Two Big Problems

[marco_math]

I am really freaking out right now. The deadline to submit complete applications for one school was today and one of my recommenders sent the letter of recommendation to the incorrect school so now I have two major problems: 1.- It is past the deadline and one of my lors has not been sent. 2.- The letter that was sent to the incorrect school was addressed to the school he meant to send it to. What do I do?

Are schools firm with their deadlines? Are schools willing to let a professor resend a lor to correct his mistake?

Any advice?

Thanks a lot for your time.

Edited December 12, 2012 by marco_math

[dendy]

School's are usually not very strict with LOR deadlines, as long as you got the rest of your stuff in on time. Just have him resubmit it and call the school to assuage your fears.

If your recommender sent an incorrectly addressed letter to a school it will reflect poorly on him, not you. It's not really a big deal.

[marco_math]

Hi thanks for your answer.

I have already sent a mail to the school with the past deadline explaining the situation and hope that they will let my recommender send his LoR.

As for the school with the incorrectly addressed letter I don't know what to do. I agree that it should not reflect poorly on me but I would definitely like to try to see if there is a way to correct the mistake. Has anyone been in a similar situation out there?

Edited December 12, 2012 by marco_math

[lilgreycells]

Never been in this situation but some institutions will let a recommender resubmit. You can always call and ask if they'll allow the recommender to send a new letter. However, I agree with dendy it is not something that they'll really hold against you. The worst thing is that they'll have verification of one of the other institution's to which you're applying.

[DarwinAG]

I think the issue that the letter was sent to the wrong school is not a big deal. I would not worry too much about it. I am sure it happens frequently.

And yes, it appears that deadlines for LORs are not that strict. There seems to be an unwritten rule in academia that it can be late.

I'd like to echo that it does not reflect poorly on you, and I am sure your professor won't really lose reputation points for it after. It's just a funny mistake that happened and you can move on.