Sort of a weird situation...

[gradstudent84]

I don't know whether I should feel embarrassed or what, but one of my letters of rec was not uploaded by the deadline by one professor. I gave her a follow up email one week before the deadline, then a few days before the deadline, even resending the link to the online application.

I go in to see her during office hours and I say hello and politely ask how she's doing. Then I said that her letter wasn't submitted for two programs.(she submitted letters for ALL the other programs but these two).

Regarding the first school...

She looked really confused and said she thought she completed them all, and I said no, and I tell her what university it was for and what system the online application was. I also said that I sent reminder emails (she remembers them too). She said that she actually finished all the ones that her students gave her links to, and she doesn't know what I'm talking about. She also pointed out that she completed letters of rec for 15 other students, completing letters for like 10 schools each, and that she had gotten the exact same link from five other students besides me.

I said that I understand that it is a lot of work, and I said maybe the system did not update or something (assuming that she still submitted the letter). She repeated the statement that she finished all the letters. It was a little awkward because she just sat there insisting she finished them all, when she clearly didn't. Regarding the second school, I was very polite and calm throughout this exchange, and then I excused myself after I told her that one letter for program with a later deadline was not yet submitted. (this was one was started, but not officially submitted). I asked if it was all right if I may resend her the reminder email, and she said yes.

Am I making any sense? I'm sort of shaken up by this because I always thought she'd be more approachable and she just seemed sort of cold and indifferent. I mean...I sent all my recommenders information with clear instructions, listing schools, contact numbers, emails, program names, stamped envelopes, etc. and because this school somehow slipped through the cracks, she wouldn't budge and wouldn't say anything about uploading the letter for me. I made it extremely convenient and easy for the letter writers, even sending them the materials months before the deadlines. It's just frustrating how a miscommunication like this leads to an incomplete application. Also she is one of the professors I really look up to and admire, and hoped to establish a great professional student-teacher relationship, but it felt just awkward, with me standing there mentioning two schools with incomplete letters and her saying that they were complete.

Edited January 19, 2011 by gradstudent84

[balderdash]

x

It's a daunting process, but chin up. She's probably being defensive because it sounds like she did do quite a bit of work on it, but I'm sure your relationship with her isn't permanently altered. Blame it on a technical failure or something.

And when it's all over, get her a bottle of wine and give it to her personally.

[fuzzylogician]

It does sound like she's invested quite a bit of work into her letters. Given that, she should be interested in seeing her letters get you accepted to all your schools. Try engaging her in a way that doesn't blame anyone but rather concentrates on getting your app completed. Can you attach a screen shot of where it says on your app that the letter hasn't been uploaded? Just show her that there's still a problem, and ask for her help fixing it -- by trying to upload the letter again, using the link you sent. Once everything is uploaded, thank her again and maybe give her something small. Make sure she knows you appreciate her efforts.

[gradstudent84]

It does sound like she's invested quite a bit of work into her letters. Given that, she should be interested in seeing her letters get you accepted to all your schools. Try engaging her in a way that doesn't blame anyone but rather concentrates on getting your app completed. Can you attach a screen shot of where it says on your app that the letter hasn't been uploaded? Just show her that there's still a problem, and ask for her help fixing it -- by trying to upload the letter again, using the link you sent. Once everything is uploaded, thank her again and maybe give her something small. Make sure she knows you appreciate her efforts.

I don't think she uploaded the letter for this particular school at all BECAUSE in her own words, she completed all the letters for all the schools. She was sent reminder emails and even the link to the application a few times, and she confirmed that she received these. And yet, she did not say anything to assure me that she will get this done.

I can definitely take a screenshot of the page that shows she never submitted the letter, but I dont' think this will prompt her to upload one, seeing as how she did not upload after those reminders were sent. I think it's a good idea if she had TRIED to upload the letter, but as she said she never knew there was one more school to upload to, I dont think she cares to do it. I'm trying to think of a way to approach her in a non-aggressive but polite way about this because this application was very expensive..

[colormehappy]

Though it's unlikely, maybe there was actually some kind of fluke with that particular system. Maybe she tried to upload the letter and thought it worked, but something went wrong. She may have been having a bad day or maybe she was simply being defensive, but perhaps you could soften her up by acting like you believe her. Contact the grad secretary and see if it's alright if she emails the letter directly. That way the letter gets there (and gets added to your file immediately), and you can avoid the awkward blame game. I also agree with the other posters that you should let her know how much you appreciate all her work on this. Good luck!

[gradstudent84]

I decided to ask another professor for a letter. Something tells me that she is also very much done with this whole process and that she won't upload another one because she is over it. Which is understandable. In that case, I don't think another email or even approaching the professor directly will help; i'm afraid it may exacerbate the situation so I will just let it be and find someone else.

i've thanked her so many times it's crazy...I even wrote a thank you note as a show of appreciation so I'm sure she knows how thankful/grateful I am

[katerific]

That is quite bizarre. Honestly, if she's completing LORs for 15 students (10 schools each), it seems like it'd be pretty easy to overlook one...

As long as the other prof was okay with writing you a letter, then it sounds like things should work out. If it's too late to ask the other professor, then definitely check with the departments you're applying to, and then explain to this one professor that they honestly didn't get it (and don't make it sound like you're placing the blame on her... it could have been a simple mistake!).

Good luck!

[gradstudent84]

That is quite bizarre. Honestly, if she's completing LORs for 15 students (10 schools each), it seems like it'd be pretty easy to overlook one...

As long as the other prof was okay with writing you a letter, then it sounds like things should work out. If it's too late to ask the other professor, then definitely check with the departments you're applying to, and then explain to this one professor that they honestly didn't get it (and don't make it sound like you're placing the blame on her... it could have been a simple mistake!).

Good luck!

Thanks. I'll definitely need the luck. I wasn't fully over it until I got home and took some time to relax. I will try to give the professor a benefit of the doubt and not take it personally. It has all been a bit of a shock...I expected more encouragement, but I guess everyone has a limit..

[Strangefox]

Thanks. I'll definitely need the luck. I wasn't fully over it until I got home and took some time to relax. I will try to give the professor a benefit of the doubt and not take it personally. It has all been a bit of a shock...I expected more encouragement, but I guess everyone has a limit..

I agree with the above posters. You should contact (email) the school and ask them if they have received the letter from this prof and when they email you back, forward their answer to the professor so that she saw that the letter really was not submitted.

That is a tough situation but I also understand the professor. Submitting 150 letters is a lot of work! So perhaps give her a present when it is over, I am sure she will appreciate it.

Good luck!

[gradstudent84]

I agree with the above posters. You should contact (email) the school and ask them if they have received the letter from this prof and when they email you back, forward their answer to the professor so that she saw that the letter really was not submitted.

That is a tough situation but I also understand the professor. Submitting 150 letters is a lot of work! So perhaps give her a present when it is over, I am sure she will appreciate it.

Good luck!

Thanks. The thing is though, I already gave her a thank you card and a small gift...but as a show of gratitude, I will say thanks to her again once I get acceptance letters and make sure she knows that she did make a difference in the schools she submitted letters for.

And I decided to just let it go and find someone else to complete the application. I think it will keep me calm in that I don't worry I antagonized her with persistence. It actually spoke volumes to me when she did not respond to my reminder emails

Edited January 19, 2011 by gradstudent84

[gradstudent84]

All right, so a bit of an update:

I emailed another professor and miracle of miracles, he agreed to write one for me TODAY, and requested that I send him the appropriate documents. So awesome how the teacher said he'd do this when it's so last minute, but since I only had this teacher for one class, he said the letter will be limited. I appreciate the honesty, and I think a letter is better than no letter/incomplete application.

[history_PhD]

Though it's unlikely, maybe there was actually some kind of fluke with that particular system. Maybe she tried to upload the letter and thought it worked, but something went wrong. She may have been having a bad day or maybe she was simply being defensive, but perhaps you could soften her up by acting like you believe her. Contact the grad secretary and see if it's alright if she emails the letter directly. That way the letter gets there (and gets added to your file immediately), and you can avoid the awkward blame game. I also agree with the other posters that you should let her know how much you appreciate all her work on this. Good luck!

This happened to me actually. My professor even received confirmation that he submitted the letter via the online application system, but something went awry and the school did not get the letter. He really thought that he had submitted it too. Thankfully, he was willing to acknowledge that something was amiss and resubmitted the letter.

[hahahut]

One of my schools has three letter status: "notified", "started", and "submitted". One of my letter writers did all other schools except that one, which showed "started" at that time. When I checked with him, he insisted he had done that school too. But a week later, he replied me again and told me he uploaded the letter but didn't submit. Apparently, some application systems have bad usability problems. Another letter writer confused two schools from the same system. But glad you had someone else to help for extra letters.