Letters of rec

[poissonpilote]

Hi all,

Universities ask for letters of recommendation. What is the best form for them?

Should the teacher hand write them? Should they be different for each institution?

I am planning to apply to roughly 10 institutions, and one of my teacher types the letter, customizing them a bit for each university, prints 10 of them and then hand signs at the bottom of each.

Is that good? How do you proceed?

Edited October 22, 2009 by poissonpilote

[AllSmiles0086]

The schools I've applied to have a way for Recommenders to electronically send them to the institution. Another option I've seen is sending it in by snail mail.

I believe my recommenders made slight changes to each letter of recommendation for each university.

[Dr._Robotnik's_Shadow]

They should defintiely type them! To do otherwise is very unprofessional. If they can't send them on-line (which most schools prefer if the option is available) they should send them snail mail. they should be printed on school or company letter head , sealed and signed across the envelope flap. Often times schools won't accept them otherwise.

Tailored letters are best.

[socialcomm]

I agree with the previous posters. It's important to read the schools' guidelines for how they'd prefer letters be submitted.

[acup313]

Yes I also agree with everyone else that they should be typed and either submitted electronically or sent via snail mail, depending on the preference of the school. This is in addition to the forms that the school usually requires them to fill out. Your recommenders should be familiar with the process.

[KieBelle]

Yes, definitely do your research- look on each school's website for their LOR submission guidelines. Most will want them submitted electronically- when you start filling out your application online there will be a section where you give the names and email addresses of each recommender. The university will then send an email to the recommender with a link to fill out the LOR online. For those schools that want hard copies sent in, they always have a form that they want printed, filled out by both you (waiving your right to view the LOR) and the professor, and stapled to the typed letter. You should print out the form and send it to your recommenders along with pre-addressed and stamped envelopes for their convenience. Some schools want you to send the LORs in, some want them sent directly from the recommenders.

[alexis]

I agree with the others; definitely make sure you recommender attaches any form the school might have to his or her letter. Usually you have to sign it. (Like someone mentioned, usually it's to waive your right to view the letter. It's generally recommended that you waive this right, but that's a whole other issue.) The electronic ones are easiest. Just fill in the email address and contact info, waive your rights, and done! Then it's in the recommender's hands.

Even the schools that have electronic applications usually have a form if your recommender wants to send a hard copy. I'm going through this right now--one of my recommenders did fill out the online form, but it wouldn't let him attach anything, and he had a nice letter he wrote for me (in his words) so he wants to send it to the school. I'm worried it's a bit unnecessary and not what the adcom wants, but if it's a good letter and he wants to send it, I'm certainly not going to tell him no! So I need to track down those forms as well. You also might get recommenders who hate the internet and like to do everything old school by mail. More of a hassle, but hey, whatever it takes to get the letters done.

For the hard copies, I've given all my LOR writers pre-addressed envelopes. Some people pre-stamp them, but I always worry about correct postage, and with at least one letter, I have to send it in a packet myself. I've asked them to just sign over the flap after including the school's form and the letter, and then return it to me for mailing. That also saves them a trip to the post office.