Waive my right or not?

[historicallinguist]

So, now, here comes a question: is it true that, if I do not waive my right to see LORs, Adcoms will take these LORs less seriously?

Anyone has any idea about this?

 

 

 

[fuzzylogician]

From the FAQ: 

Should I waive my right to view my letter? 

Yes. Your letter will be taken more seriously if your recommenders are free to write their honest opinion of you without fear of retaliation on your part. If you do not waive your right to view the letters, they may be assigned less weight or even ignored by the adcom. Some professors will show you a copy of the letter anyway, and many others might not. You should only ask professors who you trust to write strong, positive letters on your behalf, and expect that you may never see them.

 

This is the general sentiment. Whether this holds for the particular profs at the particular schools you'll apply to, no one knows. That's why it's advisable to just do it. Also keep in mind that not waiving your right to see the letter means something different than people tend to think. If you are admitted to a school, FERPA would normally allow you to view your student records, which would normally include things such as LORs. Waiving your right means that you won't be able to see the LORs in your file. *Either way, if you are not admitted and enrolled at a school, you don't have a right to access your file there*. So this has a much more limited effect than you might think. 

[historicallinguist]

 

31 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

You should only ask professors who you trust to write strong, positive letters on your behalf, and expect that you may never see them.

Thanks, Fuzzy! The key must be whether the Prof. in question is trustworthy!

[fuzzylogician]

Don't ask someone who you don't trust. 

If you ask someone who you don't trust and they give you a bad letter, you might not get admitted and in that case you won't have the chance to exercise your FERPA right to view your letter, so not having waived you right to view the letter will not matter. If you get in anyway, you're done, you got in. Once you're in school, you'll get your letters from your grad school professors, who will be the ones who will know you and your work the best, and there won't be a reason to get them from your old profs, especially if you don't even trust them.

If you get a good letter, that's nice to read, but there is no gain to be had. But there is potentially something to lose from not waiving your rights. FWIW, for fellowships/grants and job applications, you never get to see your letters, unless a prof volunteers to show them to you. Such is life. 

[historicallinguist]

I am going to PM you now