As a self-proclaimed procrastinator I find myself in an unfavorable situation. I have yet to find anyone to write me a letter of recommendation for sorority rush. But see my real issue is not that I haven’t gotten any letters yet, it’s that I’m not “required” to have any letters. Confusing right? Well as someone who comes from a non-greek family, I knew little about rush before coming to SMU. My intelligence of the rush process is miniscule compared to that of a “legacy.” I was unaware that I am “strongly encouraged” to seek out people that I barely know, or may not know at all, to squeeze out a positive letter of recommendation. I have been told that it doesn’t look good to come into rush without such letters. So I cannot help but feel penalized for not knowing enough people in the greek system.
My rho gamma has assured me that there are other ways of acquiring letters for each of the houses. She said that there are ways of contacting alumni from my home town to write letters on my part. The SMU Greek life webpage states that, “It is the chapter's responsibility to secure a recommendation for each woman who decides to go through recruitment. If you would like to secure your own, please send all recommendations or letters directly to the chapter houses.” I couldn’t help but to be confused at this idea. Each chapter plans on calling my home town, where I have lived for the past five years, and speaking with someone who has no idea who I am. That person will then write a favorable letter for me based upon.... what exactly?
Maybe I am being dramatic about the fact that I am less prepared than others. The process has been this way for a long time, so I’m sure there is some validity to it. But I cannot help but feel that the system is somewhat unfair. I feel that if they wanted a sincere letter of recommendation, I should find it from someone who really knows me well and isn’t necessarily from a particular chapter.
2 comments:
I think you bring up a really good topic here. I was just talking to my roommate about this the other day. I too am the first one in my family to go Greek and I came to SMU knowing pretty much nothing about the rush process. Everyone I talk to seems to have tons of recommendations for each house and from people they know well. When I tell them I don't they reassure me that it doesn't matter if you have them or not. But I cant help but think that if it does not matter then why do these girls seem to be putting so much effort into having as many as possible?
Like Caprice, this blog post can apply to many freshman girls. Rush can be a confusing and sometimes frustrating ordeal for any girl, especially someone coming from a "non-greek" family. Being from the South, my high school held a few information sessions regarding what all was needed to prepare for recruitment in terms of reccomendations and what not. Honestly, if you don't have any there is no need to stress out. The houses will provide you with good letters of support. Just relax and have fun getting to know older girls right now.
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