Will the school contact my recommender? Forum

[KarenJBY]

Hi guys, I'm an international applicant. I have chosen two recommenders and uploaded their information. I wonder is there a chance the schools I apply to will contact my recommenders for further information? Because my recommenders don't speak English.

[bp shinners]

Hi guys, I'm an international applicant. I have chosen two recommenders and uploaded their information. I wonder is there a chance the schools I apply to will contact my recommenders for further information? Because my recommenders don't speak English.

Nope, don't worry about that.

[KarenJBY]

Many thanks!

[PDaddy]

The above advice is not entirely accurate. Neither an applicant nor a recommender should ever assume that a phone call or email wont be sent just to check things out or fill in a few blanks.

Unfortunately, we have desperate letter forgers to thank for this, and there are enough students who forge letters that the adcoms are on the lookout. They WILL sometimes compare LOR's to essays to compare vernacular, sentence structure, etc. For this reason, a recommender may ask a student to write his own LOR but will change the language so that it reflects authenticity. Professors are notorious for this, and it is a standard, acceptable practice.

I would never encourage an applicant to assume that an adcom won't contact a recommender. If something doesn't ring true or looks out of whack, count on the adcom contacting the recommender. This happens more often than applicants may think.

That having been said, adcoms are not looking to destroy applicants; they are more often looking for reasons to admit applicants. A good recommender should thus always encourage adcoms to call them to fill in any perceived blanks, and should anticipate the possibility that one or more adcoms will contact them with a question. This is why applicants should get LOR's only from writers who know them well - or at least well enough to have a 5-10 minute conversation with an adcom about the applicant.

Contact betwee adcoms and recomenders can often be a good thing, because it presents another opportunity for the recommender to sell the school on an applicant. Adcoms who contact recommenders often do so because the applicant is impressive and the adcom is condidering offering admission. Many applicants receive offers after adcoms speak directly with recommenders.

[dingbat]

Unfortunately, we have desperate letter forgers to thank for this, and there are enough students who forge letters that the adcoms are on the lookout. They WILL sometimes compare LOR's to essays to compare vernacular, sentence structure, etc. For this reason, a recommender may ask a student to write his own LOR but will change the language so that it reflects authenticity. Professors are notorious for this, and it is a standard, acceptable practice.

TCR is to have a friend or classmate write the LOR, then attach your recommender's name
edit: no, it's not. get them to write their own letter.

[LexLeon]

Do American schools accept letters not written in English? Or can your Recommenders write in English, but not speak it?

...Or am I missing something?

[KarenJBY]

My recommender doesn't speak english. She has written a recommendation letter and I translated it to english......I was afraid of adcom calling her, and doubt about the authenticity based on the fact that she doesn't know english. But now I'm thinking if I should ask my friend to translate it.....

I wonder, what the school would do if they distrust my LOR? What kind of punishment will I get, and will they inform other schools that I have applied?

Thanks!

[dingbat]

My recommender doesn't speak english. She has written a recommendation letter and I translated it to english......I was afraid of adcom calling her, and doubt about the authenticity based on the fact that she doesn't know english. But now I'm thinking if I should ask my friend to translate it.....

I wonder, what the school would do if they distrust my LOR? What kind of punishment will I get, and will they inform other schools that I have applied?

Thanks!

Having your friend translate is better.
1) the writing won't be in your style
2) non-english speakers translated to english is not unusual
3) that way you can check off the box that you don't want to see the recommendation after (which schools prefer) and in the unlikely event that the school contacts your recommender, you won't need to explain