<p>Just out of curiosity, from your guys' experience, do professors usually show their students the recommendation letter they wrote for them? </p>
<p>I received a forwarded email (confirmation that my LOR was received by the receiver) from my writer that "excluded" the original attachment (LOR) to the program I applied for. Is it common that professors don't show this?</p>
<p>It's my first college experience with LORs, so I'm not really sure how these things work.</p>
<p>I don’t think I saw any of mine.</p>
<p>I have never shown my students/colleagues any recommendation letters written for them. LORs are confidential by design, and you normally need to sign away your right to see these letters.</p>
<p>It would be highly unusual for you to see your LOR so I agree with the above posts! In any event, good luck!</p>
<p>oh I see. I had though that it was common for students to see their LORs.
I think my teachers showed them to me in high school, but that’s probably a completely different story.</p>
<p>They were supposed to be confidential in high school, too. There is a place on the forms where the student waives the right to see them. Some teachers show them to students anyway.</p>
<p>In undergrad, yes it’s common. I write recommendations for college students and I don’t show them even though they have been very positive.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s normal. Usually you explicitly waive your right to see them on the application. As a matter of fact, I have heard several times that it may lower your chance of admission if you <em>don’t</em> waive your right to see them since that may result in the recommender not being completely honest.</p>
<p>Two of my professors offered to let me read my grad school letters, but I declined because I would have needlessly obsessed about about every little phrase.</p>
<p>It’s a common misconception that letters are supposed to be confidential. They don’t need to be. The confidentiality waiver we sign has nothing to do with our teachers/professors letting us see the letters. The waiver prevents us from obtaining the letter from the recipient - a right given to students under FERPA. (For example, when you enrolled in college, the letters of recommendation from your college application became part of your student file. FERPA gives you the right to see everything in your file, including the application documents. Colleges can only withhold the letters of recommendation from you if you have waived your legal right to see them.)</p>
<p>In other words, signing the waiver prevents us from getting the letter behind the back of the person who wrote it. That’s supposed to allow professors to write honest letters without fear of retribution. However, NOBODY cares that you saw your letters if your professors shared them with you voluntarily.</p>