When can I participate in sorority receruitment?
Formal sorority recruitment at The University of Alabama is only conducted in the fall semester, prior to the start of school. 2013 Recruitment week begins Friday, August 9th, and concludes with Bid Day on Saturday, August 17th. It is important to note that the UA Panhellenic does not host a formalized spring recruitment. If you are unable to participate in fall formal recruitment, but are interested in joining a sorority, you may participate in Continuous Open Bidding (COB). COB begins immediatley following the end of the formal recruitment process, on Bid Day. COB is also sometimes held in the spring semester; however, not all sororities are eligible to participate in COB. In order to host COB events, a chapter must be under Chapter Total. Chapter Total at Alabama is currenlty set at 285 members.

For more information about the COB process, please contact the Office of Greek Affairs at 205-348-2693. You can also fill out a COB Intertest Form  and return it to the Office of Greek Affairs (Ferguson Center, Room 230). Once we receive your COB interest form, we will share it with those sororities participating in COB.

Can I go through Recruitment as an upperclassman?
Yes. As long as you have not accepted a bid from an NPC sorority at UA in the past calendar year, or been initiated into an NPC sorority at UA or on another campus, you may participate in fall formal recruitment. Alabama utilizes an seconday quota that separates upperclassman from incoming freshman. A dual quota system  is used to specifically to place upperclassmen potential members. Its purpose is to give upperclassmen and transfer students a greater opportunity to pledge during Formal Recruitment.

Is there a required GPA to go through Recruitment?
The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) does not allow individual collegiate Panhellenics to set a minimum GPA for potential members to participate in Recruitment; however, it is highly recommended that potential members have a high school or college GPA at or above a 3.0. If you have additional questions about individual chapter scholarship requirements, you can inquire further about minimum GPA requirements during Recruitment. This year as a courtesy to the PNM's going through recruitment, minimum high school and college GPA's for each sorority at UA will be listed in the 2013 Recruitment Guide on the individual chapter informational pages.

If I decide not to participate in recruitment, is my registration fee refundable?
Unfortunatley no, all registration fees are non-refunadable, no excpetions. This is clearly stated on the recruiment registration payment link, so before you register for recruitment, please take this into consideration. 

What should I expect to receive after registering for Recruitment?
Immediately after completing registration, you will receive a confirmation email. The 2013 Sorority Recruitment Guide will be mailed out in June. All potentail members who register before July 15 should expect to receive a copy of the Greek Chic in the mail. Any potential members who register after July 15, will receive a bound copy of the Greek Chic Sorority Recruitment Guide when they check-in at Convocation. 

Do I need to send my transcript to Panhellenic or the sorority chapter?
Although it is not required that you submit your high scjool or college transcript to each individual sorority, the sororities at Alabama appreciate having access to the transcripts of those women participating in fall formal recruitment. It could also be in the potential members best interest to submit a transcript, especially if she has a low high school grade point average. You can attach a copy of your high school and/or college transcript directly to your online regruitment registration form.  If you would like to mail a copy of your transcript, to the sororites, they should be sent directly to the Chapter PO Box address. For a list of mailing addresses, please click here. We ask that you please do not send copies of your transcript to the Alabama Panhellenic Association or the Office of Greek Affairs.

Does the University need a copy of my final high school or college transcript?
Yes! If you have not already done so, you will need to request that a final copy of your high school or college transcript be sent to the Office of Admissions by August 1, 2013. In order to verify the academic standing of all potentail members, the Office of Greek Affairs will run a grade report, which will be shared with all the chapters partcipating in formal recruitment. Please note that all the sororities at Alabama will recognize the Grade Point Average (GPA) on file with The University of Alabama as the  OFFICIAL GPA for all students. Please have your high school or college send a certified copy of your transcript to:

The University of Alabama
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Box 870132
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0132

What if I don't know anyone who could write me a Recommendation/Reference?
If you exhaust all of your personal resources, and you still have not been able to secure a Recommendation/Reference for a particular sorority, there are additional options available to you. You can search on the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) website to find an Alumnae Panhellenic group in your area. Additionally, as a last resort, you can send a copy of your resume directly to the sorority. This will notify the chapter that you were unable to secure a Recommendation/Reference and that you need their assistance in obtaining one. The sororities will use the information you provided in your resume to aid you in is securing a Recommendation/Reference.  Remember, it is ultimately not the PNM’s obligation to secure Recommendation/Reference – it is just helpful to the sororities if you can them provide assistance.

How much does a sorority cost?
Membership in a sorority comes with a financial requirement, which should be taken into consideration. As such, we encourage you to have a meaningful discussion as a family prior to registering and/or participating in sorority recruitment at UA. A serious question to consider is "are you financially prepared and are you invested in the monetary commitment required to sustain membership in a Greek organization for, four plus years?" Financial requirements may include membership dues, which support the local chapter and the national or international organization, facility/parlor fees, as well as room and board (if living in the facility). It is important to note that each organization's fees vary. The numbers listed below, however, are a good representation of the average financial obligation of membership in a University of Alabama Panhellenic sorority. The first semester for a new member will likely be the most expensive due to one-time fees associated with pledging and initation (i.e. badge and a lifetime subscription to the inter/national sorority magazine).

Total Average Fees (per semester):

In-House (includes room, sorority meal plan and sorority dues):
•High: $6500.00
•Average: $5933.82

Out-of-House (includes sorority meal plan, parlor fees and sorority dues):
•High:  $4000.00
•Average: $3300.25

New Member Fees (includes one-time fees, i.e. Initiation): 
•High:  $913.50
•Low:  $165.00
•Average:  $472.00

Dining Meal Plans: New Members who join any of the Panhellenic sororities with full-service kitchens will automatically have their UA meal plan reduced to 50 meals per semester at a cost of $466 and will receive a credit on their student account in the amount of the the difference. This plan is in addition to your sorority meal plan, which provided 3 meals a day Monday –Thursday and breakfast and lunch on Friday.

Students who would like to have no requirement to dine in any UA dining halls may choose to only pay the Community Dining Charge of $197. All requests for the no-meal-plan must be received by Bama Dining by August 21, 2013, for fall new members. There is no deadline to upgrade meal plans.