late recommendations

[Crystal@clear]

I thought I was done when I had sent in my applications and transcripts, but the recommendations turned out to be the most stressful thing. One of my letter writers said that he would definetly "send them by the deadline" when I sent him a reminder mail two days before the deadline.

Well, the deadline was the 1st (which was about 2 minutes ago) and he hasn't uploaded any recommendations.

I was like a crazy gamer clicking refresh every 2 seconds but now my applications are offically late. Everyone I know tells me that most grad programs understand that the letters are out your control and they accept late letters, but it's hard not just freak out

I've applied to schools that are top schools and I'm really worried that one tiny little thing (like late materials) will wreck my chances of possibly getting into those programs.

Oh well, I should start writing to the grad programs asking if they would be okay with one late letter.

Anyone have any experience with late letters? Did it hurt your admission chances?

[emmm]

I had some late letters - did not seem to make any difference. They were only 1-2 days late, though (one of my profs was working on a grant and ignoring everything else temporarily . . . ). Had to call a different prof at the same school and ask him to go and make an in-person request for the letter on my behalf since emails were not being checked.

[bikefarm]

One of my letters was also late too. So I feel you. I haven't contacted any of the schools yet and not sure if I should or not. What difference would it make now? It's still late. I honestly did everything I could to make sure my rec letters were in on time (sent reminder emails, etc.) so it was really out of my control and I just hope schools understand that.

[maeisenb]

The general consensus on this is that letters have a little more time to get there (typically, but not always two weeks from what I've heard and seen). So the OP should be fine still, although you should probably check just in case. Obviously this isn't the case for everyone, but it takes time for schools to print everything online and compile other stuff (GREs, transcripts, and other things in hard copy).

[rising_star]

Late letters are definitely accepted and don't affect your chance of being admitted. I've had plenty of letter mix-ups (including a writer who submitted a letter 3 times to the same school because they kept saying they didn't have it; he finally called the DGS and emailed him a copy directly) and it's never affected admissions.

Note: this is not true when applying to fellowships. Those deadlines are fixed and things submitted late are not accepted. I'm talking about Fulbright, Fulbright-Hays, IAF, NSF, etc.

[gorillacake]

This is something I'm freaking out about too! I'm checking my reference letter status more than my email!

One of my applications is due on in a couple of days and one of my references is so busy he kind of took it out on me when I reminded him about it. I've called they schools and they said that they don't mind if its late, there is some leeway- but it is "ideal" if it's in on time. Good luck everyone!

[antecedent]

One of my writers is really sick, which she didn't tell me until after she'd agreed to write for me. I'm torn between badgering her to make sure the letter is in on time and telling her to take it easy and take care of herself. So in my reminders I end up writing both and totally contradict myself! Aaaah!

[process chemist]

If they agreed to write they they should write it. I feel bad for badgering them for the letters, but I have to look out for #1. Sorry if that is harsh, but its your future. I send e-mails to my LOR writers every morning to ensure they are on task.

[ktel]

I send e-mails to my LOR writers every morning to ensure they are on task.

That's a little excessive

[cunninlynguist]

If they agreed to write they they should write it. I feel bad for badgering them for the letters, but I have to look out for #1. Sorry if that is harsh, but its your future. I send e-mails to my LOR writers every morning to ensure they are on task.

Every morning? I don't know what could possibly warrant that -- and it tacitly signals to your LOR writers that you don't trust them and are positioning yourself above any other priorities they may have.

The LOR process is stressful, and many of our writers are busy people. If you give them enough time and offer helpful reminders every 1-2 weeks with a clear deadline date, there's generally no cause for concern.

[rising_star]

If they agreed to write they they should write it. I feel bad for badgering them for the letters, but I have to look out for #1. Sorry if that is harsh, but its your future. I send e-mails to my LOR writers every morning to ensure they are on task.

I think my advisor would kill me if I did this. I generally send a reminder a few days before the deadline, just to make sure he wasn't forgotten. But, to be honest, faculty write a LOT of letters each year. I know last year my advisor wrote more than 140 recommendation letters (grad school apps, fellowship/grant/funding apps, postdoc apps, job apps, tenure apps) for various people. So, if everyone sent him emails every day, he'd never get anything done.

Note: this is also why, once you're a grad student, you should be selective and strategic about what you apply to. My advisor has to write letters for everything I apply for, whether that's research funding, dissertation funding, jobs, etc. Yes, they agree to do this. Yes, they can write some boilerplate text that can be used each time you apply for something. BUT you have to remember that writing good letters that are tailored to both the applicant and the program you're applying to takes time. More time than you probably realize if you've never written such a letter before. The letters that you want, the ones that are more than just a form letter, require time. But, getting one of those is worth it, even if it is a few days late.

[Origin=Goal]

If they are substantially late you have to write to whoever hung you out to dry and diplomatically tell them they *need* to write to the DGS of the programs whose deadlines have past. This is the only way (from personal experience) to try to remedy late letters and the possibility of getting your app tossed (though most programs are flexible with these things).

It's not only an important part of their job to make sure the recommendations they agree to write get there as promised, but an immensely immoral breach of conduct to not do so, IMO.

[NoMoreABD]

I totally understand it takes time, but once a Prof agrees to do it - they should keep the deadline! They know exactly what it means to be racing to the deadline, since they do it all the time, and they also know we depend on them.

I hereby announce, that if I'm accepted to PhD, and later on continue to a career in the academia, I will always write my LORs well within the deadline.

[rising_star]

I totally understand it takes time, but once a Prof agrees to do it - they should keep the deadline! They know exactly what it means to be racing to the deadline, since they do it all the time, and they also know we depend on them.

I hereby announce, that if I'm accepted to PhD, and later on continue to a career in the academia, I will always write my LORs well within the deadline.

I'd love to follow up with you in ten years to see if this actually happens.

Look, professors know that adcoms accept late letters and that grant applications don't. That's how they prioritize, especially when there are 15 letters with the same deadline plus their own funding application plus grading for their courses to do. Remember that grad school is more work than undergrad and that being a tenure-track professor is more work than being in grad school. Many professors tell me that they wish they had all the free time they had as a grad student but that there's even less of it when you're trying to get tenure.

[gorillacake]

I had an application due two days ago and another one due tomorrow. I contacted one of my references on Monday to remind him and he said it would be done by the afternoon: not done.... not done two days later... remains undone!

I've emailed him twice today to remind him that there's another due tomorrow, but I haven't heard back from him. I'm also slightly worried that there was a problem uploading. I get that universities understand when it comes to references, but this is getting scary! He has 25 hours to upload this document...

[orangeMan]

One of the letters of recommendation was received a few hours late. My application status says complete.

[process chemist]

I just hate being "screwed" by people I trust. My recommendors are not profs, they are former co-workers who have not responded to some of my e-mails for the past 21 days. Thankfully, my PI from college agreed to write for me. But I bust my ass studying for the GRE, writing essays, spend >$3,000 for test prep, transcripts, etc. and to have it all go to waste because some f-tard decided to go on vacation. If I sound mad, it is because I am.

When I first took the GRE I got a 1190 (580Q, 610V), after studying and busting my ass I pulled off a 1350 (720Q, 630V), which will at least get my app. looked at most, if not all of the schools that I applied to. All this hard work down the drain.

[AndreaAce]

Hi, I know everyone keeps saying that a late LOR is not that bad but I wanted to know how many days it is OK. My boss is supposed to write one of my LORS, the firsts deadlines (2 programs in early December) he sent them on time but I have a deadline on the 5th of January and he is on vacations and won't sent it until the 10th when he comes back.

Is 4 days too much? the 5th is a Thursday and he will send it the next Tuesday (I'll make sure he sends it, even if I have to stand outside his office all day).

Thank you for your help!! I tried writing to the admissions office but they are out of office and I'm freaking out. I don´t want to lose all my hard work because of this!!!

[BDav]

While you have a deadline of Jan 1st, there are still a week or two before they look at it, and it will still be delivered. It just has no guaranteeing. Try not to do it, but if you get it in right after, you'll probably be alright.

[Chrysanthemum]

My first deadline is three days away, and 2 out 3 professors have not submitted their recommendations. I sent them an email a week in advance, but did not get a response. I understand that the end of the year is always busy and that it's break right now, but I gave them all the info (deadlines very clearly marked) about 5 weeks in advance. I'm not upset because there's still several days, but I can't help but be a little worried. I just wish they would send me some sort of confirmation.

I don't want to be the student that constantly emails and badgers the prof, though, so I'm just going to sit back and try to enjoy the rest of the holidays.

[ah233]

god same here .... applied three ...... one of my recommender send the letter to one of the 3 universities quite sometime before the deadline.... after that there's no movement frm his side ....... send him a reminder email a week ago .....and no response ......

from the rest two ... one of them's deadline is already passed .... nd the crappy thing is he was not on holiday ...nd was right there throughout the last week ..... (i am an international student and here we dont have extended x-mas or new year holiday ..... just have a holiday on 25th Dec and 1st Jan ... rest of the days are working days as usual) ....

[Airwick]

I am very close to one of my recommenders... In fact, I just attended her wedding over the weekend. Guess who is on a honeymoon and hasn't submitted my letter of recommendation?! I am in quite the pickle.

[lizardclan]

My last LoR writer submitted his letter two days before my application deadline. I was told the admissions committee would begin considering *completed* applications the day after the deadline. The same day my last LoR was submitted, the graduate office notified me that my application was complete, with two days to spare.

I sent my Prof three reminders. I didn't overdue it, did I? I sent a reminder through embark.com in late October, early November. Then two weeks before the deadline, I emailed the Prof. Then two days before the deadline, I sent one last email, which produced the desired result.

Thanks,

-the lizard

[Starlajane]

I think it depends on the program/uni to which you are applying.

My app status to one particular program had been listed as complete as soon as I had submitted all of my documents (on time). Apparently, the school is quite used to receiving late letters from scrambling profs. In fact, I had a deadline that was fast-approaching and a prof that had not yet sent in her rec and who was not responding to e-mails or phone calls. So, I called the department and a very nice woman told me that, as long as my materials were sent in on time, then my app would still be considered because they did not punish students for materials that were outside of their control; she also informed me that there was a grace period (1-2 weeks).

My prof eventually submitted my rec a week late (and was so apologetic that I couldn't possibly be angry) and my app status stated that my app had been "forwarded to the review committee" as soon as they listed the rec as received.

The best thing to do is to contact the department and DGS and, if possible, look for another recommender at the last minute. But I think that most programs do not fault students for materials over which they have very little or no control, although there are definitely some programs that are adament about on-time materials.

[madhuri]

I am so freaking out about the letters of recommendation. I am still waiting on two profs to submit theirs. They're over two weeks late. One is on holiday and another is a new mom and the baby is keeping her busy. I totally understand and sympathize but I really do want to tell her to get a move on. I am walking an extremely thin line in my emails and I hope she submits them soon

I am so worried that this will affect my chances of admission.