<p>Today I asked one of my teachers for a recommendation... nicest teacher ever, by the way... and she said that she wants the person she's writing the recommendation for to see it. She said that she wants the student to feel comfortable with what she's saying and that has no intentions of hiding it.</p>
<p>While this is a good thing because I'm curious, is it pretty much implied that all recommendatoins should be confidential? For example, for evaluations through the common app - are those SUPPOSED to be confidential? There's no waiver, so I'm a bit lost.</p>
<p>Is it really that terrible to see your rec, though? I personally don't see the big deal.</p>
<p>Another recommendation question: is asking four teachers for recs ridiculous? One of my schools requires a math/science teacher and I'm really not close to the teacher who's writing it, so I don't really want to use his rec for more schools than just that one. And, another teacher I'm having write me a rec is an optional "extra" one for one school. I guess what I'm asking is, is it terrible to have them write a rec that you're only going to use once? I don't want them to feel as though they're wasting their time... but I know the math/science one is going to be written in "format" which I think is way too impersonal for my reaches....</p>
<p>tell her you'd love to see it, but that schools would be mighty suspicious of any teacher not making it confidential. it gives the school some security in knowing hta tyou didn't read it.</p>
<p>I have written a few rec letters and have reviewed the contents with the student, mainly to verify the accuracy of the information. Then, I sign and seal it in accordance with the college application instructions.</p>
<p>It sounds like your teacher is inviting you to review the contents of the rec letter out of RESPECT that she has for you! There is nothing wrong with accepting her invitation.</p>
<p>I agree with gsp. When I wrote recommendations for my college students, I also allowed the students to see the recommendations for the reasons that gsp described.</p>
<p>It's up to the recommendation writer whether to allow students to see the recc or not. Many don't want to allow students to see the reccs because the teachers fear the students will talk to their peers about the recommendation and that will lead to students having hurt feelings and unrealistic expectations. For instance, an honest teacher will not be able to say that every student is the top student s/he has ever taught.</p>
<p>Students are encouraged to sign a waiver saying that they waive the right to see their recommendations, but that does not mean that they can't see them, necessarily. My guidance counselor tells all her students that she will definitely let students see the recommendation she writes for them. As it's been said, it all depends on the teacher.</p>
<p>Yeah -- some of my teachers showed them to me and some didn't. As long as you don't pressure your teachers (I didn't even ask, and it sounds like you didn't either), and don't ask them to change anything (unless it contains inaccurate information, of course!), then I don't see why it would be a problem.</p>
<p>And asking teachers to fill out a rec only once is fine -- it's the same amount of time for them whether you use it once or ten times, and I'm sure they have too much else on their minds to sit fretting about whether you're slighting them by not using <em>their</em> rec more!!</p>