upperclassmen recruitment

You'll probably be fine, as long as you have good grades. Get recs if you can but they're not exactly necessary. Some sororities are weirder about taking sophomores (kappa & a phi?) but a lot definitely do. probably a third of my pledge class were sophomores when we joined

What would you consider good grades? I have a 3.0, which i know isn't great - will i face heavy cuts because of that?

3.0 isn't great but it's not bad. As long as you have a connection with the house I wouldn't think they would cut you for having a 3.0. Pretty sure my house wouldn't

Recs aren't really necessary under most circumstances, but they won't hurt and can help a house know more about you, if u can get them, I would. Some houses will be fine with a 3.0, other want to see your GPA at or above all-sorority average.

Unlike many campuses with greek life, there used to be more of stigma bidding upperclassmen at the U however with the recent increase in potential new members, almost all chapters have bid sophomores in the last two years. In fact, this year the Panhellenic Council has issued some form of a rule regarding the percentage of age groups present in each chapter's bid class in relation to the percentage of age groups present in potential new members as well (if there is a large influx of upperclassmen, that is).

Comment 4 is correct. Rec Letters will never ever hurt you; they will always help you. I suggest it. As far as your GPA goes, you can check out begreek.org for more information regarding specific sorority GPA rules and such. It is also important to note that if a chapter has continually ranked higher than other chapter's GPA averages (Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, and Gamma Phi Beta come to mind), they are a bit more selective when it comes to a potential new member's GPA because academic excellence is clearly something they value and they obviously want to maintain their rank.

Even if you are skeptical about rushing as a sophomore, I still suggest doing it because it is a great way to meet new people. As a sophomore, you will probably be place in a recruitment group with other sophomores that live near you as well.

What about juniors? I'm a transfer and I know a couple girls who got bids as juniors last year but is that way out of the norm?

If you don't have very close friends in a house recs (1 is fine) so they can learn more about you. Sometimes it helps you not be just another face in the crowd and sometimes they will use the info to pair you with a girl with similar interests.