Whenever I browse through stats, most people seem to know whether their gc/teacher recs are good or bad, making me wonder whether we’re allowed to actually look at them. I always thought recs were highly confidential and never dared to sneak a peek at them, but now I wonder - are they? If they ARE confidential, then did you, knowing that, take a look at them?
<p>Recs can be confidential. Most of my son's teachers, however, gave him copies of their letters of recommendation for him to use for colleges, scholarships, etc. They gave him permission to read them. So that is how he knows what is in them. Recs that are confidential might be in sealed envelopes, and these, of course, should not be read by the student.</p>
<p>Just my two cents - When my son asked his teachers for recs he had put his home address in the return section of the SASE and one of his teachers said that he should not do that. She said that the schools don't take the rec as seriously if the students have seen them. After she filled out the rec letter she signed her name over the seal. NOTE: She did not say this because she didn't want my son to see the rec letter - she wanted him to get into the school as much as he wanted to.</p>
<p>^ That is very true. Colleges will put much more emphasis on recs if they are "sealed" and sent directly from the teacher, guidance counselor, etc.</p>
<p>i've read all of mine, because the writer let me look at them first, but you should always seal them in an envelope and have the writer sign over the seal before you send it in.</p>
<p>My son never saw his recs. They went into the counselor packet and off to the colleges. I am surprised that people see theirs. It was always an unknown factor in his applications. They must have been o.k. since he was accepted to all the colleges where he applied.</p>
<p>all of my recs wanted me to read their letters before mailing to make sure there weren't any mistakes, but i left them the envelopes and didn't see the ranking sheets (which some schools have and some don't), then they signed the seal-- but usually if a teacher won't do a good rec they will say as much. also, i wasn't allowed to keep a copy of the letters-- so for scholarships, competitions etc i had to go around again.. when it comes down to it pretty much everyone's recs are going to be good; they're nice for admissions to see, but it's not the kind of thing that will get you in or keep you out of a college</p>
<p>When I write a rec letter, I give a copy to the student, because I don't write anything that the student can't read or know about. If the opposite was the case, I would probably decline to write a letter for a particular student, i.e. someone with poor behavior or questionable ethics (a student I know got caught cheating in religion class).</p>