A professor writing a letter of recommendation for me sent a draft to my email and asked for my input. For context, I'm applying to graduate humanities programs in the US and already officially waived my right to view submitted letters. Would it be ethical of me to read this draft and respond? I haven't been able to find any resources addressing this kind of situation.
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3Related. You have waived your right to ask to see the letter but the professor hasn't waived their right to show it to you. academia.stackexchange.com/questions/202781/…– Ethan BolkerCommented Nov 10, 2023 at 19:10
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2 Answers
Yes, it is fine to read and give input if asked. It would have been different if you had asked to see the draft rather than the professor asking for feedback. Not a problem. You are breaking no rules stated or implied.
Note that waiving your right to see a submitted letter is between you and the university. It is there so that other rules binding on the university, such as public records rules, can be accommodated. You just agree not to try to require them to show you a letter.
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3I strongly suggest that you do waive your right to see the letter as submitted because I believe admissions committees are likely to give more weight to letters they know are confidential. Commented Nov 10, 2023 at 18:12
Yes, it's ethical and I think this is very common. Problems I see with first drafts of letters: letter writer doesn't know the applicant well enough and the letter is short on concrete information; letter recounts everything in the CV but doesn't contain any personal observations, how the writer knows the applicant, etc.; incorrect facts; typos, grammar errors.
Sometimes (often?) professors ask applicants to write the letter from scratch. I don't recommend this because the style ends up being flat and all the letters sound the same. The writer's voice has to come through.
