Mailing hard-copies of recommendation letters to schools

[slau02]

Hi, I was wondering how strict schools are about requiring recommendations to be uploaded via the internet? The only reason I ask is that I've submitted most of my recommendation letters to my Letter Of Reference service at my undergraduate institution and plan to mail those directly to admissions. Furthermore, 2 of the 3 recommenders I no longer keep in contact with (one was recently laid-off from work and the other is a college professor). I've noticed a number of schools (Chicago, Harvard, Wharton) "require" letters to be uploaded online, but from your experience, how stringent are they and which schools really REQUIRE it? Please let me know. Thanks.

[mbamission]

Hi, I was wondering how strict schools are about requiring recommendations to be uploaded via the internet? The only reason I ask is that I've submitted most of my recommendation letters to my Letter Of Reference service at my undergraduate institution and plan to mail those directly to admissions. Furthermore, 2 of the 3 recommenders I no longer keep in contact with (one was recently laid-off from work and the other is a college professor). I've noticed a number of schools (Chicago, Harvard, Wharton) "require" letters to be uploaded online, but from your experience, how stringent are they and which schools really REQUIRE it? Please let me know. Thanks.

Hi slau02 -

Generally, our guidance is that if a school requires something, applicants should follow that requirement. However, in this case, your target schools may make exceptions - I would call their admissions offices beforehand to find out if you can elect not to use their system.

But the bigger issue here to me seems to be your selection of recommenders. I don't know how long ago your undergraduate education was, but regardless, if you're no longer in touch with 2 of your 3 recommenders, they are likely not the right people to select for your business school applications. B-schools want your recommenders to know who you are today. If a recommender can't write a compelling, detailed, personal reference for the person you are today, not the person you were 2 or 4 or more years ago, they will not add anything positive or substantive to your application.

Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

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