So in the midst of college application flurry and the holidays, I completely forgot about asking my teacher to submit her letter of rec to CalTech. I had added CalTech at the last second (over break), after weeks of deliberation of if I should apply or not, and everytime we add a school to the Common App, we are supposed to notify our LOR teachers to add that respective school on their side so the LOR links to that school. I know that this is my fault 100%, but I’m really beating myself up over this. I can’t contact my teacher as they are on holiday and won’t answer e-mail/phone. I’m also a recruited athlete so it will not look good at all when the coach sees that I haven’t submitted my app.
My question is, is it possible for my teacher to submit her LOR to CalTech a couple days late? Logistically speaking, you can’t submit the app until all LOR’s are in (right? I’ve never tried. It’d be great if someone could clear this up, too). On CalTech’s website, they say nothing about late LOR or school reports. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Yes the deadlines are for the applicant not the letters and followup material.
@lostaccount so it’s possible to submit an application without the required number of LOR’s connected yet?
Absolutely. I submitted mine a few days ago, with only one letter of recommendation attached. I did the same with several other schools that I’ve applied to. In fact, I submitted the application for one Common App school several weeks before my school report or any LORs were sent. When the recommender submits the letter, it should show under that section of the application on the Common App, even if you’ve already submitted it. It will still be sent to the school, just make sure you’ve already signed the FERPA. However, I know different schools have different periods within which they will accept late materials; I know of at least one school that allowed up to two weeks after the due date for school reports and LORs to be submitted. If you don’t have all the materials in by that date, they will review your application without them, which probably doesn’t bode well for your chances. This is directly from the student portal: “We reserve the right to make a final admission decision even if required credentials are missing.” Definitely submit your Common App–and I would do it sooner rather than later–and then get the school report and LORs as soon as possible.
@GingerTea12 thank you so much for that answer! really cleared it up haha