Yes, your grade point average is extremely important. You are attending JMU to receive an education, so your academic work should always be your first priority. In order to participate in formal sorority recruitment, a woman must have a 2.50 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. Your most current cumulative GPA is what will be used to determine if you are eligible to participate in the recruitment process. While the 2.50 GPA requirement is set by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, many of our sororities require potential new members to have a higher GPA in order to be fully considered for membership. The better your cumulative GPA, the more options you will have during the sorority recruitment process.

The cost of sorority membership varies from organization to organization. The first semesters of membership are generally the most expensive as there are many one-time fees that new members are required to pay. After the first semesters of membership, dues fees are lower in cost. The average cost of being a new member in our community is $650.00 per semester while the average cost of being an initiated member is $336.00 per semester.  A breakdown of dues per organization is given in the recruitment guide provided to all women participating in the formal recruitment process.

A recommendation is a letter written to a sorority that you are interested in by a member of that organization. James Madison University doesn’t require any potential new members to have letters of recommendation submitted on their behalf in order to participate in recruitment. Organizations would like to receive letters of recommendation, but it is not a necessary part of participating in the formal recruitment process.

If someone would like to send a letter of recommendation to an organization on your behalf, she can do so by sending it to the following address:

Organization Name
James Madison University
MSC 3518
Harrisonburg, VA 22807

A legacy is a potential new member who is the sister, daughter, or granddaughter of a sorority member. Some sororities also consider additional female relatives as legacies as well so make sure to list all of your potential legacy information of your recruitment application. Being a legacy to an organization doesn’t figure heavily in the formal recruitment process. The organization to which you are a legacy does not have to guarantee membership to you, nor do you have an obligation to join. You should seek to find the organization where you feel that you are best fit.

You should focus on asking questions about the experience of being in a sorority. You will want to make sure that you feel as if you fully understand what is expected of you as a new member and an initiated member of any organization before accepting an invitation to membership. The following questions are always a great way to start a conversation with a sorority woman:

Scholarship:

• What are the grade requirements for members and new members?
• Are study hours are required?
• How does your sorority assist those having difficulty with their studies?

Financial:

• What are the dues for new and initiated members?
• Does your organization have a payment plan for dues?
• What do dues cover?
• Can I have a job and still be a part of the sorority?

Social:

• What types of activities do sisters do together?
• What types of social events occur throughout the year?
• Would I be expected to go to all of the social events that your organization has planned?

Commitments:

• When are new member meetings and how long do they last?
• Are members required to perform a certain number of community service hours?
• How does your sorority support its philanthropy?
• Are members required to live in the sorority house?
• What is a points system? Am I expected to participate in the point system as a new member?
• On average, how much time do members spend on sorority activities each week?
• What other on campus activities are members engaged in?

Yes, you do. We want to make sure that each new member is given the opportunity to spend as much time with the organizations that they are interested in and those that are interested in them. Should you choose not to attend an event that you have been invited to and don’t have the opportunity to make up your visit to the sorority, you will be released from the recruitment process.

At the conclusion of each day of recruitment, each sorority is required to release a percentage of the potential new members who visited them during that day. Each organization has a democratic process to ensure that all decisions about which participants to invite back are made by more than a few members of the sorority.