Letter of Recommendation - Waive of right

[Palak]

Hi All,

For Kelloggs, while submitting the name of the recommender, they have this question:

Do you wish to waive your right to examine this letter of recommendation?*
Yes
No
Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, students have access to their education record, including letters of recommendation. However, students may waive their right to see letters of evaluation, in which case the letters will be held in confidence.

What should be the ideal answer for this. What does the school want.Should we waive the right to see the letter of recommendation or not?

Thanks
Palak

[Brett N]

Hi Palak,

In my opinion, I think you should waive your rights to read the recommendation because it's more respectful of the recos privacy and they will more likely write something that is extremely complimentary if they know you are not reading it - this is based on the assumption that you picked recommenders that you believe will write great recommendations.

I do not think admissions puts too much emphasis on whether or not you waive your rights. If anything, I believe that they would be more impressed if you did waive your rights because it shows you have confidence in your recommendations.

Hope that answers your question, feel free to email me directly if it doesn't.