Quick question about reference letters

[yameen]

I plan on applying to a BCIT program and upon the submission of my three reference letters, do people normally open up the three reference letters and submit them altogether? I opened each of them of course to read over the content, and they were all very well written. The thing now is, do I reseal them in separate envelopes and submit them or should I not seal them and hand the three reference letters as it is. Won't they assume that the applicant would want to read over what the references wrote beforehand? Thanks in advance.

[RFlush]

You should never ever open up reference letters. The applicant is not suppose to read what others have said about you. Usually for reference letters, the person writing it would directly submit it or submit it to the applicant with a special stamp or sticker over the seal.

Now that you have opened it, I am not sure what you are suppose to do...

[nipples]

you just got screwed dude!
you'll need a new ref letter.

the letter is supposed to be sealed, signed over the flap, then taped or sealed with the university's seal.

[SiRV]

ouch.. you should have kept them sealed, best thing to do now is to put them in a new envelope and pretend you never saw it

[yameen]

yea, but i'm just going to ask for a new one and pretend i never received it through mail. =)

[misteranswer]

You should really ask BCIT how they want the reference letters sent and follow there procedures. It could be the case they don't give a flying fuck if you knew what they wrote.

[carsncars]

The convention is for you not to open them--if you're submitting a package, and the reference letters are not directly submitted by your reference, you should enclosed the letter (signed or sealed over the seal) within the larger envelope.

If your reference wants you to read their reference (as a few of mine have), they'll provide a second copy or have you proof-read it before they seal it. If not... then you should be fairly confident that they will provide a good reference anyways.

[impactX]

Photocopy them and send in the copies. If BCIt really had doubts about authenticity of the letters, they would contact your references themselves.

[twitchyzero]

when i submitted my LOR they asked the referrals to mail it in themselves. This was at UBC so you should ask bcit enrolment people.