<p>Hi CCers. I plan to transfer to MIT as a sophomore, and I'm currently studying in Boston College. Since I'm an international student, I don't know much about how these evaluations work. I would be very grateful if someone could answer some of my questions about completing the evaluation forms.
MIT doesn't use the commonapp, and would require these evaluations to be completed offline. I have already talked to my professors about the recommendations, and they told me to tell them specifically how these forms should be completed.</p>
<p>Q 1:
So how should these forms be completed?
a. Handwriting? //I heard it's not a good idea. If it's just bio information it should be ok, but for essays it's not considered good, right?
b. PDF filler? //But what if my professor's response exceeds the limited space?
c. Attachment? //Can I ask my professor to write "See attachment" on the response area for part C, D and E, and then let him finish the responses in a word file, and print them out as attachment?</p>
<p>I think plan c would be better, but will it be applicable? </p>
<p>Q 2:
There is an option about "waiving your right to see this evaluation." I really don't know about it very much. Can you tell me some of the pros and cons of this option? Such as will my being able to see it make my professor uncomfortable, so I should waive my right?</p>
<p>I have to give these forms to my professor before Jan, 1st. So it's a little bit urgent.
Any reply would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>^ As a college professor, I’ve filled out many such forms over the years. Your professors can simply upload a letter of recommendation as an attachment. You should waive your right to read the evaluation. When a student has done this, the professor is free to write his or her opinion without fear of offending the student, and the college or university department will regard the evaluation as a more honest assessment of the applicant.</p>
<p>CalAlum: Thanks for your reply! I will definitely waive my right to read the rec.
But can you explain more about how the professor can “upload” the letter as an attachment? Since I’m a transfer, I’m supposed to finish this offline. Actually on the MyMIT website it says clearly that:
Prospective transfer and graduate students should not create a MyMIT account (see the respective transfer and graduate admissions websites instead).</p>
<p>^ Sorry, I was thinking about how I usually submit letters for students these days. </p>
<p>Hmmmm…you’re doing this offline, with a deadline of January 1st. You can just provide your professor MIT’s form, on which you will have waived your right to review the evaluation. Ideally, you would provide the professor a hard copy along with a stamped envelope. But I’m guessing you may not have a way to provide a stamped envelope at this point, and so you may need to scan the form and send it electronically as a PDF. The downside here is that this means the professor will personally incur the expense of mailing your evaluation. It’s a small amount of change, but still. </p>
<p>Offer to FedEx the form and a stamped envelope overnight to the professor. Or, offer to deliver it in person at a specified address. If the professor agrees to write your evaluation and offers to take care of the postage (and the bother of addressing the envelope), then I recommend emailing him or her a $3 gift certificate to a local coffee shop. Or something.</p>
<p>This is all just one person’s opinion. But this is the advice I’d give my own students.</p>
<p>CalAlum:
Sorry I haven’t made my situation clear enough. I want to give my professor the forms early, so he will have ample time to finish it. The deadline for transfer app to MIT is Feb 15th, and for most schools it is Mar 1st.
The question I wanted to ask is how professors, like you, usually fill out these forms. Handwriting? PDF-Filler? Or for some longer responses, attach a printed rec-letter?</p>
<p>Though thanks for your reply! I don’t know that I have to provide stamped envelopes as well. When I was back in China, I literally translated my teachers rec-letters into English and sent them to the school included in my application.</p>
Any method is fine – probably typing directly on the PDF is most common. If the recommender wishes to exceed the space available, he can continue the response on another page.</p>
<p>It is also completely acceptable for the recommender to answer all of the response questions on a separate page.</p>
<p>
You don’t have to, but it’s a typical courtesy.</p>
<p>To answer the “how do professors do it” question though, here’s my own experience. I doubt if many professors write evaluations by hand these days. Many graduate programs will email the professor a link, asking him/her to log in, rate the applicant, and upload a letter of recommendation. This process completely bypasses the student, who has simply provided the program with the professor’s name and contact info. Some institutions still require hard-copy recommendations, and in these cases, I ask the student to submit the form along with a stamped envelope. Ideally, the student has already filled out his contact information on the form itself, and I simply fill out any other required information and attach my letter of recommendation. I then put this in the mail. Personally, I won’t write a letter for a student who asks to come by and pick up the letter himself/herself, because I prefer the letter to come directly from me to the graduate program. And when my program is evaluating applicants, we discount any recommendations that do not come directly from the professor.</p>
<p>Mollie:
Thank you so much for your answer! Now I can send my professors the forms and specifications thanks to you!
CalAlum:
Oh maybe that’s one factor that contributed to my bad outcome of freshman application. I sent the translated letters myself since my teachers are unable to write letters in English. I see now how subjectively I affected the letters.
I made many other stupid mistakes when I first applied, now I want to make them right. Thanks for your reply! I learned a lot.</p>