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Standardized Letter of Reference

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Standardized Letters of Reference (sometimes called Letters of Evaluation, Letters of Reference, or Letters of Recommendation) are submitted by the recommenders themselves; they cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant or another party on behalf of the recommender. We are not responsible for verifying recommenders' identities. If a discrepancy is found, we reserve the right to contact the appropriate individuals to investigate and to share the discrepancy with all programs.

Before getting started, consider the following:

  • All Standardized Letters of Reference are submitted electronically by recommenders using Liaison Letters, our Recommender Portal.
  • Research each program’s requirements. The AAPI application requires you to request 3 Standardized Letters of Reference per program.
  • Prepare your recommenders. Once you choose your recommenders, be sure to inform them about the process and that they will be completing the recommendation electronically. We recommend getting their preferred email address and asking that they monitor that inbox for your recommendation request (which will come from support@aapi.myliaison.com), including any junk or spam folders.

The Standardized Letter of Reference Process

When you request Standardized Letters of Reference, your recommender receives an email request with a link to Liaison Letters. Recommenders review your requests, and then accept, complete, or deny them. Recommenders may complete assessments such as writing essays, completing Likert scales, and/or uploading letters.

Once your recommender completes your Standardized Letter of Reference, you'll be notified via email. You can check the status of your requests in the Statuses section of your application at any time.

Submit a Request

  1. Navigate to the Standardized Letter of Reference section in the Supplemental Materials quadrant. 
  2. If you have requested recommenders before, select Previous Evaluator, and choose your recommender from the list. Otherwise, select New Evaluator.
  3. Enter the recommender's full name and email address, if necessary.
  4. Select the date by which you would like this recommendation completed. This date should be before your program(s) deadline.
  5. Enter a brief message or note for the recommender.
  6. Select whether you want to waive your right of access to the recommendation. See Waiver below.
  7. Click the checkboxes to indicate your permission for us (and programs) to contact your recommenders.
  8. Click the Assign checkbox to assign this recommendation to programs. If you're not ready to assign it, leave the checkbox unselected; you can assign them in bulk later. 
  9. Click Request. 
  10. Select the program(s) you want to assign to this recommendation or click the Select All to assign to all programs.
  11. Click Done to submit it. Once you do so, an email is immediately sent to the recommender.
  12. Confirm with your recommenders that they received the email notification.
  13. Use the Statuses section to monitor the status of your recommendations. Completed recommendations are marked as "Complete" and have a Complete Date listed. Follow up with your recommenders if their recommendations are still marked as "Requested" or "Accepted." It is your responsibility to ensure that recommendation requests are received and completed on time. We will not notify applicants about missing recommendations.
Resend the Recommendation Request

If you need to resend a request:

  1. In the Recommendations section, locate the request you wish to resend.
  2. Click the pencil icon to edit the request.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Re-send.
Change the Recommender's Email Address

If you entered an incorrect email address for any recommenders (or if any recommender asks that you send the request to a different email address), you must delete these requests and then re-add them with the correct email.

Waiver

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) gives you the right to access recommendations unless you choose to waive your right of inspection and review. Prior to requesting any recommendations, you are required to indicate whether you wish to waive your rights. AAPI will release your decision to waive or not waive access to your recommenders and designated programs. Your waiver decision serves the same purpose as a legal signature and is binding.

Selecting Yes indicates to programs that your recommender completed their recommendation with the understanding that you would not be able to view it. This means you will not be able to see the content of the recommendation. Programs may view this type of recommendation as a more accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.

Selecting No indicates to programs that your recommender completed their recommendation with the understanding that you may choose to view it in the future. Selecting this option does not allow you to view your recommendation via the application. If you do not waive your right to view the recommendation, you may ask your recommender for a copy of the recommendation. Programs may view this type of recommendation as a less accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.

Once you make a selection, you can't change it, so consider the choices carefully.

 

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