Interfolio?

[medmom]

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I want to make sure that when I apply I am not being held up by LOR''s. I was considering using a service like interfolio. Has anyone used one of these services? How does it work? Is it reliable? Do the schools know that that is where the letter came from? Do they care?
medmom

 

[Flopotomist]

If you graduated from ANY UC, you can use UC Berkeley's letter service. I used them this year, and was pretty impressed. They were very reliable and reasonably fast.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

I want to make sure that when I apply I am not being held up by LOR''s. I was considering using a service like interfolio. Has anyone used one of these services? How does it work? Is it reliable? Do the schools know that that is where the letter came from? Do they care?
medmom

Interfolio ROCKS. I used it at all my schools and had zero problems. Make sure you check "confidential" and sign the waiver release. As long as you choose to keep your references confidential on interfolio, you don't need to submit the schools' LOR form (if they have any).

Interfolio is very reliable. You can check the status of your deliveries very easily, and at some institutions you can deliver the references electronically. Also, when you send your letters with interfolio, you send them as a "package" - that is, all the letters are compiled into one envelope, and a cover letter is included by interfolio which tells them how the service works, but I am fairly certain most schools are familiar with this particular letter courier.

 

[DrKitty]

I want to make sure that when I apply I am not being held up by LOR''s. I was considering using a service like interfolio. Has anyone used one of these services? How does it work? Is it reliable? Do the schools know that that is where the letter came from? Do they care?
medmom

I used Interfolio with the help of my pre-med advisor. Most schools processed my LORs several days after they were posted on Interfolio. However, some schools (hint: GW) are too backlogged to check whether your LORs have been posted, so your file may be officially complete months later. But overall, I say Interfolio makes the application process faster and smoother.

 

[bootz]

A good question is how many people choose to use interfolio over the letter service at their own school. I'm thinking about switching over to interfolio because the letter service at my school charges $8 for regular mail (sent within three weeks) and $20 for ovenight (sent within three days). I looked at interfolio and saw they offered many more options at rates that are much better than the letter service at my school.

 

[deleted50541]

I agree. You can't go wrong with interfolio.

 

[MollyMalone]

I used Interfolio and it worked well. It was cheaper than my campus service and easier to track.

 

[medmom]

I am from a small college in Colorado and we don't have a letter service so if I don't use interfolio than it is all between me and my letter writer.

 

[QofQuimica]

I used Interfolio as well, and I highly recommend it. It's a lot easier on your recommenders, too, because no matter how many schools you apply to, they only have to send a single letter.

 

[Flopotomist]

I am from a small college in Colorado and we don't have a letter service so if I don't use interfolio than it is all between me and my letter writer.

Use interfolio if your school does not have a letter service. Trust us, it will make your life MUCH MUCH easier. It will also make your letter writers' lives much much easier. YOu don't want your application held up because some letter writer was too busy/confused/frustrated/constipated/whateverinated to send a letter out. If you are applying to 15 schools, that is like 60 letters that you have to keep track of the status of as opposed to the 5 letters you send in to interfolio and the 15 packets they send out.

 

[dajimmers]

A definite bonus for Interfolio is you get email notifications when a new LOR is updated and ready to be sent out. So, you'll know if a prof that said they'll get it done in a week hasn't sent it for a month or whatever. Also, they "verify" your LORs, making sure they are cleanly scanned into their systems before sending them out.

It also made it easy for me to see which schools I had sent which LORs to- they keep an online record of your transaction history, meaning you can ensure a specific LOR went to school A, that the last-minute school you added did indeed get your LORs, etc.

 

[Dave_med]

Interfolio is great. My pre-med adivsor (and I use the term loosely) told me NOT to use Interfolio. He told me it was too "impersonal". What a load of crap. I'm so glad I went against his advice. It was the smartest thing I could have done. I know some of my classmates have gone nuts begging professors to get letters out this Fall. I had my writers compose the letters early summer and put them on file with Interfolio. When secondaries came in, it was so easy (and FAST) to send the letters with this service. If you don't have a letter service at your school....I definitely recommend using Interfolio.

 

[MoosePilot]

I loved interfolio!

 

[DoctorFunk]

Interfolio is the bee's knees! Adds a little bit of expense to the process, but the peace of mind (and OCD-style control) it gives you more than makes up for it.