Any hope left?

[jprmacdonald]

Hi all -

I have a problem which is probably not unique but here goes:

One of my recommender's forgot to send in her letters. To all but my safety schools.

Has anyone else applied before and been in such a situation? I only ever hear about how harsh graduate schools are when it comes to these deadlines, no matter how good the applicant. Should I pretty much accept that at best I will be attending my safeties? (Nothing wrong with that, but they were not my first choices).

[rising_star]

Have him/her send the letters ASAP. Often schools know that recommendations arrive late and are willing to include them in your application anyway.

[dudgeonmaster]

rising_star is right. I had a similar issue with a few of my colleges and it worked out fine. Apologise profusely and let them know that the missing recommendations are being sent in immediately - you should perhaps also ask your recommender to e-mail the respective departments explaining the situation, and to confirm that the references are indeed on their way.

[classicallynot]

hey jprm, I wouldn't worry as long as your recommender can get them out ASAP. I had late letters as well which were finally submitted on the 26th on December and I have since talked to the grad program coordinators to confirm my file's completion. Stanford's app was due the 9th and UPenn's on the 15th, so they were pretty late.