typically you would not see your letter of recommendation before it's sent off - so this is kind of a different situation. personally, i wouldn't recommend changing it yourself.

i doubt you're going to be judged on someone else's spellings and if you are - do you want to go to school there?

i'd say if you're really worried about it, let her know. professors are always really busy, there's no harm in asking.

I would seal the envelope and pretend you never saw it.

Profs are busy. Schools should understand. As long as what is said about you is good, the typos should not make a difference.

Most schools require that each recommendation letter be delivered in sealed envelopes, with the author's signature across the seal. Check your schools' requirements before sending them in.

All of my students - applying as freshmen - have had me send letters directly to them. This must be the new paradigm - when I applied, the letters went straight from professor/recommender to the school, I sent my letter-writers stamped addressed envelopes and never saw what they wrote. things have changed, apparently.

DO NOT CHANGE even a single thing in those letters.

It's unethical, even a typo. The reviewers won't be judging YOU based on your prof's spelling and grammer, sheesh.

If there is something glaring, for example, the wrong name (let's face it, with cut and paste text sometimes mistakes are made), then contact the person who wrote it. DO NOT make the change yourself.


And as general guidance to people seeking letters: contact your people a month in advance, then one week before it's due politely contact them again as a reminder - yes, a lot of us are very busy.

I concur with lb. Don't change anything.

As long as you weren't described as a Cunning Linguist, you should be alright.

Ha^

I agree with lb - certainly don't change anything yourself. And I wouldn't worry about a couple small typos - don't send it back to the writer, just let it go to the school that way.

I've written and read a lot of those letters, and I've noticed the same thing lb mentioned - it used to be that the letters would be sealed by the writer. Sometimes the forms that the letters were written on would have a box for the student to check ahead of time that indicated to the letter writer and to the school that the student was waiving his right to see the letter at a later point in his file (it's a Family Education Rights and Privacy Act requirement that a student be allowed to see the documents in their record, unless they waive the right.) It was standard practice - maybe etiquette? - for the student to check that box. If the letter writer wanted the student to see the letter then he'd give the student a copy.

But it also used to be the case that students expected a separate letter written specifically for each architecture school's application. So if I was writing 3 recs for a student, for schools A, B, and C, it was expected that I'd use the name of the school in the appropriate letter, and preferably that I'd write specifically about why the student was a perfect fit for that school. What sunsetsam is describing though is asking for one letter and then making copies of it himself to send to each of schools A, B, and C.
Is this trend coming from busy faculty? It seems to me that it's probably not always in the best interest of the students to be submitting these one-size-fits-all letters to every school. Some specificity as to why School B should be particularly interested in Student X usually seems like a better approach...

In the last year or two some schools have started asking applicants to have their letters submitted online directly by the writer. That seems like a return back toward the "sealed" model, rather than giving an open envelope to the student to make copies of and mail to various schools. Not to imply any wrong-doing at all on sunsetsam's part, but handing open envelopes to the student to submit does seem to invite tampering/editing - and it also does remove that former understanding that the student would not be expected to read the letter (which allowed a certain level of candor to write things - both positive and negative - that one might not say directly to the student...)

This all seems much ado about something you weren't supposed to see in the first place. I would shift any obsessive thoughts towards whether or not you should lick the envelope or moisten the glue with a cotton swab.

At least your prof. sent them out on time. Unlike one of mine.

a couple of thoughts on rec letters...

like liberty bell said, ask at least a month in advance and follow-up with a polite reminder about a week before deadline. i would usually go one step farther and actually have a thank you note prepared to send to my recommender and would try to time it to arrive within a day or two alter the deadline as a kind of very polite reminder of the recent deadline. typical there is some slack in recieving rec lettrs beyond deadlines because they know it not coming from the student.

my second point would be to respect the people who are writing the letters for you by not asking them to do too many. if you narrow your focus to 2-3 programs then they can write more personalized (i.e., better) recommendations. but if you are applying to all of the top ten schools, well, then your letter writer might very well half-ass the effort and create a single form letter (possibly even with typos). quality over quantity, less is more, cliches, etc.

with that in my mind, bloopox, i think the trend is coming less from busy facualty but more as a result of over-ambitious students applying to all the top schools. personally, i only applied to two schools for undergrad, and three for grad but i've been amazed by how many times i've heard students run-down a list of 6-10 schools they're applying too.

I've been waiting for the last of my recommendations to arrive from one of my recommenders. He submitted one online at the end of December but has not (to my knowledge) written the other 4.

I understand that it's not uncommon for recommendation letters to arrive after the deadline and that admissions might not even look at them for weeks after that but, I was getting nervous that I still hadn't received them.
I wrote him a polite email this week thanking him again for writing recommendations for me and asking if he sent the rest of my letters (I included a self-addressed, stamped return envelop).
He responded with a one-sentence email stating that he is out of the country, indirectly answering my question.

WTF?

He is a professor and is well aware of the deadlines and was given plenty of notice. I'm sure he's very busy but everyone's busy- that's not much of an excuse. If he was too busy to do this he shouldn't have agreed to write them and I could have asked someone else.
And what's up with writing one, not writing the other four and not telling me about it?

Any advice? Similar experiences?

unless the two small typos are something of this nature....

'so and so is a slackass'

I wouldnt recommend changing things

Thank You guys, you eased my soul. I will not change anything at all.

Smoke: are you sure that he doesn't just have an auto-reply set up that is answering ALL emails to him with "I am out of the country"? I would guess that's what's going on...

It is true that schools generally accept late letters, right up to the time that the committee starts reviewing applications, which is not until 6 weeks or so after the application deadline in many programs. The schools are much more lenient with late recs, test scores, transcripts, and other elements that are out of the applicant's direct control than they are about things like late portfolios. Late portfolios and such will usually be noted (often with some color-coded sticker on the portfolio or file), while late rec letters and such don't usually do anything but generate a postcard or phone call to the student to alert them that a letter is still missing as the committee deliberations draw near.

Professors are generally aware of this, and probably think that it gives them a little leeway and that the deadlines are not absolute. Of course they should not abuse that, and they definitely should let their students know what's going on with the letters.

change it!! change it! change it!























(for god's sake someone has to dissent around here. where's antisthenes when you need his anarcho-capitalist mumbo-jumbo anyways...)

you might as well switch a couple of adjectives too if you go through all the trouble of typing the whole thing up again...

hahaha! polite reminders one week advance? all these most be coming from organized people. I reminded all of my recommenders more than once, and one of them again on the day of the due date, and he thanked me because he had totally forgotten!

Another one wrote it but forgot to have someone send it off on time, and he called the school on his own and apologized and got it worked out and then called me and told me what happened!

All of my recommenders were basically professionals, I think flying by the seat of your pants in this field is a trend. hehe..

BY THE WAY, I kind of wanted to do more than just a thank you card, like some sort of mini-gift, like a coffee house gift card or something, is that appropriate? and if so what would you suggest?

oh and I vote for not touching it, I mean how how bad are the spelling errors? the classic definitely as definately?

Don't worry, whoever's reading it can't spell anyway.

Goletian, I think a thank you card is appropriate and sufficient. You don't want to give the impression that you are paying these people to write nice letters about you.

But then, who am I to deny a fellow architect free coffee?!?

If you are friendly outside of the professional/teacher/student relationship with them - for example, you see them socially in addition to school - then go ahead and buy them a coffee card. I know I'd love one.

But ya know, even having said that, I mostly think it's inappropriate. It's a professional responsibility to write letters of rec for the deserving. Karma.

2 of my teachers are still yet to submit my reference letters for applying MArch08 no matter they are paper reference or online reference. All the deadlines have passed weeks ago. Does anyone know about the adverse effect? Has such a matter happened to anyone of you before?

michaelstation: as I said above, this isn't an uncommon situation, and generally the schools are fairly lenient in accepting late letters. In most programs the actual reviewing of applications doesn't start until 4-8 weeks after the application deadlines, and during that time the materials are just being logged in and stored by clerical staff, who will usually alert applicants by some method (phone calls, postcards, emails) if there are still missing items as the admissions committee meetings draw near.
Sometimes some letters don't make it in time and don't get included in applicants' files - and obviously that's not a good situation. It won't get your application kicked out of consideration, but those letters are very important and not having them can affect your chances.

I'd suggest phoning your letter writers (following up with email is fine, but try to talk in person) and politely let them know that the deadline has passed and that you're still counting on them to get those letters in as soon as possible.

As for how to thank them: I've usually just received thank you cards from students, though I've gotten a few books and bottles of wine. Actually I feel a little weird about accepting gifts and I don't expect anything but a thank you - and feel a little put out when I don't get one, which happens now and then.

MArch Applicants: find solace in the fact that many an institution will track down/contact your rec letter writers themselves if they haven't received the letters they are expecting and they are interested in admitting you into their program. The schools you're applying to know that its not your fault that your letters are late...

No don't read it! No!

Now you've done it. Good luck sleeping tonight...

Always arrange for one or two letters more than you need, if at all possible.

At worst, the committee has to read an extra letter. At best, you meet the minimum if a recommender fails to come through.