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Quick question. Any help is appreciated. I am going to have my recommenders fax the LORs because it seems that is much more efficient than mail. I was warned (by the people at LSAC) that faxed letters can be distorted which causes LSAC to mail them back to your recommender and wastes time.

Has anyone ever had this experience happen to them? Or has everyone had no problems when faxing them in?

Thanks for the input.

I haven't heard of this happening to a TLSer yet. FWIW, faxing them is much, much faster than mailing them, so you could just have your prof fax it, and if it doesn't show up in a couple of days then snail mail it.

FWIW, my final LOR was snail mailed last Friday and it was ready to go yesterday morning.

I've never heard of distortion being a problem on this site. The benefit of expediency is probably worth the tiny risk of an extra hassle.

I faxed the vast majority of my LORs. They were all processed within a day or two of being received.

I figured there was little if any risk and despite this it would be worth the time saved. Thanks for the input.

Both LORs faxed. Had no problem.

..

FWIW, one of my writers mailed their LOR last friday and it was counted as received yesterday. So the horror stories aren't the typical probably.

Hannibal wrote:FWIW, one of my writers mailed their LOR last friday and it was counted as received yesterday. So the horror stories aren't the typical probably.

It's not but fax is just more reliable because you can get electronic confirmation that they got it.

flyingpanda wrote:

Hannibal wrote:FWIW, one of my writers mailed their LOR last friday and it was counted as received yesterday. So the horror stories aren't the typical probably.

It's not but fax is just more reliable because you can get electronic confirmation that they got it.

You can also pay 25cents for certified mail and receive confirmation that someone signed for it.

Tiva wrote:

flyingpanda wrote:

Hannibal wrote:FWIW, one of my writers mailed their LOR last friday and it was counted as received yesterday. So the horror stories aren't the typical probably.

It's not but fax is just more reliable because you can get electronic confirmation that they got it.

You can also pay 25cents for certified mail and receive confirmation that someone signed for it.

IIRC certified mail with electronic return receipt costs about $4 extra.

Tiva wrote: You can also pay 25cents for certified mail and receive confirmation that someone signed for it.

Does this work for a PO Box? I remember Fedex refusing to ship my LOR overnight due to the address.

kazu wrote:

Tiva wrote: You can also pay 25cents for certified mail and receive confirmation that someone signed for it.

Does this work for a PO Box? I remember Fedex refusing to ship my LOR overnight due to the address.

FedEx and UPS can't deliver to PO Boxes, since those are owned by the USPS.

kazu wrote:

Tiva wrote: You can also pay 25cents for certified mail and receive confirmation that someone signed for it.

Does this work for a PO Box? I remember Fedex refusing to ship my LOR overnight due to the address.

You have to use USPS, but the other poster is right. It is around $4. I sent one of my LOR's via Certified Mail and it was accepted/signed/processed rather quickly.

Seriously, if this is a concern, mail them. Reasons why:

1)Most people who are going out of their way to write letters for you would find it a million times easier to just stick it in a pre-prepared envelope and put it in a mailbox than have to figure out how to fax something. I'm a tech-geek and even I have trouble with it. How do you think old people feel? Also, this puts a lot of faith in the scanning ability of THEIR fax machine.

2)LSAC processes mailed letters within a day or two. Seriously. It's ridiculously fast. Just make sure your form is included with the letter.

Either way, I just feel faxing is stupid. It's annoying for you, for the people receiving it, for the people sending it. It messes up. Just mail it in a nice yellow envelope and be a happy guy/gal.