PDF LORS not acceptable? Forum

[Marshmallow]

My current boss is writing me a LOR, and he's wondering what format he should submit it in since pdfs aren't listed as being acceptable. Does he need to actually sign or is an electronic signature good enough? He was going to write it on our letterhead, but how does one do that without it being a pdf? What am I missing?

[redsoxfan1989]

My boss had this same issue. I believe he told me that he had his secretary use the preprinted letter head option in word (not sure if your company has this) then added his signature in as picture into the word document.

[leroyjenkins6969]

As far as I know, it would have to be in PDF format.

[Marshmallow]

Thanks for the feedback! My work is still in the stone ages, and doesn't have those nifty options for letterhead and signature. I did find a website that will convert PDF to HTML (an acceptable format) for free, so if anyone else has the same problem, I'd recommend it as an option.

[Marshmallow]

ok, I guess my problem has actually not been resolved. Anyone know how bad it looks for my boss to submit a LOR without a "real" signature and no letterhead. I'm guessing that's pretty bad. Anyone have other suggestions?

[Magical Trevor]

Print it out and fax it in with a signature

[leroyjenkins6969]

Try calling LSAC tomorrow. I'm fairly sure my recommenders submitted PDF versions, and they were accepted by LSAC.

[midwest17]

Or send it by regular mail.

[Marshmallow]

thanks again I had my boss mail it since it seemed to be the best option under the circumstances. I'm sure any delay in processing is better than the alternative lack of signature and letterhead.

[leroyjenkins6969]

I just spoke with LSAC, and here's what they said:

1. The letter has to be submitted as a .doc or .docX file if submitted electronically.
2. The letter does not have to be signed if submitted electronically.

In lieu of a signature, recommenders check some kind of box upon submitting.

Hope this is helpful.

[bp shinners]

I just spoke with LSAC, and here's what they said:

1. The letter has to be submitted as a .doc or .docX file if submitted electronically.
2. The letter does not have to be signed if submitted electronically.

In lieu of a signature, recommenders check some kind of box upon submitting.

Hope this is helpful.

As someone who has submitted recommendations, I can say that this sums it up pretty well. I wrote it in Word, signed up for a recommender account at LSAC (they provided a link to do so in the e-mail when I received the LoR request - it was ridiculously easy to sign up), uploaded it, checked a box, and it was done. Much easier than I expected, and no need to convert anything to different formats.

[Marshmallow]

Thanks everyone for the advice. My boss ended up sending in over regular mail last Wednesday, the 6th. I know this is probably not representative of how fast LSAC processes LORs, but I received notification on Saturday (the 9th) that LSAC received the letter. Very impressive since I was expecting at least a week or two...