u/Empty_Language_8586

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to understand how recommendation letters are typically handled in PhD/graduate admissions in the US, because I’ve seen something unusual and I’m not sure what to make of it.

Two people I know applied to graduate programs (top universities) and were admitted. They told me their recommendation letters were fully legitimate, written by professors, printed on university letterhead, and signed.

However, instead of being submitted from the professors’ institutional email addresses, the letters were submitted using Gmail accounts that were created in the professors’ names (e.g., `professorname@gmail.com`) BY the student!.

They also said since the professors were busy and trusted them with the documents, and since the LORs are legitimate, they just created the email to make it easier for themselves to submit the letters on their own, and to not overwhelm the professors!

What I don’t understand is:

* Is this kind of thing normal or acceptable in academia?
* Don’t admissions committees usually require submission from official institutional emails or secure recommendation systems?
* How would this pass verification at top universities if the email identity doesn’t match the professor’s institution?
* Is it common for admissions committees to accept letters without verifying the email source closely?

I’m especially confused because the letters themselves are clearly real (signed, official letterhead, etc.), but the submission method seems unconventional.

Would appreciate insights from anyone familiar with how graduate admissions actually verify recommendations.

I know it is none of my business, but it just seems unfair to me that some of us go the extra mile to help a professor submit letters and sometimes overwhelm out professors, and some others just use sneaky methods and get away with it!

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to understand how recommendation letters are typically handled in PhD/graduate admissions in the US, because I’ve seen something unusual and I’m not sure what to make of it.

Two people I know applied to graduate programs (top universities) and were admitted. They told me their recommendation letters were fully legitimate, written by professors, printed on university letterhead, and signed.

However, instead of being submitted from the professors’ institutional email addresses, the letters were submitted using Gmail accounts that were created in the professors’ names (e.g., professorname@gmail.com) BY the student!.

They also said since the professors were busy and trusted them with the documents, and since the LORs are legitimate, they just created the email to make it easier for themselves to submit the letters on their own, and to not overwhelm the professors!

What I don’t understand is:

• Is this kind of thing normal or acceptable in academia?
• Don’t admissions committees usually require submission from official institutional emails or secure recommendation systems?
• How would this pass verification at top universities if the email identity doesn’t match the professor’s institution?
• Is it common for admissions committees to accept letters without verifying the email source closely?

I’m especially confused because the letters themselves are clearly real (signed, official letterhead, etc.), but the submission method seems unconventional.

Would appreciate insights from anyone familiar with how graduate admissions actually verify recommendations.

I know it is none of my business, but it just seems unfair to me that some of us go the extra mile to help a professor submit letters and sometimes overwhelm out professors, and some others just use sneaky methods and get away with it!