Major Help Needed for Panhellenic Rec Letters

FloridaGirl24 · #1 06-18-2012, 08:09 PM

Hello all,

I am an incoming freshman and plan to be rushing at a big name SEC school in the fall. Recruitment is very competitive and I was told that recommendation letters are very encouraged. For the past few months I have tried to get a hold of family friends, relatives, and former teachers in hopes of obtaining at least one recommendation letter, but unfortunately nobody I have talked to has been involved in greek life. Being that I come from a major military family, the greek world is very foreign to them and there are absolutely no connections thus far.

I am now in the process of contacting my local alumnae chapters but this method is also not looking promising. I live in a very rural area where such alumnae chapters are very unestablished or hard to get in contact with.

If anyone could give me any sort of advice of what to do at this point or if there are any DG, KD, ADPi, Tri-Delt or KKG alumnae who would be willing to help me out with these rec letters, that would be great! I was very involved in high school and cannot wait to get involved in college. It seems that recommendation letters seems to be the only thing hindering me at this point. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. If you want to get to know me better or want more information, feel free to inbox me

Thank you!

FSUZeta · #2 06-18-2012, 08:34 PM

Please check your PMs.

IrishLake · #3 06-18-2012, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloridaGirl24

Hello all,

I am an incoming freshman and plan to be rushing at a big name SEC school in the fall. Recruitment is very competitive and I was told that recommendation letters are very encouraged. For the past few months I have tried to get a hold of family friends, relatives, and former teachers in hopes of obtaining at least one recommendation letter, but unfortunately nobody I have talked to has been involved in greek life. Being that I come from a major military family, the greek world is very foreign to them and there are absolutely no connections thus far.

I am now in the process of contacting my local alumnae chapters but this method is also not looking promising. I live in a very rural area where such alumnae chapters are very unestablished or hard to get in contact with.

If anyone could give me any sort of advice of what to do at this point or if there are any DG, KD, ADPi, Tri-Delt or KKG alumnae who would be willing to help me out with these rec letters, that would be great! I was very involved in high school and cannot wait to get involved in college. It seems that recommendation letters seems to be the only thing hindering me at this point. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. If you want to get to know me better or want more information, feel free to inbox me

Thank you!

So you don't have any rec letters, but you only want rec letters to those 5 groups?

Titchou · #4 06-18-2012, 10:38 PM

Have you asked any of the rec writers you have lined up if they know anyone in these 5 groups? It's perfectly OK to do that.

redlady2 · #5 06-19-2012, 02:11 PM

I'd recommend pursuing recommendations for all sixteen chapters rather than just focusing on five!

DGTess · #6 06-19-2012, 03:59 PM

If you have a lot of military connections - all officers went to college, and most of the wives of male officers also did. After I went in the military, I was constantly hearing "Oh, my wife's sister is a DG" or similar.

33girl · #7 06-19-2012, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGTess

If you have a lot of military connections - all officers went to college

Really?

You learn something every day on GC.

FSUZeta · #8 06-19-2012, 09:21 PM

All commissioned officers have a college degree. Non-commissioned officers, not necessarily so-they most often gain their position of authority by rising through the enlisted ranks. At least that is the way it was when my husband was a commissioned officer in the Navy.

Titchou · #9 06-19-2012, 10:06 PM

Same for my experience with husband who was a Marine and one who was an Army Green Beret.

pnm1212 · #10 06-20-2012, 02:02 PM

If I am reaching out to my local Panhellenic for help with with houses that I do not have recommendation letters for should I be contacting each of the chapers seperately or do I contact the office and they will put me in touch with alum who are willing to help? I have secured over half of the letters needed but I'm short on 5 houses.

Titchou · #11 06-20-2012, 02:17 PM

If the alum group has a web site, contact them that way. I'm president of mine and have gotten several emails from PNMs this year. Surprisingly, when I ask them if they know so-and-so (based on my knowledge of their school/area), they've all said yes but they never thought to ask them for a rec. Hmm...and both were teachers in their HS.

pnm1212 · #12 06-20-2012, 02:40 PM

Great! Thank you. They do have a website so I will do that.

GGfirst · #13 06-22-2012, 12:53 PM

Hey everyone!

I seem to be in the same type of pinch. I do have recs for some chapters, but the ladies I know in the remaining chapters have either not been responsive or are quite busy and I feel they may not have time to write a recommendation for me. This is completely understandable as everyone is busy, so I have contacted local alumnae chapters. Unfortunately, I haven't had many responses and I'm getting a little worried!

I have been contacting each alumnae chapter individually by email, is there a better or different way to go about contacting alumnae chapters to connect with an alumna?

Titchou · #14 06-22-2012, 01:09 PM

That can be a tough one. Doubly so since the alum contact on the web site might actually end up asking the alum you know to vouch for you and the orginal alum may get a little huffy about it.

However, I'd try to contact them by email or see if you can find a name and track them down that way. Do any of the rec writers from other groups know anyone is these particular groups?

KDCat · #15 06-22-2012, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGTess

If you have a lot of military connections - all officers went to college, and most of the wives of male officers also did. After I went in the military, I was constantly hearing "Oh, my wife's sister is a DG" or similar.

Also, all of your high school teachers have a college degree and have friends from college. Many of them are either in GLO or know people who were in a GLO. Ask your favorite teachers.

(Although this is probably better advice in May, than the end of June.)