When registering for recruitment, students on many campuses are required to attach a picture of themselves. Whoa, what? It’s true. So why does it matter? With dozens or hundreds of students going through the recruitment process at your school, sorority women need help connecting your face – and your conversation – to your name.
Imagine a sorority recruitment event has just ended. If your submitted picture looks like the person a sorority woman just met, even if she cannot remember your name, she can convey to her chapter and to the Panhellenic Council that she likes you. How can she issue you an invitation to return if she isn’t sure who you really are? You might as well have been absent from recruitment that day.
If you plan to be present and clearly remembered, make sure your picture meets these six criteria to avoid choosing the wrong picture for your sorority recruitment registration.
☞ Real
Choose a picture that captures your personality. If you usually wear tie-dye t-shirts, or you always have on bright pink lipstick, your picture should reflect these same attributes.
★ Recent
Make sure your picture is recent. If all of your pictures are from when you had your hair down to your knees, and it is now in a short bob, don’t submit them. Your picture should depict how you will appear during recruitment.
✂ Solo
Make sure you are the only one in your picture. It is difficult for Panhellenic women to decipher which face is yours in group pictures.
♬ Close Up
Costumes are wonderful for date parties and Halloween but are not appropriate attire for a picture that will help others identify you. Make sure your picture is up close, and you can easily be identified.
✔ Modest
Choose a picture that is modest and one that you wouldn’t mind showing your grandmother. This may seem intuitive but women have submitted pictures of themselves in string bikinis. Panhellenic women are looking for their next sisters, not the next Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model.
♥ Quality
Skip the tagged pictures of yourself on Facebook. Upload a high-resolution picture that will not appear grainy when maximized. If you find a great picture of yourself tagged on Facebook, ask the original poster to send you the original file in an email. Voila!
A stunningly beautiful picture is only likely to improve your chances of getting invited back to chapters or receiving a bid for membership if it closely resembles the way you look during recruitment. A bad picture, though, could hurt your first impression and negatively impact your overall results. Remember it is possible sorority members are revisiting that image throughout the recruitment period. If you usually wear tie-dye t-shirts, or you always have on bright pink lipstick, your picture should reflect these same attributes.
As you prepare to upload your pretty picture onto your pre-recruitment registration form, remember that your picture, be it right or wrong, is worth a thousand words… and potentially a thousand sisters.
