Top Law Schools

Does anyone know whether or not it is mandatory that we sign the letter of recommendation waiver portion?

It's not mandatory, but it might offend your LOR writer if you don't (shows implicit mistrust).

It's not mandatory, but is generally considered good etiquette.

See: http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/t ... 005.0.html

I believe Yale's blog at some point said that if you don't sign it, that they assume you have read it and are inclined to take it less seriously.

Even if you aren't applying to Yale, I imagine other adcomms feel the same way.

2014 wrote:I believe Yale's blog at some point said that if you don't sign it, that they assume you have read it and are inclined to take it less seriously.

Even if you aren't applying to Yale, I imagine other adcomms feel the same way.

You should ask your LOR writer if you can read the letter regardless of whether you sign the form.

It's a waiver giving away your right to read the letter so it's obviously not required. It is recommended though. If you do not sign it then the schools may assume that your recommender wrote your letter knowing that you were going to read it and thus may have given false praise. So they will not put as much stock in the letter as they would have if they knew it was genuine.

CastleRock wrote: You should ask your LOR writer if you can read the letter regardless of whether you sign the form.

From what I've read you should leave it up to your recommender to determine whether you read the letter (if they offer then read it, if they don't then don't ask). <-- but this is just what I read somewhere.

LSpleaseee wrote:It's a waiver giving away your right to read the letter so it's obviously not required. It is recommended though. If you do not sign it then the schools may assume that your recommender wrote your letter knowing that you were going to read it and thus may have given false praise. So they will not put as much stock in the letter as they would have if they knew it was genuine.

CastleRock wrote: You should ask your LOR writer if you can read the letter regardless of whether you sign the form.

From what I've read you should leave it up to your recommender to determine whether you read the letter (if they offer then read it, if they don't then don't ask). <-- but this is just what I read somewhere.

Not to sound like a dick, but it's obviously up to your recommender if they let you read it. I personally only chose LOR writer that would allow me to read them. I had three recommenders, and if I hadn't read them I would not have sent my best LORs.

Edit: Also, it's a common misconception that by signing the LOR form you state that you will not read the letter. This is not the case. It just waives your right to ask the school to show you the letter at a later date.

CastleRock wrote: Not to sound like a dick, but it's obviously up to your recommender if they let you read it. I personally only chose LOR writer that would allow me to read them. I had three recommenders, and if I hadn't read them I would not have sent my best LORs.

? That's what I just said, it's up to them to let you read it you shouldn't ask them.

LSpleaseee wrote:

CastleRock wrote: Not to sound like a dick, but it's obviously up to your recommender if they let you read it. I personally only chose LOR writer that would allow me to read them. I had three recommenders, and if I hadn't read them I would not have sent my best LORs.

? That's what I just said, it's up to them to let you read it you shouldn't ask them.

Sorry if there was confusion. I just wouldn't use someone if they wouldn't let me read the letter. What do they have to hide?

CastleRock wrote:

LSpleaseee wrote:

CastleRock wrote: Not to sound like a dick, but it's obviously up to your recommender if they let you read it. I personally only chose LOR writer that would allow me to read them. I had three recommenders, and if I hadn't read them I would not have sent my best LORs.

? That's what I just said, it's up to them to let you read it you shouldn't ask them.

Sorry if there was confusion. I just wouldn't use someone if they wouldn't let me read the letter. What do they have to hide?

I just think it's a matter of trusting the person writing your letter. I didn't ask my recommenders to read the letters they wrote because I trust that they wrote positive things (I actually specifically asked if they would feel comfortable writing me strong and positive recommendations). But I also see your point so I guess in this case it's just a matter of preference.

LSpleaseee wrote:

CastleRock wrote:

LSpleaseee wrote:

CastleRock wrote: Not to sound like a dick, but it's obviously up to your recommender if they let you read it. I personally only chose LOR writer that would allow me to read them. I had three recommenders, and if I hadn't read them I would not have sent my best LORs.

? That's what I just said, it's up to them to let you read it you shouldn't ask them.

Sorry if there was confusion. I just wouldn't use someone if they wouldn't let me read the letter. What do they have to hide?

I just think it's a matter of trusting the person writing your letter. I didn't ask my recommenders to read the letters they wrote because I trust that they wrote positive things (I actually specifically asked if they would feel comfortable writing me strong and positive recommendations). But I also see your point so I guess in this case it's just a matter of preference.

Honestly, I trust my profs to write good things but I wasn't so sure they would edit their letters. Good thing too, because one of my profs called me a "her".

Thanks for the response, guys! I chose not to sign mine because I didn't see the need. Obviously, no one will choose someone who is going to say negative things about them. Unless, of course, it is by mistake. I just think that if any professor is going to say something to someone else that they wouldn't say to me, they are better off not saying it. So, in a way it is somewhat of a deterrent. I honestly don't see someone holding back their praise of the applicant because of fear they will read it. Although, I do think it is likely for LOR writers to refrain from being unnecessarily candid if they presume that the applicant will have a chance to read it in the future.

pseudonym1 wrote:Thanks for the response, guys! I chose not to sign mine because I didn't see the need. Obviously, no one will choose someone who is going to say negative things about them. Unless, of course, it is by mistake. I just think that if any professor is going to say something to someone else that they wouldn't say to me, they are better off not saying it. So, in a way it is somewhat of a deterrent. I honestly don't see someone holding back their praise of the applicant because of fear they will read it. Although, I do think it is likely for LOR writers to refrain from being unnecessarily candid if they presume that the applicant will have a chance to read it in the future.

You need to sign it. It is seen as a very negative thing if you do not sign it. VERY NEGATIVE.

CastleRock wrote:

pseudonym1 wrote:Thanks for the response, guys! I chose not to sign mine because I didn't see the need. Obviously, no one will choose someone who is going to say negative things about them. Unless, of course, it is by mistake. I just think that if any professor is going to say something to someone else that they wouldn't say to me, they are better off not saying it. So, in a way it is somewhat of a deterrent. I honestly don't see someone holding back their praise of the applicant because of fear they will read it. Although, I do think it is likely for LOR writers to refrain from being unnecessarily candid if they presume that the applicant will have a chance to read it in the future.

You need to sign it. It is seen as a very negative thing if you do not sign it. VERY NEGATIVE.

Why though? I don't understand....

pseudonym1 wrote:

CastleRock wrote:

pseudonym1 wrote:Thanks for the response, guys! I chose not to sign mine because I didn't see the need. Obviously, no one will choose someone who is going to say negative things about them. Unless, of course, it is by mistake. I just think that if any professor is going to say something to someone else that they wouldn't say to me, they are better off not saying it. So, in a way it is somewhat of a deterrent. I honestly don't see someone holding back their praise of the applicant because of fear they will read it. Although, I do think it is likely for LOR writers to refrain from being unnecessarily candid if they presume that the applicant will have a chance to read it in the future.

You need to sign it. It is seen as a very negative thing if you do not sign it. VERY NEGATIVE.

Why though? I don't understand....

You don't need to understand, it's just seen by adcomms as a negative thing. There is tons of literature on the subject, if you have an admissions book it will probably have why. You have to sign it if you don't want it to affect your cycle.

CastleRock wrote:

pseudonym1 wrote:

CastleRock wrote:

pseudonym1 wrote:Thanks for the response, guys! I chose not to sign mine because I didn't see the need. Obviously, no one will choose someone who is going to say negative things about them. Unless, of course, it is by mistake. I just think that if any professor is going to say something to someone else that they wouldn't say to me, they are better off not saying it. So, in a way it is somewhat of a deterrent. I honestly don't see someone holding back their praise of the applicant because of fear they will read it. Although, I do think it is likely for LOR writers to refrain from being unnecessarily candid if they presume that the applicant will have a chance to read it in the future.

You need to sign it. It is seen as a very negative thing if you do not sign it. VERY NEGATIVE.

Why though? I don't understand....

You don't need to understand, it's just seen by adcomms as a negative thing. There is tons of literature on the subject, if you have an admissions book it will probably have why. You have to sign it if you don't want it to affect your cycle.

Overly alarmist. The adcomms won't take the LORs seriously, but then again the LORs rarely mean much anyway.

CastleRock wrote: You don't need to understand, it's just seen by adcomms as a negative thing. There is tons of literature on the subject, if you have an admissions book it will probably have why. You have to sign it if you don't want it to affect your cycle.

+1.
If you don't sign it it means that law schools will let you see it after you've matriculated. It does not mean that LSAC will show it to you, or that law schools will show it to you before they've accepted you. It also has nothing to do with having your LOR writer show it to you directly. However, if you don't sign it adcomms will think the letter is less reliable/trustworthy, and won't put much weight on it.

dextermorgan wrote:Overly alarmist. The adcomms won't take the LORs seriously, but then again the LORs rarely mean much anyway.

There is no point in drawing attention to negatives of your app for no apparent reason.