One of my teachers says she submitted the letter of recommendation she wrote to the common app, but it still says started. I cannot get into contact with her due to multiple issues at my previous school (she works at the previous school), and I just transferred schools. But, I was able to get a signed paper copy of it from her through the assistant-superintendent. Would I be allowed to mail the letter to the colleges I am applying to, or would I get in trouble? Especially since I signed the FERPA stating that I waived my right to see my letters.
Ask the guidance counselor or someone at the school’s administrative office to mail it, using the proper seal and stamp, placing the school or district’s return mailing address on the outside of the envelope.
Make sure the college to which you are applying has such an avenue for receiving recommendations by mail - and it is within their admissions protocol. Oftentimes there can be a mailing address for application items which is different than the main college address.
You can’t mail it. The teacher needs to mail it. So yes, you would need to contact her again somehow. A paper letter needs her live signature on it. Blue ink is good. So ia s sloppy sort of pen so it is obvious that the letter really was signed, not a fancy photocopy. You can’t just hand off the copy that you have to someone at the school and ask them to mail it.
Okay. Thank you for telling me. I honestly wasn’t sure, and wanted to check before I did the wrong thing.
I am working on getting the assistant-superintendent to do these things for me since the principal there is a total ***hole. And, I don’t say that about many people. So glad to be out of that school and into a much better one.
While the teacher does not need to be the person physically handling the recommendation letter for mailing, yes, the teacher’s signature on the letter is convention and probably best as a fresh signature. (I say probably because there are instances where teachers will write recommenation letters for a student for scholarship opportunities and give copies for future use, so the student does not need to make another effort to find the teacher.)
The importance of this being a college recommendation, the fresh signature and not a copy of a signature, conveys the requisite familiarity and respect for the form.
OP, most often when one has requested a recommendation, the college will also want a formal recommender form filled out. This form most certainly requires a signature and date, and, as I’ve seen, is always required to accompany the submission of the teacher’s recommendation in her own words.
I hope it all works out for you.
Yes, she did write her signature on the letter. Thank you!
The assistant-superintendent came through really fast, and figured it out for me. One less thing to stress about. Phew.