So you would think that an online graduate program would accept an e-mailed letter of recommendation for one of their applicants right? Clearly an ONLINE program understands the power of the web and harnessing it as a business function of their institution right? They would know that having an emailed letter of recommendation saves both time and paper....right? Wrong.
A friend of mine is applying to Drexel's Masters of Science in Higher Education program. It's a completely online program and apparently one that has a pretty good reputation behind it. She asked me to write her a letter of recommendation and of course I said yes. Now, this really was her first mistake as anyone that knows me knows I am a complete slacker when it comes to writing letters of recommendation. Not that I won't do it - you'll just have to bug me until I break down and get it done. So finally the other day, she emails me and said that I HAD to do it because it was the last thing missing from her file. I say OK and emailed Drexel to see if they would accept an e-mailed PDF of the letter to speed things up.
Their reply? Of course not. Why on EARTH would an online program accept an online letter of recommendation for one of their applicants???? (Ok, not really their reply: they said they would take it but it wouldn't count because it didn't have my real signature on it.)
Folks, this is RIDICULOUS. I have both worked in admissions and went through an online graduate program for my masters degree and neither would have turned away an emailed letter of recommendation that came across their desk. I have to wonder if Drexel accepts anything by fax, since obviously you don't have the original signature there either.
Please Drexel, I IMPLORE you to make better use of the web in dealing with your potential customers. Making people jump through hoops doesn't make for happy customers (or letter of recommendation writers that now have to make an unscheduled trip to the post office!).
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