Letter of Recommen.- Confusion! AHHHHH

[cure0008]

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After you ask your professor for a letter of recommendation (L of R), are they suppose to give you the L of R in a closed envelope or fax it somewhere or what? Also could you ask for a copy of the L of R or is that against the whole in "confidential" thing?

PLEASE HELP ME!!!

 

[linguini]

I suggest you use interfolio. For a small annual fee, they will manage all of your LORs confidentially. After you sign up, print a "cover letter" from interfolio and give it to your letter writer. Your letter writer then sends in his/her LOR to interfolio with the cover letter. Interfolio will then send your letters to wherever (potential bosses, med schools, AMCAS).

If you waive your right to view your LOR (which is suggested), then asking your letter writer to send you a copy is violating confidentiality.

 

[chad5871]

You have three choices (in order of preference).

1. If your school has a pre-med committee or letter service that sends letters to the schools, have the professor submit it to them for transmission to schools.
2. Open an account with Interfolio and have the professor send it to them. Then, when you apply to schools, have Interfolio send the LOR to each school you've applied to.
3. Have your professor send a copy to each school that you applied to.

Good luck!

 

[Sleight]

I heard there is a new system for doing letters on AMCAS...like the Letter writers submit them online themselves...this is so confusing because I am getting different information from advisors and and elsewhere...any concrete information? I have never heard of interfolio either.

 

[chad5871]

I heard there is a new system for doing letters on AMCAS...like the Letter writers submit them online themselves...this is so confusing because I am getting different information from advisors and and elsewhere...any concrete information? I have never heard of interfolio either.

Yes, there is a new system, but only certain schools are participating in the 2009 cycle. I'm not sure how it will be in the upcoming cycle. In the case of schools participating in AMCAS' LOR program, either your pre-med advisor, Interfolio, or your professor (depending on which you choose to handle your LORs) would have to send the letters in to AMCAS.

 

[cure0008]

However, for interfolio I found out that I have to pay $4 per electronic delivery for each of my L or R. is this true? If so I have 5 L of R and send it to 15 MD schools then I would have to pay (5*15*4) which is $300.


Delivery Options and Pricing:
Electronic delivery - $4
USPS first-class delivery - $6
International Postal Service delivery - $7
USPS Priority Mail (2-3 days) - $12
2-3 day delivery and tracking - $16
Overnight 12:00 PM EST delivery and tracking (before 2 PM EST) - $28
Rush overnight 12:00 PM delivery and tracking (before 4 PM EST) - $40
International 2-3 day delivery and tracking - $45

http://www.interfolio.com/candidates/premed/

 

[sleepy425]

If you waive your right to view your LOR (which is suggested), then asking your letter writer to send you a copy is violating confidentiality.

Well, actually there's nothing that says that you cannot ask for a copy of a letter of recommendation, even if you have waived your right to see it. If you've waived your right and you ask for a copy of the letter, the letter writer can refuse to give you a copy.

My point is that waiving your right to view a LOR doesn't mean that you're signing an agreement to not read the LOR. It simply means that you cannot force the letter writer to show it to you.

That being said, most people who write LORs will not appreciate you asking to see the letter, and will probably tell you no. I've only asked to see a LOR once (even though I did waive my right) and it was only because I felt really comfortable asking (well, the guy was telling me what he wrote, so I just asked). So in 99% of cases I definitely would not recommend asking to see the letter.

 

[chad5871]

However, for interfolio I found out that I have to pay $4 per electronic delivery for each of my L or R. is this true? If so I have 5 L of R and send it to 15 MD schools then I would have to pay (5*15*4) which is $300.


Delivery Options and Pricing:
Electronic delivery - $4
USPS first-class delivery - $6
International Postal Service delivery - $7
USPS Priority Mail (2-3 days) - $12
2-3 day delivery and tracking - $16
Overnight 12:00 PM EST delivery and tracking (before 2 PM EST) - $28
Rush overnight 12:00 PM delivery and tracking (before 4 PM EST) - $40
International 2-3 day delivery and tracking - $45

http://www.interfolio.com/candidates/premed/

It's $4 for the delivery of each LOR packet (which would include all 5 of your LORs) up to 20 pages. So it's really $60.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong - my pre-med advisor sent all of my LORs for me through VirtualEvals.

Besides, if you're applying to 15 schools, $300 is a drop in the bucket compared to how much the rest of your applications are going to cost (probably over $500 for primary application and about $1200 or $1300 for secondaries, plus interview expenses).

 

[pathophys17]

I suggest you use interfolio. For a small annual fee, they will manage all of your LORs confidentially. After you sign up, print a "cover letter" from interfolio and give it to your letter writer. Your letter writer then sends in his/her LOR to interfolio with the cover letter. Interfolio will then send your letters to wherever (potential bosses, med schools, AMCAS).

If you waive your right to view your LOR (which is suggested), then asking your letter writer to send you a copy is violating confidentiality.

Are you expected to send info to your letter writer regarding the process of them submitting it, getting their signature on it, etc, or do you just tell them that you're using Interfolio, and you can send them something from Interfolio with directions on what to do, or maybe they just sign up for a letter writer account and follow the directions?😕 I am confused with the exact LOR process for Interfolio...

 

[linguini]

Are you expected to send info to your letter writer regarding the process of them submitting it, getting their signature on it, etc, or do you just tell them that you're using Interfolio, and you can send them something from Interfolio with directions on what to do, or maybe they just sign up for a letter writer account and follow the directions?😕 I am confused with the exact LOR process for Interfolio...

The cover letter that you print out from interfolio and give to your letter writer gives directions on how to submit it. It's pretty straight forward. However, one of my less computer-savvy letter writers still needed my help.