<p>I tried posting this in the parents' forum but got no responses, so I'll try it here. Admittedly, it might sound like a somewhat dumb question.
I plan to apply to several graduate schools, about 5 or so. Concerning letters of recommendation, how does that work out? If I got 3 letters of rec., could I make photocopies of them and send most of the schools I'm applying to a photocopy? Do grad schools mind? What if one or more of the letters of rec. is handwritten and it would be very obvious if I make a photocopy of it?</p>
<p>No. The recommendations have to go directly from the professors to the schools. They can't cross your hands (unless they're in a sealed envelope). Think about it.</p>
<p>On the other hand, your university might offer a "service" (for which they often charge around $50) where your professors can submit the letters of recommendation to the career counseling office. Then you put in a request to the office to have them send the recommendations off to said colleges.</p>
<p>It works in generic terms, but you'll probably want something more specifically tailored to each college. If that's the case, you should speak to the professors who are writing the letters for you and let them know that you're applying to different schools. It's in your best interests to have this professor be very specific with how your achievements match X school's programs/opportunities, so do that.</p>
<p>One thought might be to tell your recommenders your situation and let them know that you need one original, signed letter for each school you're applying to. This won't shock them because this is the standard procedure, and 5 institutions is not an outrageous number. </p>
<p>Ideally they will revise each letter to suit it to that particular institution (how your interests and abilities mirror those of individual faculty at the school, etc.), but at minimum they should have it addressed to that particular school ("Mary Smith would be a great fit at UM-Ann Arbor because..." rather than "she would be a great fit at your university"). </p>
<p>One thought would be to ask the recommenders whether they still have the letter saved to their computers. Professors know to do this. If they don't have the letter saved (especially for that one that hand-wrote it) you could offer to re-type what they have written for them and give it to them on a disk or e-mail attachment, complete with individualization for each school. That way all they would have to do is sign it. </p>
<p>Usually professors will ask you how many schools you are applying to, though, and will expect that you need them to provide one individualized copy for each.</p>