<p>Hi all,
One of the professors who kindly agreed to resubmitting my rec letter (since it was already written) did not submit the recs yet (deadline is dec. 1st), I emailed him and received no response. What should I do?</p>
<p>Phone call</p>
<p>This is pretty common. Send them an email or drop by their office, don’t really need to panic until Nov 29th or so.</p>
<p>^Actually, I would say there’s no need to panic until at least Dec 15. </p>
<p>Professors submit recommendation letters late all the time. Programs practically expect it.</p>
<p>So the application deadline doesn’t apply to LoRs? Is that true for everywhere or depend on the program? I’m just curious because I too have a professor who hasn’t submitted yet.</p>
<p>Generally schools are a bit flexible when it comes to recommendations, though your portion of application should absolutely be on time.</p>
<p>Now that mollie mentions it, I was panicking about my last LOR the day before the due date, got a hold of my professor, but he STILL didn’t submit until almost a month after the deadline. As mollie noted, there were no problems. Most departments are also relatively forgiving of transcripts and GRE scores, since they also go through third parties. Grad adcoms usually don’t even touch the apps until mid January or so, and are usually okay so long as all the “third-party” stuff is in by then.</p>
<p>
It’s not that it doesn’t apply – I mean, the deadline is still the deadline – but professors routinely send in reference letters late, which is an accepted part of doing business for every program I know. </p>
<p>For one of my applications, the due date was in early December, and one of my letters got lost in the mail, so the program contacted me and my letter-writer in early January asking for the letter by something like January 1. He faxed the letter later that day, no harm, no foul.</p>
<p>As you progress through academia, you will learn that “hard” deadlines are rarely hard, and that you can turn in anything late if you are sufficiently powerful and use the right words in your apology. PIs know this, and they use this knowledge to excess. </p>
<p>Of course, you should keep in touch with your recommender – it’s always possible that he has genuinely forgotten to submit the letter, or that there’s been some technical difficulty in submission. But there’s no need to panic.</p>
<p>Don’t panic. Academics don’t really know “hard” deadlines when it comes to dealing with other people. Only for themselves. :)</p>
<p>Also, remember it’s Thanksgiving this week so they’re likely to want to spend time with their family and friends, just like us, and do the stuff later.</p>
<p>Thank you all!! I feel much better now.</p>
<p>I called all my schools that have a Dec 1 deadline (Columbia, USC) and both said that it’s okay to have a late rec. No need to worry.</p>
<p>Letters submitted after calling! :)</p>
<p>my prof submitted it 1 hr before the deadline.</p>
<p>lucky you. My prof miss the deadline (dec1).
I talked to him on Dec1, he said he knew the deadline is today. I thought he is going to submit it on time, but he DID NOT.
crap, I don’t know what to do. since I have already talked to him, I don’t want to annoy him again.
do you guys think i shall go to push him again this week?</p>
<p>I panic now. cannot sleep, and cannot prepare my exam tomorrow.</p>
<p>Ugggg, one of my professors didn’t submit his either! He is one of my stronger letter writers and not the one I expected to be late if any of them would be. I even dropped by his office yesterday to gently remind him.</p>
<p>Same here guys, ugh. I got email yesterday morning saying “Do not worry, I’m sending it tonight.” I know they’re busy and have better things to do and all, but it’s still really disappointing. I just pray it doesn’t mess up my application somehow.</p>
<p>My prof finally submitted my LoR today!!
yeah, I trust just a day late won’t affect my application.</p>
<p>One of my profs has gone MIA. I emailed last week and she said oh sure I’ll definitely do it by Dec.1 (deadline). She didn’t submit and I emailed yesterday to make sure, never got a reply. Anyone applied to UChicago biomedical? Are they ok with late LoRs? I emailed today but got an automatic reply about the office being close to process apps. Also I don’t want to bother her again since I already emailed last week and yesterday.</p>
<p>since my prof already submited one LoR out of 4. I will just wait for the next three. I don’t want to bother him. He is my strongest reference. I am afraid if I he get annoyed, and only write me a few sentences, that will be worse than a late LoR.</p>
<p>Everyone needs to chill. As long as all the required LORs arrive before the admissions committee convenes (which rarely occurs before the winter holiday), your application almost certainly will not be thrown out.</p>