the LOR saga continues . . .

[mlle]

Okay so I figured out a third recommender to ask (that was all in another question) and he said yes, thankfully. Now, what about thanking for the LORs? How and when? email or snail mail. is it a formal thank you note or a quick "thanks for the letter . . ." and I'm guessing you thank them after they send everything in, right? I've been through LORs the first time around for this masters but never quite figured it out :roll:

And now there's another dilemma that's really completely separate from the question above but I don't feel like putting it in another post. How pushy is it okay to be when one of the ppl you're trying to get in touch with to ask for the LOR is completely MIA? I sent one of them an email about a month ago asking to arrange a phone meeting (I know it sounds weird but that's how people typically do it at this agency where I did my internship--this person isn't an on-campus prof, it's my practicum supervisor in another town). She never replied. A week or so later she emailed me a generic invitation to a conference and in my reply I added that I look forward to speaking with you soon, blah blah, and I still never heard from her. So this past Monday I called her office and got her voicemail and I said directly in the voicemail that I was calling about the possibility of her writing a letter of rec for grad school. I know it's only been a few days but I still haven't heard back from her. Is it obnoxious to call again before the end of the week? This doesnt surprise me bc she's very busy, but the application deadline is growing nearer and I really need to know if she's gonna do this for me. As I said before, I really don't have anyone else to ask if she bails on me. Sorry to make this long . . .

[MAN]

After getting my referees to agree to write letters for me, I snail mailed them a package that included the following:

1) A Thank You letter (I used a template I found on the internet and reworked it so it was more personal)

2) My resume/CV

3) A copy of a personal statement that I sent to the schools I applied to

4) A copy of my undergraduate transcript

5) Cover sheets for all the schools that require them

6) Stamped and addressed envelopes

7) A checklist for all the material the referees needed to complete

You will probably be able to send a similar package with some of the items removed. I had provided things like my resume and my transcript because I've been out of school for almost 5 years. My referees needed a little extra background on me in order to give an educated letter. If your referees already know you well, then edit that stuff out.

As far as non-responsive profs go, I'll tell you my experience with one of them. I had mailed the above package out at the end of September/beginning of October. As of this past weekend (mid November), only two of my three profs had submitted the material. So, I wrote a short e-mail to the professor who still hadn't submitted the material. In the e-mail I explained that I want to complete the applications as soon as possible and I asked if we could set a deadline on getting the material in (I offered up a month's time for the deadline). The same day I e-mailed the prof, she e-mailed me back saying that she had just completed the letter and was submitting them that day. If your professor is dragging his/her feet you may want to see if you can set-up a deadline to get things done. Otherwise, you might get put on the back burner.

[mlle]

Thanks for the reply and info :-) I finally managed to phone this person *and she picked up*---and she said yes, she'd write the letter, thank god.

This ordeal was merely to get a hold of her to ask if she'd even write an LOR. I suppose following up on the recommenders to see when they actually get the thing in is going to be another story.....