Letters of Recommendation

[jbaumanj]

I have recently applied to two Ph.D. programs in Clinical Psychology. I was required to submit 3 letters of recommendation for each program.  The first application deadline was December 1st and the second deadline was January 15th. One of the professors that said they would write a recommendation for me did not submit his letter on time for the first deadline. In fact, it was a month late.  Then, I just got an email from the second school saying that the same teacher hadn't submitted his recommendation letter.  I was very clear with deadline dates in our communications, and he said the letters would be submitted by that time.  Is there any chance that this hurt my chances of being accepted or even evaluated? Also, is there anything I can do to explain this to the schools?

[FinallyAccepted]

You could try to communicate that to the psych department, because if they require THREE letters, then technically the application is incomplete, right? Could you have asked someone else to write letters for you? I'm not really sure how to deal with a recommender who's gone rogue.

[iphi]

The same thing happened to me. I had to write to the recommender and remind her of the deadlines. It was really nerve-wracking! I would write to the school(s) and apologize, then write to the person ASAP to tell them they're still missing it!

[Psykir]

Depends on how to persuade recommenders.  Carefully choose them. And choose the strategy - someone need to pray for some one needed to be kicked

[PsychGirl1]

This is why you should be monitoring the LORs at all the schools to make sure everything is on time. You should have been on the phone with this person a day after the deadline when it was confirmed that the letter was not submitted. Not to be rude, but it's really important to do this. Even if you send an email with deadlines in it, you should not have just assumed it would be submitted by then.

 

If your application is strong without the third LOR, you may still get some interviews depending on department policy and procedure. Regardless, your first priority should be expediting that letter into the hands of whoever needs it- for example, paying to overnight it, having them scan or fax a copy of the letter, etc.

[jbaumanj]

I actually was emailing this professor constantly reminding him of deadlines. He confirmed with me a week before the deadline that it would be sent over. Unfortunately, weather had shut down schools immediately following the deadline, so I was unsure if all my documents had been received or not.  I have emailed the professor again telling him they need it by Monday (which is what they told me). The rest of my resume is very strong, but their email implied that my application isn't being reviewed because it is considered incomplete. He has not emailed me back, and at this point I am probably going to have to ask my brother (who also happens to be my boss) to write a letter for me. I know you're not supposed to have family write letters for you, but I just want my application to at least be considered. Thanks for all the advice everyone