Late flaky recommender- ruining my chances

[qskatie33]

This has been such a painful and tedious process and just when I think I'm done, I'm not. I am applying to both Master's and PhD programs. I had three recommenders lined up who all know me very well. academically and personally. Two of the three got their letters in on time. One of them didn't and wasn't responding to emails over the winter break. When I finally got in touch with her, she said she would do them "that night." It obviously didn't happen. Since then, she has kept saying on multiple occasions that she was going to submit the letters that day. Here I am, a month after one of the deadlines (Dec 30), and two weeks after the other deadlines (Jan 15). I have already been rejected from one of the Jan 15 programs. I can't help but assume it's because I was missing a letter. 

Even if she got the letters submitted tomorrow (unlikely), do I even have a shot at this point? What do you do in this scenario???? Is there a way you can appeal a decision or get them to pause reviewing your application. I don't want all of my money and time to have been wasted because one person wont submit a letter. It is completely out of my hands. I can't force her to do it. 

Please help me. What do I do?

[mablid]

Sorry to hear about the flakey LOR. it can be frustrating. Same thing happened to me. After my one recommender was MIA for two weeks after submission, i emailed director of graduate program told them everything! the director was super chilled and said i still had time to send through my LOR via email to her or through the portal. At that time I emailed my back up recommender to send an email, and she did on that evening, and so did my original recommender - so i have four for that application.

So I'd recommend you email the school and let them know what has happened.

[cmoon]

I had a similar experience. For every program I needed a minimum of three letters, and all asked for a boss and two academic references. Everyone I asked enthusiastically agreed and said the deadline worked with their schedule and workload, and assured me it still worked for them in my follow-ups as the deadline got closer. My boss did it almost immediately, but the academic references were incredibly stressful to hunt down. I felt so disrespected. I couldn't believe how nonchalant their approach was to something so directly linked to the success of my applications. I didn't reach out to schools about it because I ended up getting everything in under the wire for the schools with the earliest deadline and met the others just fine. Something I think helped the situation with the reference I was having the hardest time with was sending a polite yet stern email letting them know that the missing rec letter was holding up my ability to submit. I thanked them for their time profusely, but also stressed that not being able to submit by the priority deadline would jeopardize my chances of my application being reviewed and considered for financial aid. I'm not sure what the etiquette is for reaching out to schools is in this case, but I would start with expressing your honest, anxious concern with your letter writer.  

[Xavier27]

I had your same experience. The difference is that I was applying just to one program. I submitted my application complete in all its parts by the deadline with the two recommendations that I already had. Then, I contacted admissions to explain about the third recommendation and they granted me an extension of 12 days. I found a reliable person who only took two days to write and submit it. You may be able to get a chance if the reference is the only thing you need. I wish you the best.