<p>Since September, I've requested a letter of recommendation to be submitted at CommonApp from one of my teachers. She gladly agreed to help but to this date, she hasn't even started the recommendation letter under the School Forms section of CommonApp. Additionally, I've asked her several times about the status of my letter and she replies with, "I'll get it started soon". My parents and I have also spoken to her about the matter and she said that she was just starting, however, she has not done it.</p>
<p>My main concern is whether or not my application will be considered for decision if she does not turn in the letter. I do have one letter of recommendation on file, but certain colleges ask for two, so considering that they are still incomplete, will my application be considered incomplete?</p>
<p>Can you talk to your school counselor about this? I know it’s getting close to the deadline. If it still hasn’t been turned in when you turn in your app, I would send an email to the colleges informing them about this issue. Usually it’ll be ok if the rec letters are a bit late, since they won’t start reading apps for a little bit, but you just don’t want to take your chances.</p>
<p>After looking around, it appears a lot of schools tend to have leniency on this aspect of the application, so we should be okay.
Examples:
[Home</a> Page :: Office of Undergraduate Admission - Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/]Home”>http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/)
“Northwestern’s regular decision deadline is January 2. The Common Application should be submitted by this date. We will accept all other required materials, including the Northwestern Supplement, within two weeks of the deadline.”
[Admissions</a> // University of Notre Dame](<a href=“http://admissions.nd.edu/]Admissions”>http://admissions.nd.edu/)
“Notre Dame’s Regular Action deadline is December 31, 2010. As long as your portion of the Common Application is submitted by the deadline, your application is considered on time. Additional items — such as transcripts, letters of recommendation and fee payment — can be submitted in a timely manner in January without penalty.”</p>
<p>This is incredibly irritating and I just went through it myself. The reference swore up down and sideways he was “happy to do it”. The college has a system where once you input the list of 3 recommendations, the applicant cannot change it themselves. It must be changed by going through the college and they warn that process can take 3 weeks to do. I emailed this reference several times and he kept claiming he didn’t get anything but the other two references got it just fine and submitted it on time. This person let the deadline go without even OPENING the link to the college. I called the day after the deadline and I was so upset I was crying in my phone message. I just cannot believe someone would keep lying to me about being “happy to do it” and just blow it off. If I knew he was going to blow it off, I would have selected someone else. It is hard to light a fire under someone else’s a s s or inspire a sense of urgency in them. I think they like the power trip of leaving your life hanging in the balance. I think colleges should just eliminate letters of recommendation. They are all going to sound the same anyway. No one is going to write a letter saying “this is a lousy candidate, don’t admit them”. Grades and the student application statement should be enough.</p>
<p>Arghh I’m in the samee position! Except my teacher says he uploaded it during christmas break, but it’s says that he didnt start the recommendation next to his name. >_<</p>
<p>When I was in high school, I applied to a few schools that required 2 references. So, I asked 3 different teachers. I’m glad I did, too, because I had to remind one of my teachers about it once or twice. A week before the deadline, I came up to him before class and asked him if he had time to finish it and he got a deer-in-the-headlights look and said, “damn.” He gave the class an assignment, left the room, and came back in 20 minutes with my recommendation. I have to admit, for a last minute reference, it was pretty good (I got to read it).</p>