When to worry my LOR will be submitted???

[rosebutter]

Hi all,

My applications are all complete and submitted except my third LOR. They are the PI I worked with most recently and they often told me that I would be an excellent PhD student and they personally would be very disappointed if I didn't pursue a PhD, so I am not worried about the strength of their letter. I reached about in August or September about having them write an LOR for me and they agreed. Early-mid October, I submitted my apps and sent out the LOR request forms. Last Monday, I sent a polite reminder that the first deadline is 11/25 and the rest are 12/1 (i.e., 2-3 weeks from the time I sent that email). She has not responded. I know she had a baby (twins, I think) late September or early October and the lab has been scrambling to get results before a certain grant review deadline, so I'm sure she's very busy, but I'm starting to worry.

I'm considering going by the lab in person - I'm not sure that she will be there (she was very in and out when I worked under her), but I feel like that may be less awkward than emailing her again. Or would that be confrontational? Should I just wait for the deadlines to come and go and hope she turns in my LOR at the last minute? It's too close to the deadline to ask a new person for a letter, and I'm not sure who else I could ask anyway.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. My apps have been otherwise complete for weeks and it's frustrating to know they won't be reviewed until this LOR is submitted.

[ion_exchanger]

Depending on the school, they can be somewhat lenient with the time at which LOR writers send in their letters. Sometimes the adcoms will still review an app with 2 of the 3 letters, which is fine if the other 2 letters are strong, because LOR writers can be notoriously slow in sending their letters and the adcoms understand that they may be writing letters for dozens of students. In my experience, the app deadline is hard for the prospective students but incredibly lax for the LOR writers. IF it comes down to the wire, contact the school and explain your situation, because that is out of your hands and they may be understanding. 

[rosebutter]

Thank you for the advice @ion_exchanger. As it turned out, my LOR writer’s home department reformatted all faculty emails and she hadn’t received anything from me or from the schools. She had the letter ready to go, though, so when I got her new email address everything was turned in on time!

[ion_exchanger]

1 hour ago, rosebutter said:

Thank you for the advice @ion_exchanger. As it turned out, my LOR writer’s home department reformatted all faculty emails and she hadn’t received anything from me or from the schools. She had the letter ready to go, though, so when I got her new email address everything was turned in on time!

Great! Alls well that ends well.