Trying to be convenient for my letter writer: Can i prepay the envelopes?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

TulaneUnderdog

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2014
Messages
185
Reaction score
177
I do not want her to pay money out of her pocket to send letters of recs to all of my medical schools. However, I cannot ask her to give the letters to me because that violates the honor code by implying that I may have read the letter.

Does UPS have a way to help me write the envelopes (with the addresses) as well as prepay the shipping label without me being a company?

Members don't see this ad.
 
You can't just give your writer pre-stamped envelopes?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
I suggest giving your letter writers pre-stamped and pre-addressed envelopes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
You can also have her upload the letter to Interfolio, which will send it to schools electronically for a small fee ($6 for the first letter sent to a school, free for any letters sent to that school after that). Another benefit to this is that if you need to reapply you'll still have your letters on Interfolio and won't need to ask for them again. If you're only applying to MD schools, most use the AMCAS letter service.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Sweet I didn't know pre-stamped means the same thing. She doesn't have to pay for any shipping then right?
If you put the stamp on the envelope, she would not have to put another one. That should be rather obvious, no?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Sweet I didn't know pre-stamped means the same thing. She doesn't have to pay for any shipping then right?
Wow, OK, let's go over mail.
For the situation you are discussing - letters we generally use the term postage. Shipping is typically the term used for packages.

You pay shipping for a box; you pay postage (aka use stamps) for letters.
Your professor will not be sending in a memory box of "TulaneUnderdog's greatest moments!", there will be no shipping involved. She'll be stuffing things into an envelope. As a matter of courtesy, and to ensure that your letters actually go to the right place and do so in a timely fashion, it is customary to preaddress the envelopes (which means the writer does not have to dig around for the proper address and will be less likely to put it off) and to apply stamps. Stamps are not time-sensitive. The post office has no way of knowing when the stamp was placed onto the envelope. Any envelope with the proper postage (aka 1 stamp in the US) will be delivered to the address on the front. Once an envelope is mailed, the postage is (ink) stamped over so that the same postage cannot be reused by the recipient - this marking is known as a 'postmark' and typically has the date written in. Any deadline which states 'must be postmarked by' is saying that the USPS must receive the envelope and postmark it by that date.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
Once an envelope is mailed, the postage is (ink) stamped over so that the same postage cannot be reused by the recipient - this marking is known as a 'postmark' and typically has the date written in. Any deadline which states 'must be postmarked by' is saying that the USPS must receive the envelope and postmark it by that date.

Maybe it's because I only ever get letters from organizations that just mail things in bulk and have deals worked out with USPS already, but I never knew this. Thanks for sharing.
 
Maybe it's because I only ever get letters from organizations that just mail things in bulk and have deals worked out with USPS already, but I never knew this. Thanks for sharing.
No problem. I realized later that it seemed like I was being a patronizing @$$ but I was mostly seriously trying to clarify things, since it seemed that OP had perhaps an incomplete understanding of snail mail. Glad it was helpful to at least someone!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Sweet I didn't know pre-stamped means the same thing. She doesn't have to pay for any shipping then right?

A stamp is basically a pre-paid postage. So no, she won't have to pay anything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Just make sure you put enough stamps on it for its weight and size or it will get returned and you might hit delays. I wouldn't be too worried about the weight as it's just paper, but a larger envelope could need more stamps even if it doesn't weigh much.
 
You can also have her upload the letter to Interfolio, which will send it to schools electronically for a small fee
9ce12.jpg
 
I do not want her to pay money out of her pocket to send letters of recs to all of my medical schools. However, I cannot ask her to give the letters to me because that violates the honor code by implying that I may have read the letter.

Does UPS have a way to help me write the envelopes (with the addresses) as well as prepay the shipping label without me being a company?

Do you mean USPS (standard snail mail)? If you actually intend to use UPS, the basic "put a stamp on the envelope" method probably won't cover the cost.
 
Ummm... most most med schools (and by most I mean all but 2 in the current cycle) use AMCAS letter services, and explicitly state that you shouldn't mail in letters to them directly.
The prof (or the school committee or whoever) uploads their letters electronically to AMCAS (or mails a single copy to AMCAS) and med schools download from AMCAS. Typically there shouldn't be envelopes or postage involved at all.
 
Ummm... most most med schools (and by most I mean all but 2 in the current cycle) use AMCAS letter services, and explicitly state that you shouldn't mail in letters to them directly.
The prof (or the school committee or whoever) uploads their letters electronically to AMCAS (or mails a single copy to AMCAS) and med schools download from AMCAS. Typically there shouldn't be envelopes or postage involved at all.
AMCAS also accepts letters mailed by USPS. It might be actually easier for a professor to print, sing and mail the letter in a pre-stamped envelope than try to find a way to scan the signed letter.
 
AMCAS also accepts letters mailed by USPS. It might be actually easier for a professor to print, sing and mail the letter in a pre-stamped envelope than try to find a way to scan the signed letter.
Sure, I said that too. I just get the sense that the OP didn't know AMCAS distributes the letters.
I mean one pre-stamped envelope is a nice gesture (though probably unnecessary), but OP was talking about plural envelopes and how AMCAS could help address them to ALL the schools. Which shouldn't happen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top