PLEASE HELP ME 2 BIG PROBLEMS

[yunason]

Hello.

 

I have two serious problems in my LoR.

 

1) One of my recommenders wrote other school's name in LoR.

 

He just uploaded files and did not recognize this problem because in this letter, the school name was mentioned just one time. 

 

But, I am really worried about my situation... 

 

Should I contact the office of admission to require a new LoR e-mail ?

 

2) WAIVE

 

I am an international student and I did not see any posting about application procedures.

 

So, I did not know that all people did waive the right.

 

Actually, I did not understand well this instruction.

 

I just thought that this waive means my right of submission LoR...How stupid...

 

It's my fault ... I did not read carefully.... 

 

So, PLEASE help me to solve this problems...

 

I am crying now TTTTT

[TakeruK]

Problem 1 is not really a problem. It's no big deal at all. The profs reading your LOR likely made a similar mistake themselves at some point.

 

Problem 2 might be a problem, or it might not. If it makes you feel better, you could write an email to the school saying that you misunderstood the FERPA waiver and you meant to waive the right. You should also let your LOR letter writers know if it's not too late.

[yunason]

All of my writers did submit LoR and they did not mention about this...

 

I think we did not understand this waiver system...

 

THANK YOU very much.. actually, in my country community..

 

Everyone told me you may be denied due to the 1st problem ...

 

I will write an e-mail to the admission office right now.

Thank you very much.

[scarvesandcardigans]

First, have you made the issue known to the person who wrote the reference? I think that's the most important. The fact that the wrong institution name is in the letter I don't think will be a big deal to admissions committees. They have to be aware that you are asking for multiple school references and, yeah, probably made the same errors themselves. I would definitely get in contact with the graduate school or program(s) to which you are applying and let them know. I think they will be understanding about it. Some people probably forget to check the box every now and again.

 

You'll be fine! Good luck!

[yunason]

I sent an e-mail to all of my school offices.

 

Some people told me that they will forward my e-mail to the department.

 

THANK you so much everyone.

 

I am crying for these problems but you guys made me to cheer up. THANKs

[Chubberubber]

Can someone please explain why os this so common to waive the FERPA right? 

I doid waive it, but just because I thought that's what everybody does. I still don't understand why though...

[.letmeinplz//]

Can someone please explain why os this so common to waive the FERPA right? 

I doid waive it, but just because I thought that's what everybody does. I still don't understand why though...

There is belief that your recommenders will not be completely forthcoming in your LORs if you do not waive. It would be awkward if your LOR writer wrote you a negative/mediocre letter and you could read it.

 

Since you should only be asking professors for "good" letters of recommendation that shouldn't happen anyway, but the letters being confidential just give them more weight in the eyes of admissions.

 

Think of it this way... If you were asked to give an accurate analysis of a friend, do you think you could be more honest with them in the same room listening over your shoulder or with them in a different room where they couldn't hear you?

Edited February 11, 2015 by <ian>

[TakeruK]

Short answer: If you don't waive the right, it means it is potentially possible for you to see the confidential LOR one day. This might mean your LOR writer will not be fully honest. Admissions committees that review your LOR letter might not trust your LOR as much if they knew your LOR writer might not have been fully honest.

 

Long answer:

 

In the US, one of the FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) regulations is that a student may request their school show them the contents of their student record. This is to protect the students, so that unethical administrators or professors cannot add bad things to your student record without you knowing. Also, it is your right as a student to know what information the school has stored on record about you. The intent of the law is to protect students. 

 

However, an unintentional side-effect is that if your LORs are stored in your student record, then if you use your FERPA rights, you will be able to see your LORs. This compromises the integrity of LORs and the LOR process as we know it today. Therefore, to protect the LOR's confidentiality, many schools ask their students to waive their FERPA right to view the LORs in their student record. You can think of it like signing one of those EULA for software, or a waiver when you go play sports etc. 

 

Note that you are only waiving your FERPA-related rights to view the LOR on your student record. If you waive the right, it does not stop you from asking the prof to show you the LOR nor does it stop the prof from choosing to show you the LOR. You are not saying you have not nor you will not see the LOR. You are only saying you will not use your FERPA right to view the LOR in your student record.

 

Also, if you don't waive the right, you do not necessarily get to see your LOR either. FERPA regulations only apply to enrolled students, so if you get rejected from a school or if you choose to not attend, you may never have a student record, so your FERPA rights do not apply. Some schools might never save your LORs in your student record (perhaps they destroy all LORs after making an admission decision), so you might not be able to view the LOR.

 

Overall, there is almost no benefit to not waiving the right and some potential consequences, which is why it's common practice to waive the right. It's basically an agreement between you, your LOR writers, and the school that you will not use FERPA rights to view the LOR.

Edited February 12, 2015 by TakeruK
corrected a missing "not" in the last paragraph

[Chubberubber]

Thanks!

I figuered it must be something like that, I thought it was specifically targeted to LORs and didn't realize why bother making a law that almost everyone will waive their right for.  Good to know that was just a by-product of a law that makes sense.