What if the school asks the students to submit the letters themselves? I have been applying to a bunch of grad programs recently and I have noticed that some schools, specially those based in the UK, ask students to upload the reference letters themselves to the application platform, instead of sending an e-mail to the nominated referees.
This puts me in an awkward position because the point of the letters is to be confidential and asking the professors to send them to me would mean that they would either refuse or send me a &quot;plain&quot; letter, as I have heard from colleagues that those are the replies they have been getting.
What is the proper way to proceed in this situation? How do I ask a professor to send me a decent letter that they would not mind me seeing?
I had this experience as a letter writer (in France). I just sent my letter to the applicant and she uploaded it. My letter was very positive so I did not think much about the situation although it did seem weird to me.
I think in some US Universities (in California?), when you submit your letter, you should indicate whether you allow the applicant to look at it or not. I do not write bad letters so I always indicate that I do not mind.