Sending LoR - How does it all work?!

[atay5510]

I am applying to a number of schools (about 6), all of which require LoR to come through online submissions. I am from Australia so am a bit in the dark over how all this works...

If I am applying to 6 schools, will the people who write my letters have to email them 6 times to 6 different schools? Or is there a simpler way? Asking my professor to send 6 emails seems like asking a lot...

Thanks!

[TakeruK]

For most US schools with online LORs, what happens is that you have an online application form to fill in. The form usually contains many pages (e.g. one for your schools, one for you to upload your SOP, etc.) and one of them is a place to fill in your LOR writer information. They tend to ask for the name, school, and email address of your LOR writer. Some places will also ask for their position (i.e. Prof, Assistant Prof. etc.), their phone number, and their physical address. So, it's useful to have this info on a post-it near your computer during application season. Use their office phone # and their departmental mailing address of course.

There are usually two main ways this works after you type in this information.

(1) [more common] As soon as you save the information, the system automatically sends an email to your LOR writers informing them of your request. They will usually get a link to log onto the system and type in / fill in your LOR.

or

(2) Sometimes, the request is not sent until you have submitted your own application too. It's important to find out if this is the case so you can make sure to submit your own stuff well before the deadline.

In either case, Profs are used to writing a ton of letters and most likely, they will be copying and pasting and perhaps making a few edits. You sometimes get a confirmation email when the request is sent and maybe when the LOR is submitted. But it's important to make sure you have contacted your LOR writers before they get that system email!!

In response to your second question -- yes there is another way, but not all schools/fields use it. I've heard of some "online portfolio" type things where your LOR writer just writes one version of a LOR for you and uploads to the online portfolio. You provide the portfolio information to schools that accept it and they can access your LOR through that system. At least that's how I think it works -- I've not done it myself!

[atay5510]

Great! Thanks

My plan is to submit his name in the LoR section on my online application, for all 6 schools at the same time (once the letter is written). That way, he can get all the emails at once and just upload the letter at one time for 6 different schools.

What do you think? How have other people done it?

[TakeruK]

That sounds like a good plan. I had 8 schools to apply to and I did it in two waves of 4 -- I submitted the requests for deadlines around Dec 15 and Jan 1 separately, about 2 weeks beforehand. I did tell my LOR writers beforehand that this was my plan so they knew what to expect. In addition, the applications usually allows you to send a reminder email by clicking a button. A few days before the deadline, I used this feature so that the LOR writers will see the email at the top of their inbox and will be able to submit the letter without having to dig through their email inbox. I did this because I knew the profs well and when I worked with them, they would routinely ask for me to do things like this since if it's not on the first page of their inbox, it's not going to be on their mind.