Waiving Rights for LoR and App Questions About Funding

[arglooblaha]

I was wondering if anyone had any insights/thoughts/strong opinions on the following questions:

*"If you are not offered a financial award, do you plan to enroll if offered admission?" (select either yes or no)

*"I wish to waive my rights of access to the letters of recommendation provided in support of this application for admission and the material recorded on the recommendation forms." (select either "yes, I waive my rights" or "no, I do not waive my rights")

I started filling out the easy parts of the Texas Common App and both of these questions were on it. I will probably end up e-mailing admissions and asking about the purpose and history behind these questions (although, the first seems a little more obvious than the second). My main concern is the way in which answers to these questions could or could not affect admission, but I am also just a little bit curious. My assumption is that if you select no to the first question, they won't offer admission if they can't fund you. But if you select yes, are they more likely to overlook you for funding/prioritize you less for funding (it kind of reminds me of the dilemma/myths surrounding whether or not to identify yourself as an organ donor on your drivers license).

[Eigen]

You're overthinking it. They're standard questions, just answer them honestly and move on.

[comp12]

It is common etiquette/protocol to waive rights to the letters.

[TakeruK]

I agree with Eigen. But if you really do want some additional information, here's what I know about my field (astronomy/planetary sciences) and maybe most of the physical sciences.

1. Most PhD programs in the sciences are fully funded. Sometimes, if a student applies for a PhD program, but don't make the cut, then they may be offered an unfunded 1-2 year (usually courses only) Masters program. Many PhD programs won't even accept "self-funded" students -- it's too much of a risk (what if the student runs out of money). If you are not interested in an unfunded program (most aren't) then answer "no, you won't accept admission without funding." Answering yes or no will not change your chances of getting funding. The standard answer to this question is "no".

2. The standard answer is "yes, waive rights to see the LOR". Schools are legally required to ask you to waive your rights because of a Freedom of Information law (might be called something different in the US) where students are always allowed to see what's on their student record. However, the kicker is that if you are not accepted to a school, you are NOT a student, and thus you cannot see your letter anyways. In addition, more importantly, your LOR writers will know your answer to this question and they will probably not want to write you a LOR if you can see it.

Finally, you might see another question about "where else did you apply" This question won't affect your chances of admission either (see lots of other threads here about it)! Just answer it honestly, don't overthink

[arglooblaha]

Thanks, I was mostly curious.

[rising_star]

I wouldn't bother writing to admissions. They basically expect everyone to waives the rights to their letters and to say that they won't attend without funding. Why do they ask? Because it's helpful for them to know if you might attend without funding, even though many departments wouldn't actually allow this.