freshman

As far as I know, all of the top houses require it, and most houses overall do. An alum can write one if they want you that badly but it's not worth risking

Not all houses require it and if they do they have alumns on hand to "write" you one if you need it. I also did not have one for the sorority I got into and I still loved it here. If you are worried about it go to your local Panhellenic chapter and request some. I did that for KD lol.

All the houses require it. While it is true that if you are the top girl that a house wants they can find someone who knows you to write one, why take a chance? If they like another girl almost as well and she has a rec, it's way easier just to take her. Some people who say they didn't have recs actually did. Alums knows who is graduating and write recs for girls they think would be great in their house. It's pretty funny that anyone thinks they can just get whichever house they want with no personal effort. It may happen, but it's not likely.