Do you feel like you are bugging Recommenders to death?

[goldberry]

DD is doing one common app school and the rest are individual applications.  Also she will have some scholarships she will need a recommendation for.  How do you get all these without feeling like you are nagging the recommender?  Is it okay to just get a copy of the letter to mail out?  Does each letter need to be signed individually?

[regentrude]

Ideally, the student would give the recommenders a comprehensive list of places to submit the letter with the respective due dates up front and let the recommender handle it. If that is not possible, because you have not settled on the schools, let the recommender know that there will be several schools and you will provide info as soon as possible.

 

Not only should each letter be signed, but more importantly the student needs to waive the right to see the letter; almost no professional recommender will consent to write a LOR unless the student does that. This means the student cannot simply obtain a copy; the recommenders are to submit their recommendations directly to the college.

 

ETA: When a person agrees to write a letter, it is with the understanding that this letter will have to be submitted to multiple institutions. That is par for the course.

Edited November 22, 2016 by regentrude

[goldberry]

 

ETA: When a person agrees to write a letter, it is with the understanding that this letter will have to be submitted to multiple institutions. That is par for the course.

 

That makes me feel slightly better. She waived the right for the common app recommendation.  Her other recommender did not ask about that and didn't seem to have a problem giving us a letter.  If we mail that in, is that bad?  How would the college know if we waived the right if it is an individual college app?  Her other colleges just give an address or an email for the recommender to mail to.

[regentrude]

Her other recommender did not ask about that and didn't seem to have a problem giving us a letter.  If we mail that in, is that bad?  How would the college know if we waived the right if it is an individual college app?  Her other colleges just give an address or an email for the recommender to mail to.

 

I don't know what a college does that does not go through an online system for the recommenders. 

Normally, recommenders should just mail directly to the college; I would provide the recommender with the info and have her/him send it directly. That way, it is clear you did not alter anything.

[daijobu]

Back in the old days when I was applying, I would give my high school teachers a stamped addressed envelope for them to mail the letter.  

[GoodGrief]

I definitely felt that way last year. Her recommenders were really great about the hassle though. There was a thank you note and small gift at the very end of the process (not until the end; did not want to give the impression of trying to buy favor, so to speak.)

[Caroline]

If you have to mail in the package together, have the recommender write the letter, print and sign, put in an envelope, seal, and signs across the sealed envelope. That's how we did it in the old days. I do a number of scholarship applications for students like that.