Way to read rec letter after turned in to school?

[Restart13]

Is there a way to send rec letters somewhere and read them? I am just curious and wonder if anyone knew of a way around.

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[AllDaWEI]

I remember reading about a service that you pay for them to receive and give you a thumbs up or down on the quality of your letter. You can decide if you want to send them before actually submitting to schools. I'm looking over Google and am having trouble finding it. I think some people might think its unethical too.

 

[Restart13]

Yea that's what a friend was telling me. I googled stuff but I couldn't find it at all. As far as being unethical...I'm not trying to read my letters, just to tell if one is good. One professor I can't really tell if it is good or not.

 

[elblackwell]

Yea that's what a friend was telling me. I googled stuff but I couldn't find it at all. As far as being unethical...I'm not trying to read my letters, just to tell if one is good. One professor I can't really tell if it is good or not.

The admissions council. I used the service but some people said that it isn't reliable. As for the unethical part, they don't disclose any specific information and some schools have a pre-med committee who provide the same service. My logic was that I wasn't going to waste thousands of dollars on primary and secondary fees without having some degree of confidence in my letters.

 

[AllDaWEI]

The admissions council. I used the service but some people said that it isn't reliable. As for the unethical part, they don't disclose any specific information and some schools have a pre-med committee who provide the same service. My logic was that I wasn't going to waste thousands of dollars on primary and secondary fees without having some degree of confidence in my letters.

Understandable. I don't have an moral qualms with this, though I never used service. I can not really see advisers from committees telling an applicant if the letter is good or not.

What are your thoughts on writing your own letters, and still marking down that you waived rights to see them?

 

[elblackwell]

Understandable. I don't have an moral qualms with this, though I never used service. I can not really see advisers from committees telling an applicant if the letter is good or not.

What are your thoughts on writing your own letters, and still marking down that you waived rights to see them?

Why would I write my own letters? Schools aren't going to want to read letters from me, the applicant. Some letter writers ask the student to write a draft and in that case, it is fine to mark that you waived your rights. Waiving your rights doesn't mean you can't see it if it is given to you by the letter writer with their permission. Nothing that I was told by this service provided real details about the content of the letters, only whether or not it would hurt my application.

 

[AllDaWEI]

Why would I write my own letters? Schools aren't going to want to read letters from me, the applicant. Some letter writers ask the student to write a draft and in that case, it is fine to mark that you waived your rights. Waiving your rights doesn't mean you can't see it if it is given to you by the letter writer with their permission. Nothing that I was told by this service provided real details about the content of the letters, only whether or not it would hurt my application.

I meant write your own letters that are signed off by the recommender.

 

[Calvinball]

Yea that's what a friend was telling me. I googled stuff but I couldn't find it at all. As far as being unethical...I'm not trying to read my letters, just to tell if one is good. One professor I can't really tell if it is good or not.

It's completely fair when asking for recommendations to ask whether the prof feels that they could write a STRONG letter. Be relieved if they say no; ambivalent letters are the kiss of death.

 

[SpecterGT260]

i used interfolio to handle all of my letters.

it is not a med-specific service, I suspect you can send them anywhere you want from there. I never did it but as a letter handling service I don't see why you couldnt have them sent to your personal residence

 

[Schizotypy]

i used interfolio to handle all of my letters.

it is not a med-specific service, I suspect you can send them anywhere you want from there. I never did it but as a letter handling service I don't see why you couldnt have them sent to your personal residence

I don't think Interfolio sends stuff to home addresses, but I guess I could be wrong. I was under the impression they'll only send your letters to actual institutions.

http://www.interfolio.com/helpcenter/index.cfm/210

 

[SpecterGT260]

I wonderif regulation has gone up lately... When I used them I got the feel that they were not simply academic. I.e. job rec letters as well. I figured if I was that curious I could send them to a business I had ties to

 

[AllDaWEI]

I wonderif regulation has gone up lately... When I used them I got the feel that they were not simply academic. I.e. job rec letters as well. I figured if I was that curious I could send them to a business I had ties to

You got me real curious. I think there is regulation, but if you have connections in an academic department, you can probably get access to your letters. If it were so easy then everyone would be getting access to letters to make sure to see if they should send or not. Or wait a minute. Who am I kidding? The SDN community is way too honest to take advantage of something that is actually useful and would give advantage. 🙄

 

[drizzt3117]

You got me real curious. I think there is regulation, but if you have connections in an academic department, you can probably get access to your letters. If it were so easy then everyone would be getting access to letters to make sure to see if they should send or not. Or wait a minute. Who am I kidding? The SDN community is way too honest to take advantage of something that is actually useful and would give advantage. 🙄

Or you could just do a good job and trust people you're asking for references.,, strange concept, I know.

 

[Gambler 101]

Or you could just do a good job and trust people you're asking for references.,, strange concept, I know.

+1 These people were nice enough to write your letters of recommendation. They obviously think you're doctor material. Why would you go behind their back? Just ask them ahead of time if they think they can write you a strong letter and provide them your resume and personal statement.

 

[AllDaWEI]

+1 These people were nice enough to write your letters of recommendation. They obviously think you're doctor material. Why would you go behind their back? Just ask them ahead of time if they think they can write you a strong letter and provide them your resume and personal statement.

I'm sure ut is rare if a professor screws you over, but what if they end up writing a mediocre letter or say something you don't want in there? Non-science majors still need science LORs, so if they they end up taking the basic pre-reqs, they may be asking professors who barely even know them for letters.

 

[SpecterGT260]

You got me real curious. I think there is regulation, but if you have connections in an academic department, you can probably get access to your letters. If it were so easy then everyone would be getting access to letters to make sure to see if they should send or not. Or wait a minute. Who am I kidding? The SDN community is way too honest to take advantage of something that is actually useful and would give advantage. 🙄

Or most people are not worried enough to try because they know the content of the letters.

when I first used interfolio I just had the letter writer send in the letter which I had already specified use for. they check the box denoting it is confidential, and it gets synced up on the system. the whole "select institution thing" was only for a select few places including AMCAS at that time (only 2 years ago). Otherwise you would give them an address and since they take rec letters for all sorts of things including jobs you could possibly send them to a business. I doubt they read every letter that they are sending out.

and also, since the format and wording has changed, I doubt someone up and said "hey guys, lets implement protocols and devote time and resources to a problem that doesnt exist!" its more likely that people were doing this so they needed to crack down

 

[AllDaWEI]

Or most people are not worried enough to try because they know the content of the letters.

when I first used interfolio I just had the letter writer send in the letter which I had already specified use for. they check the box denoting it is confidential, and it gets synced up on the system. the whole "select institution thing" was only for a select few places including AMCAS at that time (only 2 years ago). Otherwise you would give them an address and since they take rec letters for all sorts of things including jobs you could possibly send them to a business. I doubt they read every letter that they are sending out.

and also, since the format and wording has changed, I doubt someone up and said "hey guys, lets implement protocols and devote time and resources to a problem that doesnt exist!" its more likely that people were doing this so they needed to crack down

Very interesting! The letter writers I had knew me fairly well so I was confident about it. I'm surprised that letter services exist with interfolio having such loophole! I'm surprised you never hear anything on SDN about people sending LORs so they can see what they say. I knoe some school committees send out letters themselves, but even if they do, you can probably get professors to send to Interfolio no questions asked.