Seriously, people, every program everywhere is fine with letters of recommendation that are a bit late. This is not unusual in any way, and it won’t affect your application as long as the letter eventually gets there.</p>
<p>Contact your recommenders to double-check that they are aware that there are letters that need to be submitted, but take off the edge of panic. This is not worth getting worked up over – your recommenders have done this in the past, and the programs have dealt with late letters in the past, and there is nothing new under the sun.</p>
<p>As a professor who submits LORs approximately on time, let me put this in perspective.
First, relax!
Professors are the ones serving on review committees. They fully understand that each professor listed as a referee has been requested by dozens of students (each with incredibly urgent deadlines) at the same time their finals and grants are due. </p>
<p>you would rather have a late, but well written LOR, than one rushed, non-specific typo-ridden LOR!</p>
<p>Furthermore, if three LORs are required, most admission committees can and will base their decisions on the overall application and the two LORs in hand.</p>
<p>I’m experiencing the same thing. My recommenders all agreed nicely to write letters for me. One of the schools I’m applying has a very early deadline for applying for financial aid, when I reminded my recommenders of that deadline and they are still not submitting my letters.</p>
<p>I think probably now it is now the end of the semester and professors are usually quite busy. Maybe during winter break, they will submit my letters, hopefully? But what if they don’t check their emails and never be in the office during the breaks…</p>
<p>I had a few letter writers who waited until the last day to write. My advice (though I know its hard to do) is to complete all of your applications at once (at least to the point where you can send letter requests to your letter writers) so they can pound them out in one sitting. When they get emails sporadically they seem to be more irritable and more likely to miss one or more.</p>
<p>Ok branching off of this, I’m applying to MFA for fall '11. My major advisor from undergrad and the most influential person in my artwork has yet to respond to my completely polite request for a rec. It is due Feb 2. Less than two months away! We have stayed in pretty good touch since graduation two years ago. I emailed him initially 2.5 weeks ago (late scramble to decide to apply this year). I also sent him another follow-up note yesterday and a msg on facebook just in case he isn’t checking his school email.
Should I try to lineup another recommender? How bad does it look if the main person in your undergraduate studies field doesn’t send their rec?
Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s so hard to relax when you’ve done all you can and something out of your control can ultimately decide your future. I called all the schools that had a deadline already and no one really gave me a definitive date of when the LORs all had to be in by. It was the same pat answer of ASAP. So now I’m wondering if it’s better to get a short letter from a professor who’s probably forgotten me by now or hope that my advisor comes through? And would it be incredibly inconsiderate to write a professor out of the blue at this late date and tell them I need a letter asap when I haven’t given them sufficient notice at all?</p>
<p>I haven’t heard back from my advisor which makes me worried and I’ve sent numerous emails already. Anymore would be crossing into annoying territory I think. It’s been 1 1/2 months since I’ve managed to communicate with her though.</p>
<p>Yes, getting LORs is by far the worst part of the admissions process (which is funny given the importance of writing a solid personal statement/set of research goals). My advice is to not be afraid to be annoying and make multiple attempts at contact if necessary–I emailed one professor to no avail, again emailed him a couple of weeks later and he promptly responded as if I hadn’t emailed the first time. I guess I especially dreaded this as I’ve done it before (have a master’s, applying for PhD for next fall), but it’s all part of the game.</p>
<p>I’ve called. Twice I’ve left voicemail messages. I think it’s time to ask a random somebody so that at least it gets completed, esp. for the Dec.1 deadlines seeing as how it’s 2 weeks now. I called UChicago deadline day and they said it should be in ASAP. I called them again yesterday and the lady pretty much made it sound like I was up a creek without a paddle at this point. She again said they should have it submitted as soon as possible because they were already reviewing applications and they won’t be able to look at mine until it’s completed. Another school said this Friday was the latest that they would accept late letters. Also the biosciences official thread has people with interviews already.</p>
<p>I’m really kind of upset at this point. I felt like she should have just point blank said she changed her mind about writing one instead of giving me the silent treatment. I felt like I’ve been strung along when I could have used the time to search for someone else to write one for me.</p>