<p>scoutfinch: I called the Professor the week before their holiday break. He assured me he would have them in soon and that he understands my worries. It’s been about 2 weeks since that call. It’s holiday break so I guess he would be busy with other things. I plan on calling him again next year.</p>
<p>Hi folks, I have a similar concern, but my professor is @ UC Berkeley, and have learned that they are on furlough until January 7th. My professor there has not yet submitted her rec letter, which is due on January 5th. So, I have a feeling it will likely be late. Should I inform my prospective grad school that the letter may be late due to this situation? Should I wait until the due date to do so? Advice greatly appreciated. Before the holidays I was in good contact with the professor throughout the semester since Sept., and did give occasional reminders. I understand that Berkeley’s circumstances must be putting additional pressures on its professors. I only have the professor’s office contact information, so have no other means of getting a hold of them until they are back at work.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>pinkearmufs, why don’t you read other people’s comments first? A lot of people even some professors chipped in at this.</p>
<p>Mr.Zoo, thanks, yes, I did, and the other comments were very helpful, but my question was more along the lines of, if there are any circumstances which may significantly delay the letter, should they be reported to the grad school in question.</p>
<p>in my case, some of my letters were done while my professor was on vacation, even out of the country</p>
<p>I will say if they don’t submit their letters on or 1-2 days before the deadline, won’t hurt to remind them. (just be sure he is not the don’t-need-your-reminder-I-know-what-I’m-doing type of guy)</p>
<p>Like Professor X said, the letters are not done by you, so they don’t reflect yourself, no need to worry too much about too much. Letters won’t make any difference in the first few levels of screening anyways. If the department reaches the point need to see your letter, they will contact you for it (which they did to me). They will not do any harm to you due to LoR absence.</p>
<p>Do they really not need your letter until you reach a certain point in the screening process? Can anyone else confirm this?</p>
<p>do you think, in the early stage screenings (low GPA/GRE filtering), they have the manpower and time to read all 3 letters of each applicant, in order to make sure they don’t disqualify any potential applicants?</p>
<p>I think the only people will be reading LoRs are the graduate admission committee members.</p>