So what is preferred for the whole "waiving your rights to letters of recommendation"? It says you don't have to, but you can. What do they prefer? I have submitted a couple and did not waive my rights. A couple of my letters I have actually seen since the writer asked me to take a look and make sure it was correct. They didn't want to have written something that I couldn't defend in an interview. So since I have seen some of the letters does that mean I can't waive my right? Any thoughts would be appreciated
After years of admissions work, here's what I've gathered:
1. Some adcoms *can* be a bit suspicious of applicants who don't waive their right. After all, you chose the LOR writers, so they'd expect you to trust them, and 95% of applicants waive their right. Thus, not waiving your right makes you stick out a little bit. Is this the worst thing in the world? No. But it's something you should be aware of.
2. If you've already seen the letter, I wouldn't have any moral or ethical qualms about waiving your right. Of course, the waiving would be moot at that point, but I see it as the letter writer's individual choice to show you the letter, even though you've technically said that you don't have the right to *demand* to see it. I see it as you giving up your right for your pre health office to show you the letters, but *not* giving up your right to know what was written, *if* the author chooses for you to be able to read it.
However, if you take this view, see the letters, then waive your right, I guess you may be faced with the situation of being asked during an interview if you've ever seen your letters (this isn't a common question, but it's possible). If this happened, it might look a bit suspicious if you say "yes, I've seen them," but you'd be lying if you said "no." Perhaps you would just say that one of the authors gave you a copy to make sure everything was accurate, which may or may not be understandable in the eyes of the adcom.
Sorry I don't have any clear cut advice...just looking at the different possibilities here.