<p>So my friend and I got into an argument. He's a smart kid but he'll have issues getting good teacher recs (we both acknowledge this). </p>
<p>So his solution to the problem is to ask for a bunch (well, more than required) of recs from different teachers and "pick" the best ones to send. He would do that by not signing the waiver thing on the common app. My initial reaction is that it's disrespectful to the teacher who's writing you the application, and that he should just ask them if they'd write him a "strong" letter of recommendation. </p>
<p>FYI, every respectable teacher I know does NOT give students the option of signing the CommonApp waiver. If you don’t sign it, you will never get a letter from some teachers. Not all, but SOME will have problems with him not signing it for the reasons your friend vindicates. And yes, it is very unethical to do this.</p>
<p>ethical? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant to be this way. teachers would get offended if they found out. but no other consequences would occur.</p>
<p>I would never do this. If you ask a teacher for a rec, you should have some confidence that they will write a good rec, or otherwise you should ask a different teacher. That’s just me though.</p>
<p>Who cares? I had a teacher write me a rec, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t use it. Teachers here give students the recs, they don’t mail them anonymously. They probably don’t even know you sign a waiver.</p>
<p>If the teacher is willing to write a rec knowing the student didn’t sign the waiver, then presumably they have no problem with the student seeing it. And I see nothing unethical about not using a recommendation that the writer knows you will see. We are not obligated to use unflattering recommendations from teachers or bosses-if we know about them.</p>
<p>It would only be unethical if the teacher thought the waiver was signed (sin of omission) and the student then read it.</p>
<p>However, I think asking a teacher directly if they feel they can write a strong recommendation for you is the best option. A teacher who doesn’t feel they can be positive about a student probably doesn’t want to write this recommendation anyway.</p>
<p>At my school, teachers mail the recs. themselves; students at my school will do anything to get into the top schools, so teacher recs, transcripts, everything official is mailed by the school.</p>
<p>Why doesnt your friend just pick the teachers that he knows will write him a good letter? It is definitely disrespectful to the teachers, they spend a lot of time writing these things, theyre doing students big favors. </p>
<p>He shouldnt do it. Really, just tell him to ask his favorite teachers (and the ones that know him the best). Plus, its not his decision to “pick” which letters he wants, its the teacher’s rec. to him, its their opinion of him. </p>
<p>*And trust me, although some teacher’s letters might be very generic, theres no way that they would say bad things about their students. If a teacher doesnt like a student, she will simply tell the student that she doesnt want to write a letter for them.</p>
<p>My favorite, and most intelligent teacher openly admits that she will point out weaknesses in most everyone’s letter and how they overcome that weakness to be successful. She says that “not everyone is perfect and everyone has their flaws”. </p>
<p>She also thinks that letters of recommendation are losing their clout in the admission’s process from teachers not writing an honest evaluation; instead, just praising the individual.</p>
<p>My teacher allows everybody to view their letter if they want after May 1st.</p>
<p>Exactly, Spunaugle. This particular “waiver” thing is a by-product of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. Under FERPA, students have the right to view their educational records, and schools receiving funds from the U.S. government (which is virtually every university in the country) have to allow students access to their educational records if they request it, give them the opportunity to fix inaccurate information, and prevents them from sharing the information in the record without the student’s permission (with several exceptions).</p>
<p>Under FERPA, letters of recommendation are considered part of the educational record of a student once he or she matriculates at a particular university, and therefore she or he can review those letters once they are accepted and decide to enroll as part of their educational record if they have waived rights – meaning that you can view your recommendations after you enroll, if you go to the Registrar’s office and request to see your file.</p>
<p>Refusing to sign the waiver is not a pass to open your teachers’ letters of recommendation before they are even sent to those schools – that’s not what the waiver means (and you should READ everything before you sign it, because most of the waivers tell you what they mean!) Not only is it unethical, if the student is found out (and this has a higher likelihood than most especially if his teachers get to talking or calling up the school good-naturedly or something) he can get rejected, or his admissions rescinded, or kicked out once he gets there. This is academic dishonesty.</p>
<p>Instead he should just frankly ask teachers if they think they can write him a strong letter of recommendation, and if they say no, hesitate, or answer wishy-washy, move on to another teacher.</p>