<p>Hmm, i read in a lot of places here that teacher recs are confidential if you sign the waiver. But on the common app, the agreement simply states that you wont have access to it after you matriculate at wherever you end up going, so it wouldnt even seem as if though its a problem to view a rec (with the consent of the teacher obviously) and to even look over it. to my knowledge, it happens in a professional setting.</p>
<p>so, is my interpretation of the waiver on the common app right or is there something else that i should know that make teacher recs necessary confidential?</p>
<p>Like Erin’s Dad said its upto the teacher. I know teachers that feel that teacher recs only display good information and therefore should be shared with the student and I know other teachers don’t want students to know what goes into a teacher rec, because the teacher would be pressured to say only good things.</p>
<p>My guess is that this wording from the common app. is so that you know that once your file gets to the colleges it is theirs, not yours. You can’t go begging them to dig it out of their archives just to take a look at it later.</p>
<p>Whether or not you see your actual letters of recommendation before they get sent off would be up to you and the writers. If you do not specifically waive your rights to a letter of recommendation, you do have the right to read it. This right was won for you by a long hard battle fought by people in your parents’ generation. Do not sign it away lightly. If you are not yet 18, and your parents must sign for you, do not allow them to sign it away lightly. Take time to consider your decision.</p>
<p>Some counselors and teachers prefer that you waive your rights because they believe that a letter without the waiver notice won’t be taken seriously by some admissions officers because those admissions officers will assume that there must be ugly stuff that has been left out. Some writers (as noted by vasudevank) don’t want to feel pressured to only say nice things about you. Think about that for a minute - do you really want such spineless wonders writing letters of recommendation for you? Others writers just don’t want students (and parents) comparing letters and then coming back to whine and fuss about why the other kid’s letter was (presumably) so much better. Given the whiny and fussy nature of a lot of human beings, this is the stand I’m most sympathetic with.</p>
<p>A responsible guidance officer or teacher should be willing to share his/her letter with you. If you have something in your history that would lead them to give you a less than glowing recommendation, you should face up to that fact, and you should expect honesty from your recommenders. You are not to whine, and you are not to fuss. Your letters are yours. They are not to be shared around town, and they are not to be compared with anyone else’s. If you are forced into a discussion, please limit yourself to saying, “My counselor/teacher wrote a really nice letter of recommendation for me. I’m sure he/she will do the same for you.”</p>
<p>hmm, the reason i asked this question is that my teachers are all so open about rec letters, with some insisting that i review them to suggest necessary changes.</p>
<p>my original question however just had to do with the waiver on the common app. i had thought that by signing the waiver, one does not have access to letters after matriculation but that teachers can still show them to them regardless. but the post above by happymom does not seem to support that.</p>
<p>Signing the waiver just means that you can’t demand to see them. The teacher can still offer to let you look it over, and you could ask the teacher to see it, but they’re not obligated to show you. Waiving the right is a sign of faith in your teacher’s abilities as a recommender and the quality of the recommendation. If you have to think twice about waiving the right to see them, then you might want to consider whether the teacher is really the best person to write the rec for you.</p>
<p>The teachers can show you everything if they want to. Even if you’ve signed a waiver! </p>
<p>Waiving your rights doesn’t mean that you CAN’T ever see the letters, it just means that you can’t ASK to see the letters after the final version is written/typed/printed-out and sealed in an envelope by the writer. The writers are free to offer the drafts to you for review or revision. If they feel like it, they can give you a copy of the final letter for your personal file. That decision is up to them. If you have good relations with your teachers, they should be open about discussing your letters with you.</p>
<p>It is a very good idea to review your counselor’s draft letter so that you can make sure it is about you and not about some kid named trickyfoxman instead (this happens more often than we’d like to think), and that any honors or ECs mentioned really are the right ones. If your teachers want you to read their letters, go ahead and read them, and help them make any necessary changes. You sound like the kind of kid that they WANT to write good letters for!</p>
<p>Sorry my earlier note wasn’t clear about this.</p>
<p>Wow … talk about slightly different points of view.</p>
<p>I absolutely would sign the waiver. I think about this situation from the viewpoint of the reader at the college … which recommendation are you likely to give more weight to … </p>
<p>a) One where a student insisted on the right to see the recommendation and the evelautor knows it </p>
<p>b) Qne where the student trusts the evaluator and the evaluator knows there comments are confidential</p>
<p>Could an evaluator unexpectadly gun an applicant down … absolutely … however the student gets to pick who writes the recommendations. For me, the downside risk in noway outwieghs the benefit of exhibiting trust to both the evaluator and, more importantly, to the school to which the student is applying.</p>
<p>I find it difficult to believe a teacher would not right a good recommendation – the only question is how much knowledge it says and how good. At my Ds school, I think a teacher not willing to write a good recommendation would gently suggest the student look to other teachers.</p>