LoR has not turned in letter and refuses to talk to me about it. Am I screwed?

[NiTi_Wizard]

So to keep this short and simple, I asked the CTO at my work to write me a letter of recommendation. He said no problem and I then proceeded to send him the requests with ample enough time to turn them in. He also wrote me a letter of recommendation last year. Deadlines past still no result. Multiple emails and in person conversations yielded no result. I have tried to bring it up to him several times and have gotten, "I'm busy I might be able to talk tomorrow." I have dealt with that for three weeks. I need some advice fast if anyone has got any.

[ktel]

My advice? Ask somebody else to write you a letter. The fact that in person conversations have yielded no result is concerning

[fuzzylogician]

As long as the letter is missing your file is considered incomplete and could get tossed without being reviewed. It sounds like this LOR writer is a lost cause. Find someone to replace him as soon as possible. Once you find a replacement, contact your department to make sure they know that there was a problem with the missing letter and that it's being replaced. You could already be in danger of missing first-round acceptances, so do this as quickly as possible.

[koolherc]

That's quite weird given that he wrote a letter in the past. Why not just re-send the old one w/ some minor changes?

[isawstars]

I'm currently dealing with the same thing. I asked 3 professors and 1 of them has disappeared off the face of the earth. I've have heard nothing from my emails and phone calls (and messages). I am thinking about asking the Editor of the magazine I volunteer for...... my program is journalism.... do you think that will be okay instead of a professor? She lives nearby so I could overnight it.

[emmm]

At this stage, if deadlines are imminent or past, any recommender is better than none. Get a letter to complete your file so that you can be considered. This is an unfortunate situation, but it is not very uncommon. Usually, if your letter is not too late (one of mine was less than 1 week late), it is OK. But if the committee meets before your file is complete, you could be out of time and out of luck.