Letters of recommendation

[raewants2beadoc]

I was under the impression that professors prefer for any letters of recommendation they write to be confidential. I have recently requested 2 LOR via interfolio (of course I spoke to both professors in person first). I checked the box signing the confidentiality agreement, but both professors INSISTED that I read the LOR before they submitted it to interfolio. I did not expect this at all... is this typical?

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[Naruhodo]

Not necessarily - I had one of my recommenders tell me that if I ever had a bad day to ask him to send me the letter he wrote on my behalf. I could just be that they put a lot of effort into writing good letters and want them to be appreciated. If I'm not accepted to medical school by the end of this cycle, you bet I am asking to read that letter to cheer myself up

 

[raewants2beadoc]

They were both really great letters... the one from my organic 2 professor being the better of the two. I was 3rd in the class after a 3 yr gap from organic 1... so he really liked me.

I really appreciated the encouragement of them both. It was humbling that they believe in me so much.
I think that I'm going to feel very nervous if the next professor just sends the letter in.... thinking "gosh I guess he/she really doesn't want me to know what they think".

No doubt I'm seriously over thinking it though..



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[BombsAway]

I was 3rd in the class

 

[raewants2beadoc]

Touche EODguy

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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Not necessarily - I had one of my recommenders tell me that if I ever had a bad day to ask him to send me the letter he wrote on my behalf. I could just be that they put a lot of effort into writing good letters and want them to be appreciated. If I'm not accepted to medical school by the end of this cycle, you bet I am asking to read that letter to cheer myself up

+1
I had two letter writers send me their letters first, and they were awesome.

 

[gamieg]

+2, it's up to the letter writers' preferences. sometimes they just want to make sure everything is accurate and to kindly let you know how awesome they think you are (;

there are also some professors who ask for a "draft" so they can get an idea of what attributes they should focus on. don't sweat it at all

 

[raewants2beadoc]

I had 2 of the Dr's at work read the letters, and they both agreed that they were really good.

This process of preparing for and applying to medical school sure has a way of creating a lot of self doubt and anxiety.

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[kraskadva]

I had a couple offer to read them to me - one offered to let me edit it.
I did help with the editing, but in generics, I never saw the final letter. And didn't choose to see the other one. I knew they were both strong letters (b/c really good relationships and they told me the outlines), but it kinda weirds me out to hear all the super nice things. But maybe that's just me. I've always been uncomfortable with lots of praise/compliments.

But to answer the original question, some letter writers like to share, some don't. You need to waive your right to see them, because protocol, but they can offer to show you if they want.