What would you do?

[Generallee]

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I asked one of my professors to write me a letter and he was happy to. I gave him all the important info that was needed. I told him that it was for dental school and all the particulars. Anyway, he gave me the letters today and I opened one out of curiosity. By the way, is that wrong? I feel kind of guilty. Nonetheless, I'm kind of glad because there is a minor mistake that is worth noting. In fact, I'm debating whether to even use the letter at all. He stated that I was applying for admissions to get into Yale. ?? I never told him that specifically, and there's not even a dental school at Yale!! Will the admissions committee at dental schools look down at this? Meaning, will they think that I'm applying to Medical Schools as well? I know this professor pretty well and also going to do a research project with him this semester. The only thing I can think of as to why he would state such remark is to help me. Meaning, by applying to Yale, I'm considered a good student... I don't know if it was a template he used for another letter or what? But my delimma is whether to notify him of this mistake. I was told that you're not supposed to open recommendation letters and read them. But, curious me, I had to. Now I don't know what to do!!!! Should I send it or not. I already have two other letters and he would be my third professor to write one, but he is the one I know the best. What would you do? Send it in anyway or just throw them away or notify him of it?

Thanks!

 

[JakeMUSC]

holy crap...that's a tough one..... I'll get back to you with my opinion later....sorry 😕

 

[eric275]

How are you planning on sending in a LOR that has already been opened? If your sending the letters to AADSAS they will not accept letters that have been opened or letters that do not have a signature across the seal.

From AASAS Website:

SUBMITTING YOUR OFFICIAL LETTERS OF EVALUATION/RECOMMENDATION TO AADSAS
1. Applicant Submits Official Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation
Request your Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation as early as possible to give your evaluators/recommenders sufficient time to respond to your request and to return the official Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation in a sealed envelope with the evaluator/recommender’s signature written across the envelope flap.

Letters must be submitted on official stationary and signed by the evaluator/recommender.

AADSAS will not process any Letter of Evaluation/Recommendation that exhibits evidence of tampering.

I guess bringing the typo to his attention all depends on your relation with said professor and whether or not you opening the letter will piss him off. You could maybe ask the professor in a casual way, "would you mind if I look over the letter you wrote for me?" to try and get a feel for how he feels on the matter. If he says no then I guess your kind of screwed since you might not want to tell him that you opened the letter and read it. He might not feel that it is ethical to let students read LOR's.

A downside of submitting the letter with the inaccurate information could be a negative aspect during an interview. If you are questioned about applying to Yale and you reply that you never did apply nor have any intention of applying, it could show that the professor doesn't really know you and therefore is just making stuff up.

If he says that he doesn't want you to read the LOR, I would just not send the letter.

 

[favabean]

Oh my, tough situation! btw, you had several copies of the letter, right? That is why you could open one to read. Just wanted to clarify that for eric275🙂

I have 2 approaches for you. One is honest, and the other is not.

1) Come clean with the prof. Just tell him that you had an extra letter and you decided to open it becuase, although you aren't supposed to, you were very curious as to what he said about you. Then proceed to tell him about the error. If he gets upset, then so be it. It's better than sending the letter with "Yale" written all over it or not sending it at all without trying for another letter from him. Most likely he will be ever so sorry that he will write you another letter.

2) Lie to him (I personally wouldn't do this) and say that you sent one of the letters to a dental school and they brought the mistake to your attention...or better yet, say someone at AADSAS who processed the LOR noticed that Yale isn't even a dental school and then notified you. I don't think this is the best advice, but I couldn't help but think of it!

I would most likely follow #1. but it's your call. How do you feel about just coming clean?

 

[jheidenr]

My school has a pre-health office that screens all letters of recommendation. If there is anything inconsistent or negative in a letter, the advisor will let you know. Maybe your school has a similar service? That way you can tell the teacher that your advisor brought it to your attention and still be honest

 

[demonicr]

if the letter is good beside the "Yale" part, i would just send it, the schools will recognize that its the professor's mistake and that you have no control of the letters since you are not allowed to read them. just make sure the letter sounds pretty personal about you and not sound like it was a template generic type letter. all the professors i asked for reccomendation letters let me read it. you can always go to him and ask him if you can read the letter he wrote for you. then you can point out the mistake to him.

 

[Afz]

I asked one of my professors to write me a letter and he was happy to. I gave him all the important info that was needed. I told him that it was for dental school and all the particulars. Anyway, he gave me the letters today and I opened one out of curiosity. By the way, is that wrong? I feel kind of guilty. Nonetheless, I'm kind of glad because there is a minor mistake that is worth noting. In fact, I'm debating whether to even use the letter at all. He stated that I was applying for admissions to get into Yale. ?? I never told him that specifically, and there's not even a dental school at Yale!! Will the admissions committee at dental schools look down at this? Meaning, will they think that I'm applying to Medical Schools as well? I know this professor pretty well and also going to do a research project with him this semester. The only thing I can think of as to why he would state such remark is to help me. Meaning, by applying to Yale, I'm considered a good student... I don't know if it was a template he used for another letter or what? But my delimma is whether to notify him of this mistake. I was told that you're not supposed to open recommendation letters and read them. But, curious me, I had to. Now I don't know what to do!!!! Should I send it or not. I already have two other letters and he would be my third professor to write one, but he is the one I know the best. What would you do? Send it in anyway or just throw them away or notify him of it?

Thanks!

Hey, I think the Yale part in your letter should not effect you in anyway because most of the recommendation letters are written confidentially by the profs; in my opinion all the schools respect that confidentiality by the profs. Long story short, the schools will assume that you are very ambitious to end up in a prestigious institutions like yale. About sending the letter; you have to describe more about the physical damage you have done to the envelope and also the letters. If you can give a detail we can help you out bud. If there is no much damage to the envelopes, start using your manual dexterity skills and do a complete make over to your letter and the envelope Doc. 🙂 Describe the Physical Damage done to the letters and Envelope.

 

[snwman]

If the letter was given to you sealed, it was ment to be sealed. Opening it was a big ethical mistake. Coming clean may make that better. lieing to the prof would deffenitly be wrong. trying to cover up the damage, that seems compleatly out of hand. Moral of the story: you shouldnt have opened it - either come clean or just don't send in the letter.

 

[Bruxomaniac]

I told all my professors that I wanted to view the letter before it was sent. After I looked over each one I had them send it in an official sealed envelope. I never let anyone give me a recommendation without first knowing what they plan to say. Especially not something this important. If you did NOT specifically inform your professor that you would not be reading the letter then I would take it back to him. If you DID tell him that you would not be reading the letter then I would take it back anyway. I'm sure he'll understand how important this process is and your desire to be cautious.

 

[Generallee]

Oh my, tough situation! btw, you had several copies of the letter, right? That is why you could open one to read. Just wanted to clarify that for eric275🙂

I have 2 approaches for you. One is honest, and the other is not.

1) Come clean with the prof. Just tell him that you had an extra letter and you decided to open it becuase, although you aren't supposed to, you were very curious as to what he said about you. Then proceed to tell him about the error. If he gets upset, then so be it. It's better than sending the letter with "Yale" written all over it or not sending it at all without trying for another letter from him. Most likely he will be ever so sorry that he will write you another letter.

2) Lie to him (I personally wouldn't do this) and say that you sent one of the letters to a dental school and they brought the mistake to your attention...or better yet, say someone at AADSAS who processed the LOR noticed that Yale isn't even a dental school and then notified you. I don't think this is the best advice, but I couldn't help but think of it!

I would most likely follow #1. but it's your call. How do you feel about just coming clean?

Yes, I had several copies of the letter....

 

[Afz]

Yes, I had several copies of the letter....

Hey my question, if you have several copies of the same letter and you opened up only one; then what happened to the other sealed letters. Can;t you send them to the AADSAS. I agree with everybody that you should come out clean; you have to tell your professor what happened, he will understand this pretty easily becoz he was in our shoes at some point of his life" As an ambitious and curious student".

 

[Generallee]

Yes, I had several copies of the letter....

Well, I decided to not use it. thanks for all your replies. Since I have two letters from science profs, and one from dentist, I won't be in too bad of shape. In my opinion, if I sent it, I think the admissions office would think I have aspirations of becoming a medical doctor and not think I'm committed to the field of dentistry, which is so way off. I can't wait to become a dentist.

Thanks everyone!

 

[snwman]

Well, I decided to not use it. thanks for all your replies. Since I have two letters from science profs, and one from dentist, I won't be in too bad of shape. In my opinion, if I sent it, I think the admissions office would think I have aspirations of becoming a medical doctor and not think I'm committed to the field of dentistry, which is so way off. I can't wait to become a dentist.

Thanks everyone!

You really made the right decision.

 

[dexadental]

Hmmm...
I'm now wondering if I too could possibly request several copies of the letter sent out by my organic chem teacher...is this possible...just ask the professor maybe? If you don't mind Mr.Lee, how did you get extra copies (pardon my nosiness)..::curtsies::...
Thankyou!

And maybe I'll be able to sleep when I actually KNOW what is going to the adcoms...

Doug

 

[nothen2do]

Hmmm...
I'm now wondering if I too could possibly request several copies of the letter sent out by my organic chem teacher...is this possible...just ask the professor maybe? If you don't mind Mr.Lee, how did you get extra copies (pardon my nosiness)..::curtsies::...
Thankyou!

And maybe I'll be able to sleep when I actually KNOW what is going to the adcoms...

Doug

AT my school there is an office that all recommendations have to be sent thru, by the professor themselves. We give the profs. a sheet about how to write the letter (who to adress...), and a stamped envelope. The sheet has the option to allow the student to view the letter, but the advisor said that its unwise to check off the box. I believe adcoms want letters that are not influenced by the students and so "blind letters" should be sent out. I sent out my dentist's rec. to UCLA only to be told that the envelope needed to be signed.
To the OP, if you did not ask the prof. ahead of time whether you could read the rec., then what you did is unethical. Hopefully that was not the case.

 

[Generallee]

Hmmm...
I'm now wondering if I too could possibly request several copies of the letter sent out by my organic chem teacher...is this possible...just ask the professor maybe? If you don't mind Mr.Lee, how did you get extra copies (pardon my nosiness)..::curtsies::...
Thankyou!

And maybe I'll be able to sleep when I actually KNOW what is going to the adcoms...

Doug

The reason I wanted more than one copy is because some schools recommended that you send one directly to them so they receive it quicker. So, I asked the prof if I can have multiple copies. Also, the professor that wrote me the letter didn't have a preference on whether he sent them to AADSAS or I did. So, he let me.

 

[aceking]

The reason I wanted more than one copy is because some schools recommended that you send one directly to them so they receive it quicker. So, I asked the prof if I can have multiple copies. Also, the professor that wrote me the letter didn't have a preference on whether he sent them to AADSAS or I did. So, he let me.

I think that you professor is an axxxwhole because it seems like copy paste from an old letter w/o double checking. Just my thought. i think you made the right choice by not using it.