Sealed Envelope recommendation?

[speed]

Hello,

Can anyone here tell me what universities mean exactly by a sealed envelope recommendation?

Regards

Edited March 19, 2011 by speed

[eklavya]

it means your professor writes you a letter, puts it inside an envelope and signs (or stamps the school/department's logo) across the flap. basically, the school you are applying to wants to make sure that you haven't accessed/tampered with the letter, and that it remains confidential till it reaches the school.

[whirlpool4]

My recommenders gave me their letters either as is or in unsealed, unsigned envelopes. I have already graduated and moved on. Is it okay to mail them in unsigned envelopes?

[Eigen]

My recommenders gave me their letters either as is or in unsealed, unsigned envelopes. I have already graduated and moved on. Is it okay to mail them in unsigned envelopes?

We've covered this some in the other thread, but I'd recommend asking first. My guess is that most institutions won't accept letters that you mail in unsigned envelopes, as there's no real way to verify that you didn't just write the letter yourself.

[whirlpool4]

The letters are printed on watermarked letterhead and signed, and like I said, I can't physically go back and get them to sign the envelopes, so I guess my only choice is to ask the schools.

[fuzzylogician]

The letters are printed on watermarked letterhead and signed, and like I said, I can't physically go back and get them to sign the envelopes, so I guess my only choice is to ask the schools.

No need to physically go back. They can reprint the letter, put it in an envelope, sign across the seal and send it to your schools. It's the standard requirement at many many schools and it shouldn't be difficult for your recommenders to do given that the letter itself is already written. You can just email them a list of schools/addresses and deadlines.