<p>I asked 3 of my teachers for recommendation letters. Two of them happily use the Common App forms, saving me hassles of preparing envelopes. One wants to write the reference as traditional letters with school letterhead.</p>
<p>I really hate disappointing or bothering my teacher too much, but life would be much easier if she'd just go for the Common App forms. I'm guessing she really loves the school letterhead with its Latin motto and all.</p>
<p>How should I go about with this situation? Should I contact the schools to let them know that one recommendation letter is coming separately? Or should I politely ask my teacher to write with the normal Common App forms instead, without letterheads?</p>
<p>I don’t think you need to contact the schools about the separate letter. They can figure it out. As for the letter, I say let her do it the way she wants. So you have to prepare a few envelopes. So what? I think the fact that she wants to do it old school shows that she is willing to put significant effort into writing the letter. You should be grateful. Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>I disagree w/bowtie. Paper submissions are completely acceptable (remember, many people still don’t have the internet: think internationals). To ask her to conform to what you think is “proper” – which is at odds with what she feels is proper – is needlessly off-putting, IMHO.</p>
<p>Be grateful. It won’t negatively affect you at all.</p>
<p>When the letter is rec’d, it gets scanned, loaded into your electronic file, and the letter is shredded. Voila. Simple.</p>
<p>I agree with T26E4 … the teacher is doing you a favor … do not ask them to do it your way unless it is necessary and in this case it is not necessary as schools gladly accept paper recommendations.</p>
<p>PS - if you are asking this teacher for multiple recommendations I think it would be fine to ask the teacher which they prefer … entering the recommendation once in the common app … or creating and mailing multiple paper versions. Then if they still pick paper go with that no more questions asked.</p>
<p>One final thought … maybe the teacher prefers paper recommendations so s/he can personalize each rec to the school as opposed to creating a generic rec on the common app that could get sent to multiple schools.</p>
<p>I’m with the rest (except Bow Tie). You should prepare envelopes for her with the address of each college or university’s office of undergraduate admissions, her address at school as the return address, and a stamp. And then you should thank her sincerely for the time and effort she is putting into your college recommendations.</p>
<p>Colleges will connect your hard-copy letter with the rest of your file.</p>
<p>(And remember: although this is probably the first time you’ve applied to college, it’s probably not the first time this teacher has written recommendations for students. If she’s a veteran teacher, she has already done this dozens of times. Unless she’s a complete novice, she knows what she’s doing.)</p>
<p>Tell her thanks and hand her some stamped addressed envelopes. Ask her to put your full name and either social security number or address and date of birth in the upper right hand corner.</p>
<p>Let me set the scene … a room full of admissions officers, two applications on the table. One of the officers says … “I know that Johnny’s application is a bit stronger than Jimmy’s, but Johnny’s teacher sent in a paper recommendation, so I think we should reject him.”</p>
<p>Me either!!</p>
<p>Seriously, the school will recognize that this is outside your control it should make no difference.</p>
<p>That were a lot of useful advices. I wish there was a “Thanks” button, but there’s none, so I’d just say big thanks to everyone!</p>
<p>So it seems I should be grateful and just let my teacher do it her way. Sure, I can prepare the envelopes. But should I just send it straight to the schools’ admission offices, or should I contact and notify them in advance? </p>
<p>I’m asking this because the envelopes will contain solely a rec letter. Wouldn’t it be a bit random and out of context for them to receive one rec letter for one student, while what they’re expecting are thick application packs with everything inside?</p>
<p>Seriously, your teacher will know all this, but:</p>
<p>The recommendation letters should include your name and date of birth at the top. This is how the universities will match them to the rest of your file.</p>
<p>You should give her a completed recommendation form from either the Common App or the school’s proprietary teacher recommendation. (Obviously, you complete only the “applicant” portion, not the teacher portion.) She will complete the checklist part of the recommendation, make as many copies as she needs, and attach a copy of her letter.</p>
<p>She can then mail the recommendation form and letter directly to each college or university. And, seriously, they get recommendations on paper all the time during application season. It will be fine.</p>
<p>btw: pickup some prepaid postcards from the USPS and address them to yourself, and write ‘Received by ______College’ on the back. Enclose the postcard in the envelope that you give to teacher. When college mailroom opens the envelope, they’ll return the card to you. That way you know that the rec had been received.</p>
<p>^ All the colleges I know of have online tracking systems, and they will notify you when each part of the application has been received, no matter if it was submitted by mail or electronically. </p>
<p>But if the letter arrives and is then misfiled, won’t the college mail the postcard, leading the applicant to think her teacher recommendation is in the file, when in fact it is not?</p>
<p>I guess i am in the minority, and have been known to expect quite a lot out of my profs. I know that I have probably rubbed some of my profs the wrong way by asking too much. I think that maybe others are right in that asking the prof for two letters of rec might be too much, I was just thinking that while she had typed it, there was not much to copying and pasting it too.</p>
<p>Here’s why I think insisting that the teacher submit online rather than on paper is over the line.</p>
<p>Years ago, I heard a comedian talking about men and women, and how they each claim not to understand what the other is thinking. He said he’d give women a list of what men were thinking. After the obvious joke about sex, he said, “And here’s another thing: you can tell us how a job ought to be done, or you can ask us to do it. Pick one!” It’s kind of the same principle here. The teacher is doing a favor for this applicant; he shouldn’t tell her that she can’t do it by a widely practiced, universally acceptable method.</p>
<p>Exactly. And after a week or so when the online site does not show that the rec has been received, the OP can send an e-mail to Admissions stating that ‘it was received on xx date, and I know bcos I received a post card back’. Admissions/mail room can then do a search. It’s also helpful to them, since a mis-filed rec means two files are out of whack. (The alternative is to go bug the teacher again, and have him/her send a duplicate, which then goes by snail mail and must be opened in the mail room…)</p>
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<p>Totally concur. Perhaps the teacher wants to write such a glowing rec that it takes 2+ pages to fit in all of the superlatives, and such won’t fit in the Common App box. Or, perhaps the teacher doesn’t want the hassle to upload a file. Don’t matter. If you want their help, you take it their way, or find a different recommender.</p>
<p>I like the post-card thing on the back for another reason. It shows that you’re organized and taking responsibility for the entire application process. Showing someone that you’ve asked for a recommendation that you’re organized and responsible can never hurt!!</p>