entirely sure how to fill out a recommendation letter, but I'd be happy to look into it for anyone who needs one for Chi Omega

Check out your national website. Kappa's used to be a long, drawn out ordeal that you filled out on paper and mailed to the school. Now you log in to your account on the Kappa website and have access to the online form. You enter the PNM's info, select the school you want to send it to and away it goes. Much easier.

 

[Melissa Starke]

I can for anyone who needs one for Sigma Kappa as well! I don't know of any rising college freshmen who actively post but maybe some people's CP's will need them!


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Cami Branson did a request on Facebook for several sororities. Don't know specifics at the moment though..
Maybe you could help her out ?

 

[ErinS]

Cami Branson did a request on Facebook for several sororities. Don't know specifics at the moment though..
Maybe you could help her out ?

Can someone explain this to me like I'm super duper remedial. We've been over this before but I just still cannot process

How is a letter of recommendation worth any thing if strangers that don't even know you are writing them? Like why even get letters of recommendation? It seems frivolous.

Granted I'm looking at this NPHC perspective which is....inarguably different. Like if some random asked my mom for letter of recommendation she'd lol in their face. Heck if I ever do grad chapter, my mom would vote "no" if she isn't really feeling me that day....

But seriously. It seems so impersonal and insignificant if someone that doesn't know you can't legitimately vouch for your character and who you are as a person


and what do these generic letters say? Is it just a fill in the blank template? Is it literally just to show who the rushee knows in the sorority?

Like shed some light por favor


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[CheerBank]

Can someone explain this to me like I'm super duper remedial. We've been over this before but I just still cannot process

How is a letter of recommendation worth any thing if strangers that don't even know you are writing them? Like why even get letters of recommendation? It seems frivolous.

Granted I'm looking at this NPHC perspective which is....inarguably different. Like if some random asked my mom for letter of recommendation she'd lol in their face. Heck if I ever do grad chapter, my mom would vote "no" if she isn't really feeling me that day....

But seriously. It seems so impersonal and insignificant if someone that doesn't know you can't legitimately vouch for your character and who you are as a person


and what do these generic letters say? Is it just a fill in the blank template? Is it literally just to show who the rushee knows in the sorority?

Like shed some light por favor


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My oldest said "that's a Southern thing" when I just asked her if she needed a letter of recommendation when she pledged.

 

[Alexx]

My oldest said "that's a Southern thing" when I just asked her if she needed a letter of recommendation when she pledged.

Yeah a lot of southern chapters wont even consider you if you don't have a letter for the sorority. Schools in the midwest could care less about them. I'm sure schools with bigger greek life get more than we did, but we got one two years ago and we were all just like ok now what do we do with this? because we don't require them.

 

[CheerBank]

Yeah a lot of southern chapters wont even consider you if you don't have a letter for the sorority. Schools in the midwest could care less about them. I'm sure schools with bigger greek life get more than we did, but we got one two years ago and we were all just like ok now what do we do with this? because we don't require them.

They did have to register for recruitment prior to a certain date or they were not allowed to participate. I think it was about $40 and she did it online before she even left for school.

 

[cheerKT]

Can someone explain this to me like I'm super duper remedial. We've been over this before but I just still cannot process

How is a letter of recommendation worth any thing if strangers that don't even know you are writing them? Like why even get letters of recommendation? It seems frivolous.

Granted I'm looking at this NPHC perspective which is....inarguably different. Like if some random asked my mom for letter of recommendation she'd lol in their face. Heck if I ever do grad chapter, my mom would vote "no" if she isn't really feeling me that day....

But seriously. It seems so impersonal and insignificant if someone that doesn't know you can't legitimately vouch for your character and who you are as a person


and what do these generic letters say? Is it just a fill in the blank template? Is it literally just to show who the rushee knows in the sorority?

Like shed some light por favor


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The importance depends on the school. Kappa's "letter" is really just a form. You fill out their name and information, other greek affiliations, (if they're a legacy somewhere else, have three kappa cousins, etc.) grades, test scores, high school or previous college and GPA there, leadership roles, jobs, volunteer experience, extracurriculars etc. Then the type of person you think they would relate to best, so they can take that in to consideration when matching them with girls during recruitment (I've put stuff like a nursing major, someone who studied abroad, a former cheerleader). There's also a space to attach a headshot and anything else you want to add. Then check if you "know this girl personally" and fill in the number of years you've know her, "do not know this girl personally" or "have known this girl's family for ___ years". Whether the school takes this into consideration or not is up to them.

Going in to my senior year our recruitment chair was one of my best friends. She had some family issues over the summer and had to head back home, so she tasked me with picking up recs from the greek life office (back when people still sent hard copies to us). Of course curiousity got the best of me so I spent many a night flipping through them. Some were the basic printed out form filled out, some went above and beyond with special stationary, pictures attached with ribbon, resumes, personal letters, handwritten notes, etc. A lot of those were from.....Texas girls. lol. I've filled out one like that for a girl to rush at Alabama. Her mom sent all the fancy stuff to me (her resume on pretty paper, a headshot tied with ribbon, a pre-addressed and stamped envelope to Bama), I just added the filled out Kappa form. Every other one I've done has just been the form. Which again, is so much easier and less time consuming now that it's online.

I can tell you that recs are not required at South Carolina, all girls visit all houses. I entered with one rec letter and low and behold that's where I ended up. No idea if it played a role or not.

I can probably post some screenshots of ours. It reads much more like a resume than a "letter".

 

[MissCongeniality]

I know when I pledged (way back long long ago in the dark ages) it wasn't required to rush but the house I was in often had to scramble to get a letter for potential member because it was required before a bid could be offered.
CP rushed last year (freshman) and while most letters were people who personally knew her she also asked and got a few from on here (Thank you all again!!!) Did it help? I don't know. Though she did floor us all with a "perfect" rush. (After I prepped her for weeks about the impending heartbreak)

 

[cachoi]

Can someone explain this to me like I'm super duper remedial. We've been over this before but I just still cannot process

How is a letter of recommendation worth any thing if strangers that don't even know you are writing them? Like why even get letters of recommendation? It seems frivolous.

Granted I'm looking at this NPHC perspective which is....inarguably different. Like if some random asked my mom for letter of recommendation she'd lol in their face. Heck if I ever do grad chapter, my mom would vote "no" if she isn't really feeling me that day....

But seriously. It seems so impersonal and insignificant if someone that doesn't know you can't legitimately vouch for your character and who you are as a person


and what do these generic letters say? Is it just a fill in the blank template? Is it literally just to show who the rushee knows in the sorority?

Like shed some light por favor


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I also don't get how people can endorse a complete and total stranger who just posted a status asking for one. My 100% biological blood sister took it really seriously and flat out refused to ask her friends in other chapters for recs, and I really needed them for how competitive it was/is at USC, because they didn't personally know me. Even though she could assure them I was normal and wouldn't tarnish their name by associating with me

 

[cheernerd5678]

Can someone explain this to me like I'm super duper remedial. We've been over this before but I just still cannot process

How is a letter of recommendation worth any thing if strangers that don't even know you are writing them? Like why even get letters of recommendation? It seems frivolous.

Granted I'm looking at this NPHC perspective which is....inarguably different. Like if some random asked my mom for letter of recommendation she'd lol in their face. Heck if I ever do grad chapter, my mom would vote "no" if she isn't really feeling me that day....

But seriously. It seems so impersonal and insignificant if someone that doesn't know you can't legitimately vouch for your character and who you are as a person


and what do these generic letters say? Is it just a fill in the blank template? Is it literally just to show who the rushee knows in the sorority?

Like shed some light por favor


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's a lot like a resume - they want to know what girls were involved in, their GPA, achievements, etc. It helps them know a little more about a girl coming in than they would otherwise. At Mizzou (and schools like Bama, Texas Tech, etc) they're pretty much a necessity. Of course it's against NPC rules to make them required but in a sea of 2000 girls, if you're one of the few they don't have more info on you have less of a chance. Rush parties start at 15 minutes the first day and they have to get from 2000 girls to 85ish on bid day with only 3 rounds of cuts, so it helps to have more than that 15 minute convo to go off of.
Knowing that girls were involved in HS, have a history of doing a lot of service, etc is a really good thing that chapters are looking for and may not come up in conversation. It also, I guess, shows that they're invested in rushing and put in the effort to get recs so they're probably serious about joining Greek life (nobody wants to make quota and then have girls drop because they just rushed to see what it's like.)
I believe for some houses you can write out a letter of support along with a rec (maybe even my own I haven't checked out the form too much). A rec is mostly like a resume but a letter of support is for someone you know really well and want to go more in detail about their character, how great they are, etc and is an actual letter. My close friend's mom who is a DG did this for me.
It's definitely a little weird and it seems like they could just have everyone submit their resume with registration? But alas, this is the system we have.


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[Alexx]

It's a lot like a resume - they want to know what girls were involved in, their GPA, achievements, etc. It helps them know a little more about a girl coming in than they would otherwise. At Mizzou (and schools like Bama, Texas Tech, etc) they're pretty much a necessity. Of course it's against NPC rules to make them required but in a sea of 2000 girls, if you're one of the few they don't have more info on you have less of a chance. Rush parties start at 15 minutes the first day and they have to get from 2000 girls to 85ish on bid day with only 3 rounds of cuts, so it helps to have more than that 15 minute convo to go off of.
Knowing that girls were involved in HS, have a history of doing a lot of service, etc is a really good thing that chapters are looking for and may not come up in conversation. It also, I guess, shows that they're invested in rushing and put in the effort to get recs so they're probably serious about joining Greek life (nobody wants to make quota and then have girls drop because they just rushed to see what it's like.)
I believe for some houses you can write out a letter of support along with a rec (maybe even my own I haven't checked out the form too much). A rec is mostly like a resume but a letter of support is for someone you know really well and want to go more in detail about their character, how great they are, etc and is an actual letter. My close friend's mom who is a DG did this for me.
It's definitely a little weird and it seems like they could just have everyone submit their resume with registration? But alas, this is the system we have.


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Do most schools not ask for basic information when you sign up? My school required where we were from, our high school, most recent gpa (high school or college), anything we were involved in, etc.

 

[cheernerd5678]

Do most schools not ask for basic information when you sign up? My school required where we were from, our high school, most recent gpa (high school or college), anything we were involved in, etc.

Mizzou asked for a little bit but not a lot. I know GPA was on there and high school you graduated from. But not as much as is on my resume for sure. Plus no pics with registration for us and photos are usually included with recs which help people remember girls they talked to and such.


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