Didn't Waive My Right to View Academic Records

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Didn't Waive My Right to View Academic Records

by dlencz » Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:41 pm
For two schools I did not waive my right to view my academic records, figuring what's the big deal since I can't see them until after I'm enrolled anyways. Of course I later find out that the AdCom starts to question whether they can trust your recommendation letters. Well crap, my recommendation letters are the least of my worries.

Is there anything I can do to fix the situation?? One recommender has already submitted for both and the other is about to. Should I send an e-mail to AdCom letting them know that they can contact my recommenders if they have any questions about the accurateness of them? Is not waiving my rights going to be a big deal?

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by Shawn@StratusPrep » Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:02 am
Hi dlencz,

Ideally, all applicants should waive their right to review their recommendations because if you do not, as you indicated, the AdComs may worry that you do not trust your recommenders to speak honestly about you (even though you would not get to see the recommendations until after you have been admitted, AdComs believe recommenders may be less forthright if they know you might someday see the recommendations).

At this point, unfortunately, there is not too much you can do to rectify this situation, though I am happy to share some strategies with you that may be helpful. For the one recommender who has already submitted, they will review it with the fact that you did not waive in mind. I would not contact the AdComs to tell them that they can reach out to him as they already know that they can do that if they would like (recommenders have to provide contact information). I would see if you can waive for the second recommender and resend the recommendation link to him.

But, all is definitely not lost. I have seen other applicants who made this mistake be admitted. You just may want to add another school or two in for Round 2 and waive your rights to those recs as an insurance policy.

Best of luck,
Shawn
Founder/Director, Stratus Prep
Harvard JD/MBA

[email protected]
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