Ever had your application tossed for lack of LOR's?

[Sociograd]

I have now only two recommendations for two programs due to one professor being on an extended leave of absence that I was unaware of until a day after the deadline.

I've been hurrying to try and find a third recommender by the end of this week.

As anybody ever heard about an application being dismissed because of one missing letter? Or do you think I could convince the departments to consider my application given the circumstances?

Thanks!

[ktel]

Possibly, but the responsibility is ultimately on you to keep your letter writers under control. If a professor was really on an extended leave of absence, it's something you should've known about and dealt with.

[Mal83]

A little more information is needed here, how long in advance to make the request to the professor? Did this professor ever indicate to you that he/she would do it? I mean if you weren't hearing from this person as the weeks were going by that should have been a red flag to move on to someone else...before the deadline.

I don't know, if you could say that the professor agreed to do and just never did than maybe the ad comm will give you a break. But the fastest and only way to know for sure is to call them and ask. For one of the schools I applied to last year sent me a message, in error, that I didn't submit all of my application materials and that I had a week or something to get them all in...this was after the deadline. After checking, they did have all my materials before the deadline but even if they hadn't I guess they give a bit of a window for getting them in so your app doesn't just get tossed. But it does typically say in the application instructions that an in complete application won't be considered. So you really need to call and explain your situation.

[fuzzylogician]

A little more information is needed here, how long in advance to make the request to the professor? Did this professor ever indicate to you that he/she would do it? I mean if you weren't hearing from this person as the weeks were going by that should have been a red flag to move on to someone else...before the deadline.

I don't know, if you could say that the professor agreed to do and just never did than maybe the ad comm will give you a break. But the fastest and only way to know for sure is to call them and ask.

I don't think the circumstances under which the letter was not obtained really matter all that much. There are enough qualified applicants who submitted complete applications for adcoms to choose from, most won't be very interested in hearing why yours is incomplete.

OP: yes, every year we read posts from applicants whose applications were tossed because of missing materials, including LORs. Find a new letter writer as soon as possible; you can explain why the letter is late *when you submit it*, but it's best to deal with this without appearing to make excuses because in the end it's up to you to make sure all your application materials are submitted on time. Committees understand that letters depend on more than just the applicant, though, so you can get some slack there. If you get this done within the next week or two, you might be fine -- it's close to the holidays and many programs won't start looking at apps until after the new year.

[Sociograd]

Yeah, here's the story. The professor very nicely agreed to serve as a recommender in September. I kept them informed throughout October and November, but did not hear from them. I called a week and a half into the deadline and left a message. Another call and email two days before. After no response, I called the department to see what was going on. They said this professor was unavailable and that they were sorry and many people have said they have not been hearing from them. So, I don't know what is going on, but I definitely kept this recommending "under control" (ridiculous suggestion) and reminded this person as I felt was appropriate. So, I did everything I should appropriately have done. Now, I'm hurrying to find a third recommender.

I'm sharing this experience for others as well as to get some feedback whether others have heard of this type of situation. I didn't know anything about it, and it sounds like nobody else did either.

[bellefast]

I am sorry to hear this. I would explain the situation to the program and then see what they say. That is all you can do. I wish you luck!

[orangeMan]

My letter person was like your professor, said he/she will do the letter thing but never actually did it and, I missed a deadline. When your recommender doesn't respond to your emails, give him or her maybe a week to respond, it's best to find another recommender.

[ktel]

Not getting a response for months is a big red flag that should not be ignored. I realize it's difficult to get very close to many professors, but I would personally question whether I would even want someone to write me a letter who cared that little about my future.

[Eigen]

Yeah, here's the story. The professor very nicely agreed to serve as a recommender in September. I kept them informed throughout October and November, but did not hear from them. I called a week and a half into the deadline and left a message. Another call and email two days before. After no response, I called the department to see what was going on. They said this professor was unavailable and that they were sorry and many people have said they have not been hearing from them. So, I don't know what is going on, but I definitely kept this recommending "under control" (ridiculous suggestion) and reminded this person as I felt was appropriate.

In addition to the above two replies, I'll add that not hearing back from a recommender for over 2 months isn't keeping it under control. As has been suggested, I'd give it at most two weeks before I tried to track them down and/or asked a backup recommender to get ready.

I'm sharing this experience for others as well as to get some feedback whether others have heard of this type of situation. I didn't know anything about it, and it sounds like nobody else did either.

As for this, I'll say most of the people that have responded know something about it- you might get a few weeks grace period, especially over Christmas break, but I wouldn't expect anything major. You've mentioned you're working to find a third recommender, I'd say it all comes down to how fast you can find someone to get a third one in.

As to the original question- from what I've seen of our adcom, they probably wouldn't review an "incomplete" application (missing a letter), but might give a bit of slack to someone with a subpar or less ideal third letter and an explanation of the situation.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Eigen

[finknottle]

Unless there is some reason for you to believe that the aforementioned prof. will upload the reco by the end of the Christmas break, you should get someone else to write a letter for you. Not much is lost 'yet', and you still have a week or so to sort it out. Most apps allow you to edit the recommendations section of the app even after submitting the application. So yeah, if it comes to damage control, just find someone relevant who can talk nice things about you in the context of your application. You should be willing to compromise here, and a general positive letter will still be better than the lack of one.

[Sociograd]

Thanks everyone. This seems to be under control now. For future suggestion, to anybody reading this, I would strongly suggest that you meet with recommenders in person at least once shortly before the deadline and double-check to see if they are on board. Things can come up, and a professor not answering a few reminder emails does not necessarily mean they are just busy. Trust me, it's really scary when you are at the deadline and somebody is not there with you.

[InquilineKea]

Wait - aren't most programs pretty lenient when it comes to LORs that are a few days late?

[fuzzylogician]

Wait - aren't most programs pretty lenient when it comes to LORs that are a few days late?

They are said to be, and it's probably true in most cases. Adcoms don't usually meet the day after the deadline because applications usually go through some administrative process of getting them ready to be reviewed. Besides, it's the holidays and many people will be gone until after the new year. The question here was about a missing letter, not a late one, and the answer changes accordingly.

[InquilineKea]

Hm - so in case there is a missing letter, then should one get another prof to write a quick LOR even if the prof isn't listed on the LOR form?

[fuzzylogician]

Where the choice is between an incomplete application and a complete one with a different letter than what you originally planned? Choose the letter, of course. There's nothing stopping you from contacting the school to let them know you changed recommender because of a problem, so there doesn't even need be a discrepancy in your file.

[uclacolumbia]

I've heard some cases where the applicants got admitted (to a prestigious school) fwith only two letters, but other parts of his applications were very good. So you better pray that the adcom would be impressed with your scores/GPA/experience/etc.

[Tall Chai Latte]

Yeah it happened to me, one of my recommenders did not turn in her letter to any of the schools I applied to, so I had to salvage that with a LOR from my coworker (a post doc). I applied to a total of 7 schools, and I think 4 out of 7 schools tossed out my app/simply skim through my app without any serious judging. But do let them know that you switched out one recommender via phone (it was more efficient than emails).

[KarmenG]

Yeah it happened to me, one of my recommenders did not turn in her letter to any of the schools I applied to, so I had to salvage that with a LOR from my coworker (a post doc). I applied to a total of 7 schools, and I think 4 out of 7 schools tossed out my app/simply skim through my app without any serious judging. But do let them know that you switched out one recommender via phone (it was more efficient than emails).

I'm having the same issue. I am verging on a full-blown panic attack as one of my recommenders still hasn't submitted her letter despite a number of reminders from myself as well as the graduate admissions office. My other two recommenders submitted their letters so at least I have the minimum required, but I am so very upset that I am being ignored by this person, so much so that I am reconsidering attending the uni (where she works and where I am currently enrolled as a post-bacc) due to this very negative experience. I'm only a student, but I feel that as a professional, one should follow through on commitments made. Barring that, basic communication would be nice. My marks are top-notch, GRE scores excellent, but I have a very diverse resume due to multiple international moves. I can't imagine that this would warrant being ignored, though.