Letters of Recommendation

One of the more confusing processes of Sorority Recruitment are Letters of Recommendation, or Letters of Rec. If you've been around Greek Life, you've probably heard stories about campuses where having a Letter  of Rec is the only way to receive a bid, or even walk through the sororities front door! Here at the University of Washington, that is not the case. Letters of Rec are a great recruitment tool though, so here are some recommendations for those recommendations ;)

1) As we said above, Letters of Rec will not make or break your recruitment experience. If you have the ability to get some, great! Definitely do so. If you don't though, do not stress.

2) Each sorority has a different process for Letters of Rec. This information can be found on the sorority's national website, and links to these websites can find via UW Panhellenic's website here: http://uwpanhellenic.com/profiles/sororityprofiles.php

The national website should inform you where to send the letter, what the due date for the letter is, and provide a standard form of Letters of Rec for the sorority if there is one.

3) Letters of Rec should be largely handled by the alumnae woman who is writing it for you. Don't be surprised if you can't access the portion of the website where standard forms for Letters of Rec are kept, often times this is a section of the website that is for members only and requires a login that is given to women when they join their sorority. If the alumnae woman can't access this portion of the website (she can't remember her login, never got one, etc.) she can always just write a general Letter of Rec and send it to her sorority at the UW, Attn: VP Recruitment, VP Membership, Membership Chair, etc. Check out the sorority's local website for their address and title or name of the woman who should receive this letter.

An example of a sorority's national website, with instructions for alumnae women on how to submit Letters of Recommendation

An example of another sorority's local (or chapter) website with instructions for alumnae women on how to submit Letters of Recommendation to the specific UW chapter of the sorority

Keep connecting with those alumnae, and enjoy the process of getting to know more about the women in your life and their college days!