So I receive word whenever my prof. (of which there are 3) sends out a recommendation to a particular school. Is it appropriate to send a thank-you whenever each one is received?
Also, just how is “too much” when applying to graduate school for professors to send in recs? I’ve only applied to 2 schools so far but don’t want to over-do it with making my professors have to send out recommendations.
thanks
Graciousness is always appreciated. Keep it short and sweet, but say thank you. Yes.
Also, you can follow up at the end with a token of your appreciation if you feel like it. Keep it small so that it doesn’t look like a bribe, and there is no requirement to do this, but as I said heartfelt graciousness is always appreciated.
I would honestly find it somewhat annoying to receive a thank you message every time I submitted a letter for someone, especially if they ended up applying to like 10 programs. Honestly, I’d probably consider sending a short thank you after the first one is submitted just to express gratitude and make it known that you noticed and are appreciative, and then perhaps another when all are completed. That’s just me, though.
Regarding how many is reasonable, I’d say that if a professor agreed to write letters for you, that means they are willing to help you out and they are certainly fully aware of the fact that it can sometimes result in a number of applications. I would also suggest maybe just talking to them about that. Ask how many places they’d suggest applying and perhaps discuss with them the sorts of places you are applying to get their opinions. Maybe they will be able to suggest places you haven’t considered or else warn you off of places that aren’t so great upon further inspection.
I would even wait until after you hear back from programs (so, in a couple months). Because you already thanked them for agreeing to write the letters, correct? (like, “could you write me a letter?” “yes” “thanks!”)
After I heard back from all my schools, I thanked each of my letter writers again and then told them where I got in/where I chose. I wrote them hand-written thank-you cards in lieu of emails. It made it more personal, I think.
Something to consider!
@harvestmoon yeah good idea thanks. I think I will do that
My kid is baking something for her recommenders as a thank you gift. Her last recs just went in last week, so she plans to do it this weekend. She knows them well enough to know what they like, so is doing something different for each of them.
I’d do a letter right after the last one goes in.
Yeah, I agree with above advice: Send a thank you letter after the end of the season when the last one goes in, and send another one after you get back results and have decided where you want to go. (The most annoying part is when you write all these letters and the student doesn’t even tell you what happened! Lol!)
Most professors are aware that they will have to write multiple letters if they agree. The thing is, though, each letter is fundamentally the same. You may change a few things here and there (references to specific departments, a nod to a very specific program or feature, maybe a personalized lobby if you know someone) but overall, they’re pretty similar. I will say going over about 12-15 programs is getting a bit excessive, but most professors are used to people applying to 10-12 programs.