Late LOR Confusion

[fuzzyp]

Some grad applicant anxiety here...

 

One of my referees is so far a week late in submitting my reference letter. I'm depending on him for my applications, especially since I'm only applying to a few places. I've spoken with him in person, and he's been nonchalant about it, saying that the departments in question only start compiling the applications near the end of the month. On their websites, however, the departments ask that the reference letters be in at the application deadline.

 

Should I be concerned, and pushing him to write them sooner than later? Or is this more or less normal? I'm not sure whether to "be cool" or keep on him.

 

 

 

[geographyrocks]

Get on him.  Be on him like white on rice.  I spent an hour and a half following one of my letter writers because 2 schools couldn't find his LORs.  It turns out, he is REALLY good and transposing numbers and letters.  He wrote BOTH fax number incorrectly and if I hadn't been looking over his shoulder, those schools STILL wouldn't have my LORs. 

[fuzzyp]

Get on him.  Be on him like white on rice.  I spent an hour and a half following one of my letter writers because 2 schools couldn't find his LORs.  It turns out, he is REALLY good and transposing numbers and letters.  He wrote BOTH fax number incorrectly and if I hadn't been looking over his shoulder, those schools STILL wouldn't have my LORs. 

 

Thanks for the advice. I ended up contacting the department I'm applying for and explained the situation -- that my writer was under the impression that they weren't compiling the letters until the end of the month. They urged me to have him get the letter in ASAP and this gave me the leverage I needed to insist he submit, which he did right away.

Edited January 22, 2014 by fuzzyp