Just need to vent about a letter writer...

[isilya]

I have two recommenders who are absolutely amazing and have already submitted all my letters! My third one, on the other hand...he waits until an hour or less before my applications are due and it makes me want to tear my hair out!!! He already has my letter written and is using the same one for every school...why can't he just submit them now?? Agh!!

 

Anyway, just wanted to vent hope everything else's applications are going well!

[b c]

I asked my profs. for their recommendations 2 months ago and all was well. I gave them all "information packs" to help as much as possible, and a few days before the first deadlines I found out that one of my recommenders had completely disappeared (I hear he's in India right now), so had to find a last minute replacement there. Today, when I sent out a final reminder about a December 2nd deadline to another professor, I get an automated email back saying that he is at a conference until December 8th. Needless to say I'm very disappointed, as I feel that, although they are doing me a huge favour and I really do appreciate their help, it would be nice if they could show some etiquette their side and send their letters on time. Me being on the other side of the world to them also doesn't help as I can only contact them via email.

Edited December 2, 2014 by b c

[tuckbro]

I had the exact same thing happen.  Two recommenders were great, got them in before I submitted all of my stuff, one I had to nag and nag.  Actually missed one of the deadlines all together so I ended up caling his Admin Assistant and she read him the riot act and he submitted it 10 days late - still got accepted however!

[victorydance]

Have the same thing for one of mine as well. He seems to wait until the last minute to submit them one by one. Makes absolutely no sense.

[SisterlockedPhD2Be]

I completely understand, I am going through the same thing with one of my letter writers. The application process is stressful enough.

[fancypants09]

Chiming into commiserate. 

 

I had a recommender back out today because of a family emergency. I completely understand, of course, but the timing is just...I don't want to think too much about it. Luckily my first deadlines are on the 15th so I have some time to find alternates...fingers crossed.

[Rey89]

I know that feel buddy!!! One of my profs held up the LOR to the extent that he fell ill and actually forgot all about it!!!! When I called him up at the last moment, he apologised profusely, gave me his e-mail id and asked me to do it for him!!!! 

[shadowclaw]

I can certainly commiserate! One of my writers (my undergrad advisor) has be awesome writing these letters. He basically got them done within a day or two of receiving the e-mails from the application system. My current advisor gave me a scare with the NSF GRFP and submitted a few hours before the deadline, but he's been on time for grad school apps. I've been occasionally sending him reminders just in case. Now my third writer, who I personally think will write the strongest letter for me (I took many classes with him and worked on several research and service projects with him), has been sucking really bad. I also send him occasional reminders, but he still waited until the day applications were due to submit. He actually had to call me on Monday (when 3 of my apps were due) at like 10:00 pm to tell me that he couldn't find the e-mails for the letters. I also discovered today that the application for WUSTL says he never submitted, even though he told me he did. I e-mailed them to make sure it wasn't a mistake, but thankfully they don't mind slightly late application materials.

[fancypants09]

I can certainly commiserate! One of my writers (my undergrad advisor) has be awesome writing these letters. He basically got them done within a day or two of receiving the e-mails from the application system. My current advisor gave me a scare with the NSF GRFP and submitted a few hours before the deadline, but he's been on time for grad school apps. I've been occasionally sending him reminders just in case. Now my third writer, who I personally think will write the strongest letter for me (I took many classes with him and worked on several research and service projects with him), has been sucking really bad. I also send him occasional reminders, but he still waited until the day applications were due to submit. He actually had to call me on Monday (when 3 of my apps were due) at like 10:00 pm to tell me that he couldn't find the e-mails for the letters. I also discovered today that the application for WUSTL says he never submitted, even though he told me he did. I e-mailed them to make sure it wasn't a mistake, but thankfully they don't mind slightly late application materials.

 

Thanks for sharing your stories and hope that everything worked out!

 

An update on my end as well...I was able to find an alternate recommender today. I have to give him all the materials and go through the whole pony show of why I am applying, what my credentials are, where I think my recommender could add value, etc. All this additional work which I didn't figure into my schedule, which is kinda driving me nuts. But I am just SO thankful that I was able to find someone else to take his spot. 

[12345678900987654321]

Professors can be so slow with this kind of stuff. Fortunately, professors are the ones reviewing the applications so they will (hopefully) be understanding about this kind of stuff. 

 

Our application system lets me see when you send requests. If I can see you've been making an effort it isn't a huge deal for us. We will still want it but a few days late isn't going to negatively impact your application. 

 

If a letter is going to be late, IMO it is better to finalize/submit your application before the deadline even if the letter isn't in yet.

[grad_wannabe]

Another commiserator here. Two of my writers were great. Got everything in a week before all the deadlines.

 

The last guy I had to nag and nag.

 

He was so late with one letter (even though I emailed him like 5 reminders in the week leading up to the deadline) that he actually caused my app to get bumped back to the next round of decisions in January.

 

When I sent an email expressing that my app had been bumped (possibly damaging my competitive edge for admissions and funding) and requesting that he upload as soon as he can, his secretary (with whom I had never corresponded up to that point) wrote back and told me my writer no longer had time to deal with me and that she was going to be handling all the letter stuff from now on. 

Edited December 13, 2014 by grad_wannabe

[museum_geek]

When I sent an email expressing that my app had been bumped (possibly damaging my competitive edge for admissions and funding) and requesting that he upload as soon as he can, his secretary (with whom I had never corresponded up to that point) wrote back and told me my writer no longer had time to deal with me and that she was going to be handling all the letter stuff from now on. 

 

Wow, what a jerk.  The thing that baffles me here is the lack of perspective.  Didn't this letter writer need to rely on mentors and former professors to get to where he's at today?  What if his letter writers had decided that they didn't have time for him?  I get that letter writers are busy and writing LORs is a chore but I mean come on, these are people's future livelihoods we're dealing with here!  Sorry that you have to deal with this, hopefully this guy's secretary is able to help you out.

[cafe_au_lait]

This may be a bit late to assuage anyone's fears, but my understanding is that the admissions committee isn't going to care too much or fault the students if the letters are in a bit later than the deadline. They are professors too and understand that our professors can take some prodding to get these things organized and submitted.

 

Personally I wouldn't stress over a few days' tardiness.

 

Some of the above situations are pretty crappy though.

[Cambienta]

I hear this. One of my applications was due December 15th and one of my recommenders has yet to submit. I have no idea why. I keep reminding him and reminding him... politely, of course, but still. We aren't on bad terms or anything, so I don't understand why he's being so negligent

[drownsoda]

I am mildly freaking out over one of my letter writers as well, especially because he's my strongest writer. His statuses on two of my applications are listed as "activated" and "in progress" now, and I sent out a reminder through the applications, so I'm just hoping it's because he's busy. My first two deadlines are January 2nd and 3rd, and I am praying he'll get them sent in time, but I frankly don't know what else to do.

[drownsoda]

Have the same thing for one of mine as well. He seems to wait until the last minute to submit them one by one. Makes absolutely no sense.

 

I'm wondering if it's possible that he is writing them individually for each school, perhaps? I'm wondering the same thing about one of my recommenders; two of my deadlines are coming up January 2nd and 3rd, and those are the only two applications so far that have his letter status as "activated" or "in progress." Another application that's due January 13th has yet to be activated by him, so the fact that he's activating the applications with the earliest deadlines makes me wonder if he's tailoring each letter for each school...

[shadowclaw]

I'm wondering if it's possible that he is writing them individually for each school, perhaps? I'm wondering the same thing about one of my recommenders; two of my deadlines are coming up January 2nd and 3rd, and those are the only two applications so far that have his letter status as "activated" or "in progress." Another application that's due January 13th has yet to be activated by him, so the fact that he's activating the applications with the earliest deadlines makes me wonder if he's tailoring each letter for each school...

If an application says that you're writer has activated but not finished a letter, it might be a good idea to check in with him to make sure he doesn't think he completed it. I've had a few instances where one of my writers uploaded their letter but didn't actually hit the submit button or whatever it is you do to finish the process. However, you probably don't need to freak out about thy upcoming deadline too much. It seems that many professors wait until the due date to upload letters, even if they already have them written.

All of my writers have finally submitted all of their letters. I was surprised that one did his on Christmas morning. Maybe it was the first free moment he had to devote to it. I was expecting both of my remaining writers to upload on New Years Day, so I'm happy. I was having a little bit of a panic about my current PI, because he left town for the holiday and won't be back until January 5. So I was worried that he might not get to it on time for the January 1st deadline for my top choice school.

[drownsoda]

He finally came through! Got a notification that he submitted them to all my applications. What a relief. I'm going to submit them all tonight, and then it'll just be a waiting game, but at least I have his now.

[Rose Tyler]

I also had problems with one of my three letter writers. Four of my apps were due December 1st and he didn't submit them until two days before. Two weeks before he was gone at a conference followed immediately by Thanksgiving break. I was terrified and picking a back-up wasn't an option because he's PI on all of the research I've done.

 

Then he didn't realize one of them was supposed to be mailed and never did it. I had no idea until three days after the deadline I received an email from the school saying I could still submit it by that Friday (on Wednesday). Mail generally takes three days out of my town so I don't know if it ever made it. Luckily that was my lowest choice.

 

I second contacting professors whose letters are shown as being in progress after a reasonable amount of time. One of my professors started hers and I kept waiting for her to complete it rather than contacting her right off. She ended up asking me to send the notification to her again and got it in the day of the deadline.

[Guest]

It's even worse due to it being Winter break, and we all know how some people neglect their emails other the break. My university re-opens on Monday (not class sessions), and I hope that most professors start checking their emails on that day. My first deadline is January 10th.