Non-Responsive Letter Writer/ Late Letters

[bob loblaw]

So I am waiting for the third letter writer to respond to me/submit his letter.  I've been in touch with them since September, requested the letter in early November, but they have ghosted me during these final weeks. My 2 other letter writers have already submitted theirs (on time). 

I finally got another academic to submit one for me (from electrical engineering) but he can't submit one for a few weeks.  Just because the school allows up to 5 letters, I'm getting a supervisor from work to submit the 3rd rec (just so I meet the 3 letter requirement within a week of the deadline). 

I know late letters are not uncommon but how will this reflect on my application? I know some programs really prefer academic recommenders over professional ones....  I've turned in everything else on time...

Edited December 2, 2020 by bob loblaw

[icantdoalgebra]

So most of the programs I applied to allows for late submission of letters, especially those with December 1st deadlines. As for whether it has an impact or not, it's hard to say. I've had a professor tell me that if it comes late for December 1st deadlines it doesn't really matter because nobody wants to look at applications seriously before the New Year. 

As for personal anecdotes: my rec letter came in late for the early December deadlines, and I got into one out of three programs but this is very low signal information since its a sample size of N=3 and the difficulty of admission is quite different in this group. 

[cyberwulf]

As long as the letter is in by the time the application gets reviewed (likely January at the earliest), you should be fine. But, it's always best to check with each program.

[bob loblaw]

Thanks for the responses. 

Update: I confirmed with my program and they told me that especially given all the things happening this year, they completely understand if letters are late will accept them.