How important are connections and references?

Why are you pre-planning what chapters to rush lmao??? You talk to every single one on meet the chapters to get a feel and then so on for the second round.

First of all I wouldn’t go into rush pre planning which ones u want. That is just gonna lead to disappointment and make ur rush process miserable. You don’t need rec letters. Connections can be good in some chapters like the “top” ones, but most of the time doesn’t really matter

This isn’t bama rush babe lmao

Sororities don't really plan out their new member classes in advance but they will have a list of girls they know and have their eye on, so you want to get on their radar. some houses draw more heavily from certain parts of Cleveland, cinci Columbus etc but that is more down to actives knowing people from their hometowns/high schools than a conscious decision of like, oh we're only taking girls from shaker heights or whatever. Alumni support never hurts but it's not like the south where the alums dictate who gets a bid, they aren't that involved. last thing - like the previous poster said you really don't have a lot of control throughout - you are 'cutting' house but you aren't really, you're just ranking and the houses are the ones cutting you.

Will recommendation letters hurt your chances then? Especially in the higher ranked houses. That's what someone told me, not to submit them.

If you going to be in Alpha Phi, Pi Phi or DG, you will already know by the time recruitment starts. They don't have many bids to give out and will always go for girls they know. Keep an open mind and trust the process.

hi!! I would try to go into the process with a completely open mind. if you don’t you won’t have a good experience with recruitment. I also am the first greek life member in my family and didn’t know anything about recruitment going into the process and I ended up in one of the sororities you listed with no letters of rec or anything. honestly just don’t stress it and trust the process and you will end up where you belong! ignore any rankings and you will be happy where you end up!

I rushed at an SEC school as a first gen greek life girl and am looking into being an alum that helps with rush now that I moved to Ohio... go in without pretenses, social media might not be what the house is really like. You want a house where you make genuine connections bc you'll want to drop if you don't like the girls in your org. The important things you want to hype up for yourself are your academics and interest in philanthropy, not social life. Letters might help a little but won't hurt you if you don't have it. If a sorority requires a letter of rec, they will provide one if they really want you. Make friends in the houses you want to go to if you want to drastically better your chances of getting into the house, especially if they are top houses.