Alabama Recruitment

[Nhfulmer]

Originally Posted by tsufan

Does anyone know if Alabama has posted the list of girls that pledged. Auburn already has one posted

I'm also looking for a list. If anyone finds one, please post the link/address. I'm at work and can't keep looking.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by bamamom90

Another question as I continue to struggle a little with all this.......I spoke with my friend who works with her Chapter at Bama, and was asking her about my daughter trying this again. She said it was her understanding that if a PNM had been dropped by a group once, she would be dropped again. Please tell me this does not apply to a "grade drop!" That would never give a great girl like my daughter a chance to show that she's capable of making the grades.

And another thing.....I have to reflect and say that since my sorority days, it's just so different....of course grades are important, but I didn't realize it was a Phi Beta Kappaish type deal. There is a lot of just having a great time making friends, singing, dancing, going to ball games and working for charities. I do wish that what my child did in 10th grade, which brought her GPA down so badly, didn't have to affect her enjoying all the benefits of a sorority. But as previously stated, she'll certainly have plenty of time to study now!!

Well, I think the "cut once, cut always" is not so much a policy as it is one of those "unwritten rules."

I wouldn't say that you have to be "Phi Beta Kappa" to be in a sorority at Bama, but with the increase in applicants over the years, the university has upped it's admissions requirements, which lends itself to a PNM pool with much higher GPAs to start with. That's just the way it is. When the pool has high GPAs, those that are low or mediocre are pretty obvious.

Also, rushing as a sophomore at Bama is hard enough without having already rushed, I'd imagine that as a second-timer, she'd be fighting an uphill battle.

It's probably best for her to focus her energies elsewhere.

[SWTXBelle]

Isn't Delta Gamma colonizing next fall? That might be an opportunity for sophomores.

[lauralaylin]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Isn't Delta Gamma colonizing next fall? That might be an opportunity for sophomores.

I believe it's been pushed to 2011 now.

[Nacre]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Do you feel that the Bama Panhellenic does a good job of communicating to PNMs that THEY need to be securing recs?

I know that there are sometimes issues with some SEC schools continuing to perpetuate the myth that "it's the CHAPTER'S JOB to get recs for PNMs."

Note: not saying that the chapters NEVER do this, but the sororities generally aren't going to do it.

I also know that there's a resolution stating that they HAVE TO say that, but I really think that that needs to be changed.

My daughter was in this boat. She quit rush this year after her one preference party. She felt like it wasn't right for her.

She has a 3.5 GPA, good activities and was a competitive dancer on a national level. Her down side - she is from out-of-state and doesn't know a single person at Bama. We had a very hard time getting recs.

In April, she went to an LSU Panhellenic tea. She was told the group couldn't write her recs because she was going to an out-of-state school. So we asked friends, teachers and neighbors. (Hours of work!!!) I was told by everyone I asked that it is the Chapter's responsibility to secure recs for the PNMs. I was informed over and over that if a house likes a girl and they don't have a rec of file, during rush they will put the girl in a room to meet an alumna. The alumna will interview the girl and then write a rec. Impression is that this is the best way to get a rec. Most friends and neighbors felt like it was a waste of time to write her one.

I'm a Kappa and this spring's issue of The Key had an article about membership. The article stressed that it is the Kappa's responsibility to secure a reference of a girl. Foolish me, I figured Kappa's philosophy was probably the norm.

[kk_bama]

Hey y'all, my camera ran out of juice so I wasn't able to get a lot of photos. I took some Gamma Phi photos on my phone but that's it. Sorry!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Nacre

My daughter was in this boat. She quit rush this year after her one preference party. She felt like it wasn't right for her.

In April, she went to an LSU Panhellenic tea. She was told the group couldn't write her recs because she was going to an out-of-state school. So we asked friends, teachers and neighbors. (Hours of work!!!) I was told by everyone I asked that it is the Chapter's responsibility to secure recs for the PNMs. I was informed over and over that if a house likes a girl and they don't have a rec of file, during rush they will put the girl in a room to meet an alumna. The alumna will interview the girl and then write a rec. Impression is that this is the best way to get a rec. Most friends and neighbors felt like it was a waste of time to write her one.

I'm a Kappa and this spring's issue of The Key had an article about membership. The article stressed that it is the Kappa's responsibility to secure a reference of a girl. Foolish me, I figured Kappa's philosophy was probably the norm.

See, and that's unfortunate. Also, that "put in a room with alumnae" scenario sounds a bit farfetched.

Also, I'm not saying that they will NEVER secure a rec for a PNM, but it doesn't happen alot. There are too many PNMs for them to do it.

I'm sorry things didn't work out, but perhaps she should have continued with recruitment and given her one chapter a chance? I mean, she did still have one option...

[DoctorD]

Originally Posted by Nacre

My daughter was in this boat. She quit rush this year after her one preference party. She felt like it wasn't right for her.

She has a 3.5 GPA, good activities and was a competitive dancer on a national level. Her down side - she is from out-of-state and doesn't know a single person at Bama. We had a very hard time getting recs.

In April, she went to an LSU Panhellenic tea. She was told the group couldn't write her recs because she was going to an out-of-state school. So we asked friends, teachers and neighbors. (Hours of work!!!) I was told by everyone I asked that it is the Chapter's responsibility to secure recs for the PNMs. I was informed over and over that if a house likes a girl and they don't have a rec of file, during rush they will put the girl in a room to meet an alumna. The alumna will interview the girl and then write a rec. Impression is that this is the best way to get a rec. Most friends and neighbors felt like it was a waste of time to write her one.

I'm a Kappa and this spring's issue of The Key had an article about membership. The article stressed that it is the Kappa's responsibility to secure a reference of a girl. Foolish me, I figured Kappa's philosophy was probably the norm.

FWIW, I can speak to what my home chapter does that is obvious to anyone who is an alum - I can't speak for what they do during recruitment (and, fwiw, this is at another SEC school). Prior to recruitment, all alums that they have email address for are sent a list of women going through recruitment so that if anyone knows anyone, they can submit a recommendation.

If one thinks about the sheer volume of women going through recruitment at these flagship state schools, plus the work that the collegiate women go through putting on recruitment.... the work that goes into securing recommendations has to go elsewhere. I think that many NPC groups have the same stance as what you say with Kappa above, but when push comes to shove - this is a much easier task for a collegiate chapter when there are 150 women or less going through recruitment compared to 1200+.

And with the way recruitment is structured, what is most important in my mind is that the PNMs are meeting current collegiate women, not alumnae. I can't imagine the scenario you suggested above being the case where PNMs are put in a room with alumnae to get the recommendation. But that's just me.

I personally have never had that experience with an alumnae panhellenic group - I seem to remember that the group I was affiliated with when I lived south of Atlanta wrote recs for lots of women who were going to lots of schools, not just those in state. GPhBLtColonel can speak to that better than I.

Hugs to you and your daughter.

[Loyally Kappa]

I think that when you're hearing "it is the Chapter's responsibility to secure recs for the PNMs" that it means that under no circumstance is the chapter to invite a girl to the last round of pref parties UNLESS they have a rec from a Panhellenic alum. I think this is the norm for other sororities too.

Case in point. I used to teach at a small, rural school where very few of the girls went to college, much less through sorority rush. About ten years ago, on a Thursday in August, a alum friend (Chi O) called me late at night to ask me about a girl I had taught when she was in 7th grade! They liked her and apparently had no rec. She was a great girl from a nice family. I think the point is that no one will be offered a bid at some sororites with absolutely no alum rec at all.

But I may be wrong.

Personally, I was proactive with my girls years ago. When each of them was entering 9th grade (high school) I told her that I could not personally get her in a sorority, that they had to be nice, keep their grades up and impress the alum local ladies.

Originally Posted by Nacre

My daughter was in this boat. She quit rush this year after her one preference party. She felt like it wasn't right for her.

She has a 3.5 GPA, good activities and was a competitive dancer on a national level. Her down side - she is from out-of-state and doesn't know a single person at Bama. We had a very hard time getting recs.

In April, she went to an LSU Panhellenic tea. She was told the group couldn't write her recs because she was going to an out-of-state school. So we asked friends, teachers and neighbors. (Hours of work!!!) I was told by everyone I asked that it is the Chapter's responsibility to secure recs for the PNMs. I was informed over and over that if a house likes a girl and they don't have a rec of file, during rush they will put the girl in a room to meet an alumna. The alumna will interview the girl and then write a rec. Impression is that this is the best way to get a rec. Most friends and neighbors felt like it was a waste of time to write her one.

I'm a Kappa and this spring's issue of The Key had an article about membership. The article stressed that it is the Kappa's responsibility to secure a reference of a girl. Foolish me, I figured Kappa's philosophy was probably the norm.

[catfan]

I've been following this tread since the beginning, and am wondering if Alabama Panhellenic is really telling the PNMs what the process is truly like. Grades, alumni recs, and friends in houses do play a part in the bid process, but sounds like luck has as much a part. My daughter plans on attending Bama as an oos student next year and is a DG and AGD legacy. Other family members are KD, KAT, DZ, DDD, so recs aren't an issue for most houses. Although none of us attended Alabama. She would prefer to wait until her sophomore year to rush, but that might not be a good idea at Bama. Looks like upperclass women don't have as great an opportunity. I'm starting to worry about the OOS issue, she too doesn't know anyone at Bama.

[F50437]

bamamom90:
My heart bleeds for you, which is why I’m risking responding. I post very rarely. I know a young woman (not from Alabama but from “up north”) who started UA in the fall of 2007. She decided to go through rush at the last minute without recs, etc. She received an invitation to one pref party and dropped out (I think before the party). She had a successful rush the next year and is now a proud sorority sister of a sorority which originally cut her as a freshman. I don’t think that grades are her strong point. I will get tripe for this but here goes…I was in a very small city in Alabama having lunch in March of 2009. One member of the group asked about the family of the Alabama resident in the group. He said that his daughter was having the time of her life. She was attending teas at UA and was going to live in Tutwiler (just like her mother did) even though she was eligible for the honors dorm. This happened before she even graduated from high school. I really do think that rush is especially hard for a freshman from out of state at UA. I think that many in state girls have someone pulling for them on the inside way before rush starts. Check out the post by a father of a U GA girl from out of state on another recruitment thread. However, because there is a separate quota (which to my uneducated eye seems pretty high) for upper classmen, it might be easier at UA for a sophomore at UA than at some other schools. In fact I wonder if the upper classman quota at UA is purposefully in place in order to pick up more out of state students. If your daughter likes and knows about football, have her check out the “A Team.” It is a group which escorts potential football recruits during games. She will have to sit with them and their families. But she will be on the field when the games start.

[FSUZeta]

i feel that an alumna interviewing a pnm during a recruitment event would be a recruitment infraction and thus would not be done.

i think that loyally kappa has probably the actual interpretation of the "it is the responsibility of the chapter to find a rec. for a girl."

[Loyally Kappa]

This is true. Both of my daughters spent several weekends at spring Panhellenic events when they were seniors in high school. They received a lot of hand-written cards in the mail from girls they knew. I think the rule is that actives can make contact with and invite girls they personally know from back home or perhaps relatives. There are also some rules about when contact has to end prior to summer. Obviously, this is boon to the Alabama high school girls.

But ya know, they DO call this recruitment ...

[QUOTE=F50437;1836523]bamamom90:
I was in a very small city in Alabama having lunch in March of 2009. One member of the group asked about the family of the Alabama resident in the group. He said that his daughter was having the time of her life. She was attending teas at UA and was going to live in Tutwiler (just like her mother did) even though she was eligible for the honors dorm. This happened before she even graduated from high school.

[MerryGPhiB]

Originally Posted by kk_bama

Hey y'all, my camera ran out of juice so I wasn't able to get a lot of photos. I took some Gamma Phi photos on my phone but that's it. Sorry!

Ohh do put up the GphiB photos!!!

[LadyLonghorn]

I have to say this. It's a little hard to take the PNMs and moms who come here to complain about having had no options/being cut when the truth is most of them admit they DID still have one or more chapters left on their party schedules when they dropped. But of course it was the dreaded "I just felt like I didn't fit in/click with chapter/s."

Those of us who have been on Greekchat for any length of time know that you're not complaining about being cut from the "top tier/beautiful model/rocket scientist/fraternity favorite/insert your tent talk hyperbole here chapter." It's because you didn't want the "struggling/smallest/fatty/ugly/lamest/insert your tent talk smash and bash here." The PNM was too good to be one of those.

You know what? Those were the women who wanted you; poor GPAs, lack of recs, poor social skills, out of state residence, body odor or other real or imagined issue. The truth is, the PNM rejected them and rejected the Bama Greek system. The Bama Greek system did not reject them.

Oh, and I am kind of astonished that anyone would think a 3.0 GPA coming out of high school equates with Phi Beta Kappa type expectations.