Did not Waive my Right to Review LOR! Is it that bad :(

[mona90]

I chose NOT to waive me right to access and review the letter of recommendations.

 

Actually, I did not even think about the bros vs cons of my choice, unlike other parts of my applications I did not give it any importance and thought it is the right thing to always have access to my record in all situations.

 

Some friends drew my attention to the fact that admissions would look at those letters as less reliable and that it is not to my best interest to not waive my right to review them.

 

I contacted some of the schools where I had applied to and they all refused to change that in my application since they r already submitted.

 

I am frustrated now, recommendation letters is the strongest part in my applications. I have 4 very strong letters from professors who know me very well, I count a lot on those letter and always believed that they will offset for any shortcoming in other parts of my app.

 

Is there anything I can do about it now to rectify the damage if happened and how bad do you think this will affect my app?

 

Thank you 

[Vene]

Is there anything I can do about it now to rectify the damage if happened and how bad do you think this will affect my app?

For the first part of this question, no.

 

For the second part, it depends. It depends on what the letters say, the opinions of who is on the admission committee, the strength of the rest of your application, and the strength of other applicants. The only thing you can do is wait and see what happens. It's certainly possible that if you were a borderline candidate this can put you in the rejection pile, but if that was the case you'd have a number of other weaknesses in your application.

[mona90]

For the first part of this question, no.

 

For the second part, it depends. It depends on what the letters say, the opinions of who is on the admission committee, the strength of the rest of your application, and the strength of other applicants. The only thing you can do is wait and see what happens. It's certainly possible that if you were a borderline candidate this can put you in the rejection pile, but if that was the case you'd have a number of other weaknesses in your application.

Thanks for the input..

 

The letters are strong. The only weakness in my app I think is my GRE score!

[ashiepoo72]

You may want to explain what happened to your profs, let them know you called the programs and tried to waive after the fact. Not waiving can give them the impression that you don't trust them to say awesome things about you without reading the letters.

[mona90]

You may want to explain what happened to your profs, let them know you called the programs and tried to waive after the fact. Not waiving can give them the impression that you don't trust them to say awesome things about you without reading the letters.

Thanks Ashiepoo, 

It is not my concern what the professors would think, since I have a strong relationship with them and at least three of them would not really mind I chose not to waive my right to access them, in fact, two of my professors sent me the letters before submitting them to approve them if I want.

 

What really matters is whether or not not waiving my right to review LOR would affect the admission committee decision and if would make those strong letters of less value.

[xolo]

Don't stress, no biggie. If this is the biggest 'issue' in your apps, you're golden.

[mona90]

Don't stress, no biggie. If this is the biggest 'issue' in your apps, you're golden

your few words helped me feel better.

 

LOR is the part that I really count on to make my app stands out, I feel I ruined it by not waiving to review. It is frustrating!

[12345678900987654321]

You are way overthinking this. I would wager that 99% of the time my committee does not look at waiver status. Plus, in the US at least, it's the law. Under the Family Rights and Privacy Act, university students have the right to inspect their files upon request. 

[mona90]

You are way overthinking this. I would wager that 99% of the time my committee does not look at waiver status. Plus, in the US at least, it's the law. Under the Family Rights and Privacy Act, university students have the right to inspect their files upon request. 

I hope they really do not pay attention to the waiver status when reviewing my application, as they might think that the recommenders might have written the letters under the influence that I will read them, so they wont be impartial.

[wetheplants]

If you feel that you made that decision, in error, you could always email whoever is in charge of grad admissions at your school, right? Just tell them you didn't understand it and that isn't what you intended to. It probably won't change much and I doubt they'll be able to do anything formally, but at least if it comes up in conversation, someone can say "Oh yeah we heard from them, it was a mistake."