letters of recommendation

in my house, we are not allowed to drop any pnm on the first round that has a letter of rec. they are automatically asked back. That being said, letters do not help at all in the next rounds.

Letters will be shared with the chapter, but other than that it really depends on the sorority. If it's a compelling letter by someone who knows you well it might get you a second look you wouldn't otherwise get, but it's not magic.

I have seen letters of rec provide very positive, unique info about a girl that caused our rush committee to flag girls to encourage us to seek them out during parties and make them feel extra welcome. I have also seen info from a letter of rec get a girl a bid when we were on the fence. She was a nice enough girl who was very shy and really wasn't great at talking herself up. The letter was by a trusted alum who could attest to her important artistic achievements and kind personality. She ended up being a good sister and is still active as an alum.

contrary to the replies above i never saw or heard anything about letters of rec when i was on the chapter side of recruitment, they were never mentioned and we didn't see them as necessary or important. i wasn't on the recruitment team though so they might consider them but in the end we based our voting off ours and others interactions with the PNMs