LOR Confidential?

[George2248]

I have a question regarding the LOR.

I just talked to one of my recomenders and I asked if there was a possibility to see the LOR before he sent it. He told me that this is not acostumed and that I shouldnt be able to see it.

I was wondering if this is true? and if also I wont see the LOR after he sent it either, dont they appear in my application online for me to see them?

I think it makes a difference for my confidence and my SOP if I could see what the recomender said about me.

[emmm]

No, you generally do not get to see your LORs. You MUST waive your right to see them, or they won't be taken seriously. Your profs MAY give you copies, if they are comfortable doing this. One of my profs did, two did not. I am sure all of them wrote me wonderful letters, as I got multiple interviews. Don't worry about this. If you chose your LOR writers well, your letters should be fine.

[George2248]

I just never thought this would be a problem and always thought I could even read them and even make suggestion before they sent it. Now that I know I wont even see them after they wrote them it is really stressing.... Do you know what might be the reason for this?

[George2248]

What happen if I decided to not waive the right?

[ktel]

You MUST waive your right to see them, or they won't be taken seriously.

I have never seen this made mandatory in any of the applications I have ever made for schools or scholarships. It is true that a certain amount of confidentiality is implied when they ask for sealed envelopes or for the LoRs to be submitted directly to them, but on many occasions I have had the letter writer show the letter to me either before or after it was sent. I will note that I never asked to see it, they simply wished to show it to me.

[kaykaykay]

LORs are confidential so that you would not be able to give "suggestions", get angry over what is written in them etc. You do not have to waive the right to see them but your letter writers and your school that you are applying to will be notified about this. Some schools will not take you seriously, some professors may decline to write you a letter altogether. I am not even sure how can you be so arrogant that you were planning to make suggestions about your letter of recommendations. Schools take those seriously exactly because they are supposed to be unbiased, fair, and completely independent from any pressure. If you did not do well in a class do not ask for a LOR and if you have issues that you think your recommender may better address than you in the SOP talk to them about it in person.

Edited September 21, 2011 by kalapocska

[emmm]

ktel - it's not mandatory, it's just generally understood that if rights are not waived, the letters may not be as reliable. So, you'd be wasting your LORs, in my opinion, by insisting to view them.

[ktel]

What I don't understand is how the institution would know that you saw the letter, unless they mandate that you tell them if that was the case, and I have never seen this in my experience. I do think that demanding to see the letters is unreasonable, but like I said, I have often had my references want me to see the letter before or after it was sent.

[emmm]

That is perfectly acceptable -- you waived your rights to see the letters, but if your profs want to give you copies of them anyway, that's fine. You should not ASK them to give you copies, however.

[George2248]

I understand, I really didnt think it could damage the credibility of the recommender if I asked to see the LOR, I know he would make a great recommendation but I just wanted to know what he was putting on it, since he was the tutor of my thesis and I plan to mention the work I did with him on my SOP.

[Eigen]

Ktel- I think the confusion is coming about in terminology. On many applications, when you give recommender name's, there's a box to check that says "I waive my right to see these letters". Basically, you can not check it and require that the school/recommender show you their letters... Or waive it.

Waiving your "right" to see the letters doesn't mean that a professor can't send you a copy, or show it to you if they wish. It just means you can't demand to see the letters.

George:

Letters are supposed to be confidential. It lets the professor feel they can freely talk about you (high points and low points) and the school feel like they're getting an honest opinion. Between grad school apps and fellowship apps, I've gotten 12-15 different faculty members to write LoRs, and I've only ever seen two of them.

[wwellington]

Waiving your "right" to see the letters doesn't mean that a professor can't send you a copy, or show it to you if they wish. It just means you can't demand to see the letters.

Doesn't the bit about not waiving your right only really apply once accepted? That is, you're waiving your right to see a copy of the letters as part of your file if you're accepted and attend the school.

Almost everyone does waive it so they do still get taken more seriously if you do, but I think that's technically what the waiving applies to.

[George2248]

Ktel- I think the confusion is coming about in terminology. On many applications, when you give recommender name's, there's a box to check that says "I waive my right to see these letters". Basically, you can not check it and require that the school/recommender show you their letters... Or waive it.

Waiving your "right" to see the letters doesn't mean that a professor can't send you a copy, or show it to you if they wish. It just means you can't demand to see the letters.

George:

Letters are supposed to be confidential. It lets the professor feel they can freely talk about you (high points and low points) and the school feel like they're getting an honest opinion. Between grad school apps and fellowship apps, I've gotten 12-15 different faculty members to write LoRs, and I've only ever seen two of them.

Thanks I just had a missconception about what it should be and never thought a professor with which I have a great relationship wouldnt allow me to see the letter, thats all. I know understand your point.

[emmm]

Some profs are comfortable sharing letters and do it routinely, but I think they're in the minority. In applying to schools 3 times (starting with undergrad), I have only ever been shown 1 letter -- but I've always gotten in to great schools.

[Gvh]

I'm not sure if this is a British thing, but I have been shown all three of my letters. Granted they were sent to me in a format so that I would not be able to edit them - but I don't see why you shouldn't be able to *see* it.