Applications due Monday and LORs MIA

[neuropatholover]

Hey guys, 

 

Two out of three of my LOR are not in. The one e-mailed me telling me he is in a hospital in India and will get them in by Saturday (11/30). The other told me she would write them, but after contacting her with the final list of schools and a follow-up e-mail thanking her and asking if she needed any additional information. She hasn't contacted me at all. Applications are due December 2nd. What should I do? I know it's the holidays and they are busy with family and teaching/exams, but I am freaking out here. I have sent this recommender an email this week to reminder her and I have had no feedback. Is it too much to send her another email? What happens if she backs out? I can't find someone else on this short of a notice.... I still have faith in my recommender stuck in India. I'm a ball of stress. Any support or advice is appreciated. :/

 

Thanks  

[surefire]

Hey guys, 

 

Two out of three of my LOR are not in. The one e-mailed me telling me he is in a hospital in India and will get them in by Saturday (11/30). The other told me she would write them, but after contacting her with the final list of schools and a follow-up e-mail thanking her and asking if she needed any additional information. She hasn't contacted me at all. Applications are due December 2nd. What should I do? I know it's the holidays and they are busy with family and teaching/exams, but I am freaking out here. I have sent this recommender an email this week to reminder her and I have had no feedback. Is it too much to send her another email? What happens if she backs out? I can't find someone else on this short of a notice.... I still have faith in my recommender stuck in India. I'm a ball of stress. Any support or advice is appreciated. :/

 

Thanks

 

Hey neuropathlover,

 

Breath! This kind of stuff is stressful, I know! In my experience with admission committees, there's usually a "grace period" for third party stuff that can sometimes be beyond your control (transcripts, LORS, for example). I would never advise someone to EXPECT that grace and, you know, PLAN to submit after the deadline, but hopefully that knowledge makes you feel a bit better!

 

The badgering people thing can be tough. One thing that I've found if helpful it to actually ask a grad admin. The grad administrator in your prof's department will be familiar with their working style and can give you advice on how they best respond to badgering and deadlines and the like. They can probably tell you if it's very unusual for your letter-writer to lapse with contact or submit right at the eleventh hour, then you can act accordingly. After speaking with the grad admin, you can contact the letter writer again and say something like, "I was talking to (grad administrator) who said that (the department is really hectic this time of year and it's not uncommon for e-mails to vanish under the heap OR that it might be easier to get you on the phone OR something similar) so I thought I'd touch base again to yadda yadda..."

 

I mean, it's not cool to agree to write a letter and then fall off the map. But stuff happens and you account for that in your OP, so if you contact them again but reference the grad admin, then she'll know that you aren't contacting her willy nilly and it will feel less like badgering!

 

Hopefully that strategy helps! Good luck!