letters of recommendation on letterhead

[NeuResurgens]

so I'm reading the AAMCAS guide and it says that medical schools require all letters to be on official letterhead and signed by the author. Doesn't this contradict the fact that we can have the authors submit them electronically? Do we need electronic and hard copies of each letter? This is confusing.

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[tiedyeddog]

so I'm reading the AAMCAS guide and it says that medical schools require all letters to be on official letterhead and signed by the author. Doesn't this contradict the fact that we can have the authors submit them electronically? Do we need electronic and hard copies of each letter? This is confusing.

You do not need hard copies. LOR writers often have their own official letterhead saved that they write all official letters on. I believe it is in the instructions given to each LOR writer.

 

[HybridEarth]

It doesn't contradict anything. The authors add the text to official letterhead and upload the document. I would assume an e-signature is part of the letterhead templates, or they can simply print it, sign it, and rescan the document.

 

[mehc012]

so I'm reading the AAMCAS guide and it says that medical schools require all letters to be on official letterhead and signed by the author. Doesn't this contradict the fact that we can have the authors submit them electronically? Do we need electronic and hard copies of each letter? This is confusing.

Letterhead is a stupid requirement now that things are digital, because it's incredibly easy to whip up some digital letterhead. Just put your school's logo, maybe a line, and your prof's department in the header in Word, and boom. letterhead. Just has to look fancy and show their affiliation.

Most people have methods of signing electronic documents now. There are entire apps dedicated to easily signing .pdfs, but for letters it's even simpler: they're drafting them in Word. Have the prof take a photo of their signature, paste photo into Word at the end, save as .pdf with the letterhead and the signature already included.

Or, if they want to be old-school about it, draft it, print it on official department letterhead, sign it, and scan in the whole thing to upload. To each their own.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I see, thanks for the replies y'all. Sounds like it might be the antiquated remnant of how LOR's used to work and the professor will generally know how it needs to be done.

 

[gyngyn]

Letterhead is a stupid requirement now that things are digital, because it's incredibly easy to whip up some digital letterhead. Just put your school's logo, maybe a line, and your prof's department in the header in Word, and boom. letterhead. Just has to look fancy and show their affiliation.

Most people have methods of signing electronic documents now. There are entire apps dedicated to easily signing .pdfs, but for letters it's even simpler: they're drafting them in Word. Have the prof take a photo of their signature, paste photo into Word at the end, save as .pdf with the letterhead and the signature already included.

Or, if they want to be old-school about it, draft it, print it on official department letterhead, sign it, and scan in the whole thing to upload. To each their own.

Letterhead is one of the few ways that an institution can confirm an individual's affiliation. In the last year alone, letterhead has allowed us to identify falsification of credentials in a half dozen cases (relatives writing letters...).

 

[allanMED15]

Letterhead is one of the few ways that an institution can confirm an individual's affiliation. In the last year alone, letterhead has allowed us to identify falsification of credentials in a half dozen cases (relatives writing letters...).

Blows my mind that people actually do this. Just seems like they are asking for it.

 

[gyngyn]

Blows my mind that people actually do this. Just seems like they are asking for it.

Me too.

 

[NeuResurgens]

Wow, that's crazy. Yeah, I don't plan to falsify my letters, lol. @gyngyn, would you say professors generally know how to take care of it then or is it something I should spend some time getting familiar with?

 

[gyngyn]

Wow, that's crazy. Yeah, I don't plan to falsify my letters, lol. @gyngyn, would you say professors generally know how to take care of it then or is it something I should spend some time getting familiar with?

This is one of the things you can count on geezers to understand!
Send them the AAMC link for writing letters of evaluation, though. They may be less familiar with that!

 

[MrLogan13]

Letterhead is one of the few ways that an institution can confirm an individual's affiliation. In the last year alone, letterhead has allowed us to identify falsification of credentials in a half dozen cases (relatives writing letters...).

Man, that's pretty low.

 

[f4reignbeauty]

Letterhead is one of the few ways that an institution can confirm an individual's affiliation. In the last year alone, letterhead has allowed us to identify falsification of credentials in a half dozen cases (relatives writing letters...).

Yikes.

 

[deleted158872]

Letterhead is one of the few ways that an institution can confirm an individual's affiliation. In the last year alone, letterhead has allowed us to identify falsification of credentials in a half dozen cases (relatives writing letters...).

did they pretend to be associated with an institution but didn't have letterhead, or did they fake letterhead?

 

[mehc012]

Letterhead is one of the few ways that an institution can confirm an individual's affiliation. In the last year alone, letterhead has allowed us to identify falsification of credentials in a half dozen cases (relatives writing letters...).

Huh. One of my writers refused to use his hospital letterhead because it wasn't 'hospital business', so he just made one up for himself. I tried to tell him that the purpose was to demonstrate his hospital affiliation, rather than my own, but The other writes LORs all the time, but I'm sure she doesn't print/sign/scan, so I imagine she just has some digital version of their letterhead...which again takes all of 2s to make on the computer. The final one asked the dept. about their letterhead, but eventually just made it on the computer as well. No clue what the last guy did...he works at a handful of universities, so that could be interesting. At any rate, either I'm going to look like I falsify credentials, or the people getting caught were just the low-hanging fruit of that bunch. I still think it's an outdated requirement, easy to get around, and getting harder and harder to legitimately fulfill as electronic correspondence becomes more common and official paper letters fall out of vogue.

 

[deleted158872]

one of my recommenders let me read her letter, which she didn't put on letterhead... should i go back and ask her to put it on one? it'd be quite a hassle schools can call her and confirm that she wrote the letter, though.

 

[gyngyn]

one of my recommenders let me read her letter, which she didn't put on letterhead... should i go back and ask her to put it on one? it'd be quite a hassle schools can call her and confirm that she wrote the letter, though.

Yes. It's one of only three basic requirements.

 

[gyngyn]

Huh. One of my writers refused to use his hospital letterhead because it wasn't 'hospital business', so he just made one up for himself. I tried to tell him that the purpose was to demonstrate his hospital affiliation, rather than my own, but The other writes LORs all the time, but I'm sure she doesn't print/sign/scan, so I imagine she just has some digital version of their letterhead...which again takes all of 2s to make on the computer. The final one asked the dept. about their letterhead, but eventually just made it on the computer as well. No clue what the last guy did...he works at a handful of universities, so that could be interesting. At any rate, either I'm going to look like I falsify credentials, or the people getting caught were just the low-hanging fruit of that bunch. I still think it's an outdated requirement, easy to get around, and getting harder and harder to legitimately fulfill as electronic correspondence becomes more common and official paper letters fall out of vogue.

I am sure that this vestigial remnant of a paper world will evolve, soon. Until that time the appearance of "nonstandard letterhead" will continue to raise suspicion.

 

[mehc012]

I am sure that this vestigial remnant of a paper world will evolve, soon. Until that time the appearance of "nonstandard letterhead" will continue to raise suspicion.

I'm hoping there is some verification of that suspicion, somewhere down the line? How does that work?
Mine should all be in my committee letter, so hopefully that will help to obviate any issues, but I'd bet real money that the two profs I have from the same department in the same school will have slightly different letterheads.

 

[deleted158872]

Yes. It's one of only three basic requirements.

IMO the whole LOR thing is senseless and the worst hassle in the process. it's really bothersome (for both sides) to ask people to write you LORs. Why don't my credentials (grades & EC's) speak for themselves?
i'm wishing for the day when the LOR tradition is abolished in the States like UW does it: https://admit.washington.edu/Admission/Freshmen/NoLetters

 

[gyngyn]

IMO the whole LOR thing is senseless and the worst hassle in the process. it's really bothersome (for both sides) to ask people to write you LORs. Why don't my credentials (grades & EC's) speak for themselves?
i'm wishing for the day when the LOR tradition is abolished in the States like UW does it: https://admit.washington.edu/Admission/Freshmen/NoLetters

I felt this way once.

 

[mehc012]

IMO the whole LOR thing is senseless and the worst hassle in the process. it's really bothersome (for both sides) to ask people to write you LORs. Why don't my credentials (grades & EC's) speak for themselves?
i'm wishing for the day when the LOR tradition is abolished in the States like UW does it: https://admit.washington.edu/Admission/Freshmen/NoLetters

I concur that it's the biggest hassle in the process, but having witnessed the hiring process from the other side, I can see the benefits.
It really says something when a writer is willing to invest real time and energy to craft a strong letter. I found myself reevaluating even my own performance after reading the LOR I had been hoping to be my strongest and finding it, though unwaveringly positive, not particularly strong. It's not even in what they say - my writer said nothing but excellent things about me - but in subtle clues like the amount of time spent writing or incorporating personal interactions in the letter.

 

[packersfans]

the professor will generally know how it needs to be done.

Dont count on this. 1/3 of my letters writers did not follow directions despite writing me strong letters. Dont be afraid to ask after the fact if they did in fact letterhead and sign it. One of my letter writers assured me it would be ok and refused to update his letter after I asked ( I didnt use it).

Edit: +1 on giving them the AAMC letter writing guidelines. My school doesnt produce many student who apply to medical school so alot of my letter writers found the info useful as medical school LORs have some unique requirements.

 

[mehc012]

Dont count on this. 1/3 of my letters writers did not follow directions despite writing me strong letters. Dont be afraid to ask after the fact if they did in fact letterhead and sign it. One of my letter writers assured me it would be ok and refused to update his letter after I asked ( I didnt use it).

Edit: +1 on giving them the AAMC letter writing guidelines. My school doesnt produce many student who apply to medical school so alot of my letter writers found the info useful as medical school LORs have some unique requirements.

This is another reason I'm glad to have a committee letter...they'll be sure to let me know of any issues.