Should you waive your right to see recommendations?
The subject of waiving rights recently came up among our professional organization's membership and I thought I'd see how you feel about this.
When you request recommendations from your counselor and teacher, you'll be asked to indicate whether you waive your right to see the letters that are submitted for you. Back when I was in high school, there wasn't much debate about this. Everyone signed off on the waiver. I couldn't imagine why I'd want to hunt down what my teachers had said about me...after all, I was asking them to write for me because I knew their letters would be positive. However, things have changed and it seems as though more students are reserving the right to check up on their recommendations. Interestingly, this right is only intact at the schools where you matriculate, so the only recommendations you'd be able to see are the ones that were part of an application that got you admitted to a school.
Anyway, there was much debate over this topic. Some admission officers didn't seem to care much about whether rights were waived, but many felt otherwise. They felt that writers wouldn't write freely and that they'd be crafting a vague letter. In essence, they thought that not signing the waiver deprived students of a complete and comprehensive recommendation.
I personally don't take much time pondering the waiver part of the recommendation form, but I think that if you trust your teacher enough to request their recommendation, you probably don't really need to see that letter years down the line.
Another thing to consider: in almost ten years of doing this, I have only seen two recommendations that weren't positive or complimentary and both of those letters were read when I worked for another school. So, I have only read positive recommendations at UVa. Our applicants seem to do a good job when it comes to selecting their recommendation writers.
What do you think about recommendation waivers? Do you think admission officers should take into account whether an applicant has waived their rights or not?
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7 comments:
Dean J.,
A question about ACT. I took ACT and happy with the score. Can I just send it or should take SAT also? I am sure that I will not get better SAT score than my high ACT score. I will be sending my SAT II scores seperately, though. Thanks and I really love your blogs =)
Are you allowed to have more then one teacher submit recommendations?
Is there any advantage to submitting early? Will you be notified earlier then April 1st if the application is completed in the next few weeks.
I think you should waive your right to see your recommendations. It shows that you are confident in your recommender. A case emerged in which a student sued a recommender for a recommendation that he/she did not like. Waiving your right also ensures that the recommender is providing an accurate evaluation of the student, not just trying to stay out of a lawsuit. Students should be confident in the teachers they choose, I know I am, and I hope to be in Charlottesville next year!
Anon, you do not have to take both the ACT and SAT. I hope we didn't give you that impression. Students must submit either the SAT or ACT. Some submit both, but that is not a requirement.
By the way, pick a name...it doesn't have to be your real name, just one to use on the blog. When the application season hits, the comments can have 5+ "Anonymous" people asking questions and it makes it hard to direct the answers back to you.
Austin, we require one counselor recommendation and one teacher recommendation. You really shouldn't have to go beyond that, but if you are passionate about submitted an extra one, you may. Keep it reasonable.
Again, remember that virtually all recommendations are positive and vague, so they wind up being a bit repetitive.
Alex, I didn't realize a student actually sued a teacher over a recommendation. I imagine the case was thrown out of court, as the student wouldn't have evidence that the recommendation alone kept them out of a school.
Back in high school, my counselor said we had to sign the waiver.
My high school requires a waiver in order for them to complete the counselor rec form. This seems a bit unfair - waive your rights, or we won't fill out a form you need for your application. It's a different matter when you are choosing you recommenders, who presumably will be at least fair. Most people are assigned to a counselor. What if you don't think your college counselor will be fair to you? Or what if the counselor hardly knows you? How much do you weigh the character recommendation of the college counselor?
Anonymous, whether you feel your school's policy is fair or unfair, the fact remains that is seems to be their policy.
Keep in mind that almost every recommendation I have read has been positive.
Schools ask for teacher recommendations because we realize that some counselors have tremendous case loads and can't possibly know all of their students.
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