Quote:
Yes, as a recommender, for some school, you receive an email with links. You need to complete online. Some school use email. Some school require signed copy to be scanned and uploaded.
Yeah that sounds about right. I just visited two California schools last week and they both said that you register your recommender online, he/she gets a link sent to them, and then he/she fills out the recommendation questions. The applicant doesn't see any of the questions, although I was told that typically business schools ask the same types of questions and I could google examples. That will be great because I want to provide my recommenders with as much information as possible regarding what to write about, so having a general idea of the questions should come in handy.
Interestingly enough, one person said that having the recommender write an actual recommendation letter (i.e., not just answering the question form) was a characteristic of the "good" recommendations. This sounds like more work for the recommender, though, too. Ha.
Quote:
Recommendations can be time consuming for both you, to prepare your recommenders, and for them, to actually complete them. However, recommenders should be communicated the expectation that you expect a unique recommendation for each program.
Quote:
And while the questions may or may not be similar to other programs, the recommenders responses to them absolutely should not be.
Excellent points all around. I guess that's why notfying my recommenders in May is a good thing. So, do you think having 3 recommenders for 6 schools (12 total recommendations, 4 per person) is a good strategy? I'm afraid that 4 might be too much, but I would prefer not to go above 3 recommenders.
Also, since the recommenders know absolutely nothing about these schools, it sounds like it would be helpful to provide them with information about each school so they can tailor their recommendations accordingly. I guess that's why it pays to write the essays first right?