Do you ever wish you could see your letter?

[non humilis mulier]

I have three great recommenders (4 for one school!), and all of these professors are my personal friends and mentors. I feel very fortunate to be able to say that. Sometimes, I just wish that I could see what they wrote! And since they're all submitted electronically, there's no chance of holding the envelope up to the window and trying to peer through (like I did in high school!). I'm sure the rest of you guys feel this way, too!!

[Rachel B]

Did you waive your rights to see the letter? If not, you do have the right to view these documents.

[non humilis mulier]

Yes, I did waive my right. I was told that it's better to do so. Also, I definitely wanted to give my profs the opportunity to write openly and honestly about me. I just wonder what they said (of course!).

[Rachel B]

Yes, I did waive my right. I was told that it's better to do so. Also, I definitely wanted to give my profs the opportunity to write openly and honestly about me. I just wonder what they said (of course!).

I know what you mean! One of my letter writers wrote me a recommendation (which was sealed in an envelope with their signature across the back) that I personally had to mail to the school. Well, I didn't make it past the pre-application stage and I was horribly tempted to open the letter, but I ended up giving it back to him.

[non humilis mulier]

That was good of you! I probably would have tried steaming it open or something... jk!

What do you mean you didn't make it past the pre-app stage?

[Rachel B]

One program had a pre-application, which was an extremely shortened version of the actual application. It was mostly just my academic background and a short essay. Unfortunately they had made a recent change to their program prerequisites, well after I had asked for recommendations, and I had two class deficiencies that I needed to make up. Because of this they declined my pre-application, so I can't apply to the program. But they did encourage me to apply if and when I make up the deficiencies.

[non humilis mulier]

I'm sorry to hear that, Rachel. Best of luck in the rest of your apps!

[contretemps]

No. It's not like it would change anything. Besides, I think it would make me cringe just reading that letter and I've had enough of that when I wrote my SOP. LOL.

[ktel]

Most of the letters I've had the opportunity to read were amazing, but there was the odd one that wasn't quite what I expected. It's best to just not think about it and leave things that our out of your control alone.

[dimanche0829]

I wouldn't want to see it; the fact that someone thinks highly enough about my work to write the recommendation is validation enough for me. (Plus, I don't want to chance reading a letter where my expectations of content don't align with reality.)

[rising_star]

I've wondered but not enough to look or even ask to look. I had the chance to look once, when I collected letters for something I ended up not applying for, but I didn't actually look at them.

[runonsentence]

Most of my writers for my applications asked me to proof drafts of their letters for me (this has also been the case for other grants and awards I've applied for). But there's one letter for my PhD apps—from the faculty member I was closest to—that I've never seen, and I do admit that I'm burning with some curiosity, there.

[Spriteling]

Not at all. If the letter wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped, I'd feel really let down and unhappy and worry even more about admissions. If it was brilliant, I'd just feel awkward and uncomfortable reading it, and I'd worry I'd not be able to live up to it.

[rainy_day]

Yes! In this awful process of applications, who wouldnt want to read nice things about themselves?

[Helpplease123]

Does it make a difference to waive rights to see the letter? I selected no because it seemed like an odd question and I figured if something went wrong maybe i'd want to. Is that a problem?

[gracie114]

I have a hard time accepting compliments, so I think I'd feel embarrassed if I read what people wrote about me.

[LawlQuals]

I am really not curious about it. Having written plenty of recommendation letters myself, I know what kinds of statements are made in these letters (upon consult with professors about this as well). To read something part embellishment and part truth is not something I am overly excited to look at, they do not mean everything they write all the time. The practice of "over recommending" a student is so replete, that anything less than an awesome letter can be almost a detriment to you. Some hard profs, you know who they are, will be candid and honest about you. Most will be super nice I suspect.

[Pitangus]

Does it make a difference to waive rights to see the letter? I selected no because it seemed like an odd question and I figured if something went wrong maybe i'd want to. Is that a problem?

It's usually recommended that you waive your right to see the letters because it shows that 1) you have good relationships with your writers and trust them to submit strong letters, and 2) you didn't review a less-than-ideal letter and either switch writers or ask your writer to make it stronger (though supposedly some writers will let you see their letter even if you waive your right, but I've personally never had a writer show their letter to me).

I don't know how much of a difference it will generally make in the decision process. Presumably ad comms give waived letters more weight for the reasons above, but I don't know if or to what degree they discount unwaived ones.

So personally I would only choose to not waive the right if I had concerns about a letter writer. Ideally I wouldn't have to resort to a questionable writer in the first place, but I know sometimes it is unavoidable for various reasons.

[fuzzylogician]

I'm curious to know what people usually write in letters of recommendation, because I've never had the change to see my own letters or any others for that matter, but I am not particularly curious about my own letters. I know that my letters were very strong (it was one of the things that was constantly mentioned in interviews and visits after I applied) and I know that any letters I obtain in the future will be strong too, because I trust my advisors and mentors.

[R Deckard]

Don't want to know. Don't see how it would change anything.

[BDav]

If you don't wave your right to see the recommendation, you still don't get to see it unless you are accepted.

Having read thousands of recommendations, I can tell you that most are very good. But, there are always a few that actually say bad things about the person, or that they aren't good for the program. Be very sure about who sends your recommendations. Even if you need "anyone" to write you a recommendation, you still need to choose carefully.

[non humilis mulier]

I agree with Fuzzy Logician -- I'm curious to see what sorts of things professors say about their students. I've never seen any letters, for me or for anyone else. I guess I'd be curious to see what the recommender chooses to highlight, how well it is written, what rhetoric they use, if they choose to include some negative points, and if they do, how they incorporate them. I do wonder what stands out about me to my recommenders, though they have mentioned some of my strong points in conversation in the past, so I'd imagine that those would be included.

It's certainly an interesting process!

[BDav]

Well, if you happen to be from Singapore, the professors there all seem to follow a set of guidelines where they put the students good qualities and where they might be weaker.

Almost every letter is only good things, but each letter also comes with a sheet the person fills out where they rate you on things such as how intelligent you are, how good you might be at teaching, how mature you are, and a few others. It isn't that rare that a letter will be glowing, but the ratings are less stellar.

If you know the recommender, you probably already know what the letter says. It will be something along the lines of, "I taught PERSON in this class at this time. PERSON did extremely well in my class, getting such and such grades and taking part in discussions. Person did exceptionally well on SPECIFIC project or paper, where they analyzed SUCH AND SUCH."

They really aren't all that interesting.

[Mal83]

Nope, I'm with those who say that it would mostly be awkward. I have trouble imagining that a professor or an employer would agree to write a letter of recommendation and not have good things to say about you. Why wouldn't a letter from a professor for a grad school applicant not be strong? Why would that person agree to do it in the first place only to write something that would end up hurting the applicant? They wouldn't agree in the first place if they didn't feel comfortable endorsing your application so I've been trusting enough to know that my recommenders wrote only nice things.

[BDav]

It's rare, but it does happen. I've seen Deans write recommendations on how the student isn't good enough for the program he is applying. I've seen people say, "I don't know this person well enough to comment," and nothing else. I have a feeling this only happens when people ask for recommendations from complete strangers, or people who really don't like them. I don't think it is from professors or employers that they have a good relationship with.