How do you actually send LoRs to schools?

[katknight33]

I am currently in the process of applying to PhD programs in environmental science/tropical ecology and conservation. I know–more or less– what schools I will be applying to. I also know who will be writing my letters of recommendation for me... but I do not know how they need to be sent to the schools I am applying for.

I've heard about Interfolio, and I'm not sure what else it out there. I graduated from UCLA and UCLA offers a LoR service for alumni, but it is much more expensive than Interfolio. I've also heard about LoR writers mailing the letters to the schools themselves? 

I've tried to look into how you actually submit letters to grad school, and I still feel so confused. How do you actually send the letter to the school? I know it can be school specific, but any advice on the following would be much appreciated:

- HOW do you send letters of rec to the schools you are applying to?

- What services for sending LoR electronically is the best? (ex. Interfolio, through your alma mater?)

 

This may seem like such a trivial question (and I'm sure I'l look back thinking it was a silly thing to ask), but I am just plain confused on how my LoRs need to get where they are supposed to go. Thanks!!

[PsyDuck90]

I'm in a different field, but when I was applying, the application itself had a section where you input your letter writers' email addresses, and the application system sends them an email with a link to upload the letter. This was the case for all 10 of the schools I applied to. That part didn't cost anything. Getting official transcripts to the few schools that wanted them cost me money to send, along with the application fee itself. I've never heard of needing to pay for LOR submission.

[katknight33]

Thanks for the info! I think I just need to do some more research into the application specifics for the schools I'm applying to (although it's a bit difficult because not all of the apps have been released yet).

Interfolio and the UCLA services are meant to be a place to store LoRs... I'm not sure how they would link into the applications from such a third party service. 

[slouching]

On 9/17/2018 at 8:56 PM, Hk328 said:

I'm in a different field, but when I was applying, the application itself had a section where you input your letter writers' email addresses, and the application system sends them an email with a link to upload the letter. 

This has also been my experience with all the grad school applications I've ever done. What I would usually do was open the application a couple months before the deadline, fill in contact info for my letter writers and other similarly easy stuff, then just save that and return to the application later to add documents I wanted more time to work on (SOP, writing sample, etc). That way, my letter writers had the link accessible to them early on, so they could upload a letter when convenient for them. But I did have a couple of schools where the links for LORs wouldn't be sent until the whole application was actually submitted, so maybe look out for that. 

Honestly, I don't really understand the value of using Interfolio for LORs, especially since some schools don't even accept it.

[katknight33]

Thanks! I'll look into the individual applications themselves and go from there... in your experience, was it easy for your LoR writes to write one letter and then just upload it to each school's application link? Or did your LoRs spend a lot of time revising the letters to fit specific requirements?

 

 

[slouching]

Professors will sometimes tailor the letters to each program, and that was true in my case. How much time that took them, I'm not sure. But the actual process of uploading is usually quite quick--I would sometimes get strings of email notifications sent within minutes of each other, letting me know that different schools had received a letter from someone.