rec letters

With the women I made contact with, I either mailed them or met with them and handed them my prepared Manila mailer packet. Inside I had a "cover letter" that let them know about me, why I wanted to join a sorority, what my major was and how I thought being in a sorority might help me grow in college. Behind that letter I had my "personal resume". That just gave the facts about me, my work in HS, awards, and my hobbies and interests. Make sure you give them all your contact info on there in case they need to reach you for questions. There was a pre-stamped envelope for the sorority in Alabama they were sending their rec to ( some download and print and mail in forms, some just do it all online. Either way, they still got an envelope with a stamp). Make sure you take it to post office prior to get it weighed. I also included a hand written thank you card and a 4x6 headshot ( I also had a PDF version if they were doing it online and they requested one via email). Hope that helps.

Sorority alumnae write rec letters. I don't think many (any?) houses allow active collegians to write them. I know my chapter requires them to be from alumnae.

You need to provide each of your rec writers with the following:
1. Your resume, include your high school GPA/rank, activities, awards, leadership positions, volunteer work, summer activities (camp, etc), social memberships (NCL, etc) and family info - note any Greek relatives (men or women)
2. Your high school transcript
3. 4x6 color head shot & full body shot
4. Stamped envelope addressed to the alumna's sorority at Bama. Addresses on the Panhellenic site.
5. If you have more than 1 alumna writing a rec or letter of support, a stamped envelope with the "lead" rec writer's name and address.

Don't forget to write a very nice thank you note within a week or two of delivering the packet to each alumna.

You do not need to:
1. Provide stationery - each chapter has its own required forms. If an alumna is writing a letter of support, she will do so on her own social stationery
2. Mail the recs. These women have done this a million times and they know what to do. It would be inappropriate for a pnm to see her own recs.

Be sure to send a hand written thank you note to each rec writer for doing this for you. You will need some stationery to do this, but it need only be some plain old fold over notes with envelopes. You certainly don't need to fall for those 'sorority rush packet' scams that try to make you think you need to buy a monogrammed stationery kit or something.

Being from OOS does not put you at a disadvantage with Old Row. There are tons of us OOS Old Rowers. If you have a high GPA (over 3.5), high involvement in high school (cheer/dance/sports and clubs, leadership positions, homecoming/prom queen, etc.), can dress cute and carry on conversations with strangers, you will be just fine.

How many HC queens can there be? One per school.... you don't have to have all that, just good grades and a good personality with normal involvement.