'waiving' the right to see LORs

[db2290]

I don't really 'get' the whole waiving the right to see LOR business. Does it matter if you don't waive your right? Will this be looked at negatively? If you don't waive the right, can you view the letters on the online applications?

I don't think my writers have anything bad to say, I'm just interested!

[aginath]

Not all LORs are created equally and not all LOR writers are the same. I've had some who insist I write the letter first and then they review it and sign it/forward it. I've had some who copy me on the submission or ask that I read it before they seal it. In general, however, there is a level of trust involved. If you insist on seeing the letters and disagree with something that was said, there is an expectation that you may retaliate. There does seem to be a negative stigma attached to those who insist on seeing the letters.

I've personally always waived the right. But it seems to me the online system would allow you access to review submitted letters if you don't waive your right.

[fuzzylogician]

Here is the logic of the waiver. By waiving your right to view your LORs, you:

1- show the adcom that you are confident that you will get good letters.

2- give your writers the freedom to write whatever they want without worrying that you'll see what they said later on.

In the past there have been threads on this board that disputed the logic of waiver-->more trusted-->better letter. I think in the end I am convinced that there's not much to the reasoning I stated above. However, it is a conventional wisdom that it is better to waive than not to waive, and adcoms are said to trust those letters more, so why not just do it? If you do not sign the waiver, you do not have immediate access to your LORs. If I am not mistaken, you may only ask to see your application file at the school whose offer you accepted, so if you get a really bad letter and get rejected across the board, you won't be able to tell anyway. You have to be enrolled at a school in order to request to see your records there.

Edited September 19, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[db2290]

Ah thanks for that - no point then I think!

[hahahut]

There are some sort of laws that allows ADMITTED student to view the letters (so no way to see it before you actually start your studying there). The choice is the applicant's mostly. I do have a school that states they prefer applicants waiving the right as it makes the letter more creditable. But more importantly, if I choose not to waive the right, my recommendation letter writer would be notified in his instruction. That would give him the impression that he is not trusted. That might hurt the personal relationship.

[natsteel]

The plain truth is that adcomms will not attribute the same weight to letters that you chose not to waive your rights to. The accepted wisdom is that if a professor knows the student may see the letter, they would be less willing to be completely honest in their assessment. Most adcomms will not take letters seriously if you don't waive your rights.

I completely understand your curiosity but the trade-off would mean negating the value of the letters and that is something you definitely do not want to do. Just waive your right for each of them and worry about more important application-related issues.

[TMP]

You do have to trust your LOR writers. If you've had enough conversations, which includes discussing your strengths and weaknesses, you will get a general sense of how they'll write.

Once, I was able to get sealed hard copies of my HS guidance counselor's letter for some scholarships that I was applying for. I had an extra and I just put it away in my desk drawer for several years. When I graduated from college, obviously that letter wasn't going to be of good use anymore. So I opened it up. I was, ahem, actually disappointed because the letter had nothing new to add to what I already knew what my guidance counselor thought of me. Ever since, I just checked off that waiver of rights boxes, because, really, if you trust your LOR writer and had honest conversations, there's no real point in *checking up* on them. Most LOR writers, if pushed, can tell you what they will write.

[violaswamp]

I've been told by professors in my M.A. program (at a PhD granting research university) that one should ALWAYS waive his or her right to read the recommendations. I was told they wouldn't be taken seriously if I didn't waive it.