Your Signature Please
Sometimes I wonder if signatures are overused in society. A signature is a seal of approval. It tells people that you personally endorse something. It's not that your organization endorses it. Nor that your assistant or parent or whoever else important to you has endorsed it. It means you do.
However that isn't how it is used in practice. It appears to simply be a way of saying "I take responsibility for this" This may be true even if you don't actually have an means of taking responsibility. For example to apply to USC's graduate program, you need to send a signed transcript cover form to the colleges you attended and have them attach it to the front of the transcript.
Transcripts themselves are already mailed hardcopies. Secure online transmissions aren't enough I guess. It needs to be mailed in a sealed envelope. Very secure, very official. Why then does it need a form signed by you on the top of it? A contract maybe. The transcript says the school approves of it. And the form says you approve of it.
This raises the question: Why is this necessary? School don't really send transcripts without authorization. They have no interest in doing this for free after all. Maybe its to say that you approve of the content's accuracy. That seems sensible until you realize that the transcripts are in sealed envelopes and it isn't allowed for anyone else to open them. This includes you.
In essence, when you sign the form, you are guaranteeing the accuracy of contents of which you are not allowed to verify or look at. Presumably if something screws up (or if for some reason, someone sabotages you), you are still responsible for it despite having no power over what happens. So really this signature is completely meaningless.
However that isn't how it is used in practice. It appears to simply be a way of saying "I take responsibility for this" This may be true even if you don't actually have an means of taking responsibility. For example to apply to USC's graduate program, you need to send a signed transcript cover form to the colleges you attended and have them attach it to the front of the transcript.
Transcripts themselves are already mailed hardcopies. Secure online transmissions aren't enough I guess. It needs to be mailed in a sealed envelope. Very secure, very official. Why then does it need a form signed by you on the top of it? A contract maybe. The transcript says the school approves of it. And the form says you approve of it.
This raises the question: Why is this necessary? School don't really send transcripts without authorization. They have no interest in doing this for free after all. Maybe its to say that you approve of the content's accuracy. That seems sensible until you realize that the transcripts are in sealed envelopes and it isn't allowed for anyone else to open them. This includes you.
In essence, when you sign the form, you are guaranteeing the accuracy of contents of which you are not allowed to verify or look at. Presumably if something screws up (or if for some reason, someone sabotages you), you are still responsible for it despite having no power over what happens. So really this signature is completely meaningless.