Should I remind my LOR writer again?

[TotallyOriginalUsername]

I have letters that are due in the second week of January. All but one of my writers have submitted. Last week, I sent the remaining writer a reminder but did not receive a response (when I reminded the others I got a response, not sure if this is standard practice or not though).  My writer did tell me when she agreed in October that she would be writing them in mid-December, and asked me to send a reminder before then (which I did). It's now into what I would consider mid-December and I haven't heard from her. 

 

Two of letters, including the one with the earlier deadline, need to be sent by snail mail. Theoretically this should only take a few days, but I would like to leave some buffer space just in case there's a delay. Furthermore, one of my schools would like me to include the letter with the rest of my application package if possible. I have everything ready to go except the letter! I'm starting to panic a bit, with less than a month left before the deadlines. 

 

Should I email the prof again and let her know my concerns? Or should I just wait? What's the correct way of addressing this? 

 

    

[Guest]

There's always one... You could carefully remind them of the deadline again, giving them the specific dates. Or maybe ask them if they need anything more from you that would help speed up the process (but don't phrase it like that). Did you give them an envelope addressed with a stamp so all they have to do is put it in the mail?

 

I told my recommenders the deadline was earlier than it was just so they would send it in in time. If you have future applications due, I suggest you do that as well. 

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I've only heard of a few instances where LOR's missed the deadline, and some schools are more lenient than others on the deadlines. If they see it's something out of your control they may be understanding. If they're not and they're rude about it, then maybe you didn't want to go there anyways.

[TotallyOriginalUsername]

Thank you!

 

Yes, I have given her the necessary materials! 

 

I know for a fact she's written letters for a lot of my classmates and never heard any complaints, so maybe I am panicking too much. I don't want to bother her too much, but I don't want her to forget either! I really don't want to risk finding out if a school is lenient or not, especially since one of them is my dream school/ program! But you are right in that it is out of my control, and I shouldn't worry too much. 

[Zigglar's Tusk]

I would at least give it a week before you send a second reminder, if you haven't already. I had a professor not respond to my email for at least a week, but he still submitted all of my letters on the same day. So there's a possibility your professor is waiting until s/he has finished writing it to respond back or any other possible reason.

As for sending documents by mail, as from what I know with the schools I applied to, as long as the mailed documents are postmarked before the deadline, it doesn't matter when they arrive. It usually takes a few weeks to a month for schools to compile their file on everyone so that shouldn't affect anything.

[TotallyOriginalUsername]

Thanks!

 

It was a week yesterday since I sent the last reminder. 

 

Both places that need to have the documents sent by mail specify that they must be received by that date, so I'm hesitant on sending things later than necessary. 

[grad_wannabe]

Hark and learn from my tale of woe:

 

One of my letter-writers missed his deadline back in November (despite my every-single-week-leading-up and even day-before, day-of, AND day-after reminder emails), and my application was deemed "incomplete" and bumped to the next decision round at the end of January.

 

This means I won't know that decision until possibly April, rendering that possibility almost moot. 

 

REMIND THEM. Don't just email. CALL on the phone, let them hear your voice. 

[TotallyOriginalUsername]

Thanks for your advice! 

 

I sent her another reminder by email and she said she'd get right on it so I'm no longer that worried. Unfortunately, I have no way of reaching her by phone (they were removed from most departments at my undergrad uni). I think they have one phone they all share in this department, but students were strongly encouraged NOT to call it. So I really only have email as a way of communicating with my professors.   

[rising_star]

Hark and learn from my tale of woe:

 

One of my letter-writers missed his deadline back in November (despite my every-single-week-leading-up and even day-before, day-of, AND day-after reminder emails), and my application was deemed "incomplete" and bumped to the next decision round at the end of January.

 

This means I won't know that decision until possibly April, rendering that possibility almost moot. 

 

REMIND THEM. Don't just email. CALL on the phone, let them hear your voice. 

 

grad_wannabe, I'm not sure why having to wait until April renders a possibility almost moot, to use your words. Many people don't hear from programs until late March/early April (my PhD program is semi-notorious for not notifying any applicants until March 25 or so). Having to wait shouldn't completely eliminate you or the program from consideration.

[TotallyOriginalUsername]

Rather than posting a new thread I'm going to post again here. My writer completed the letters (yay!) and will mail them soon. The issue is that one of the schools prefers the student to hand in the letter with the rest of the application, and only wants for the writer to mail it themselves if they are "uncomfortable" with handing it to the student. But my writer can't get it to me for a few weeks (she is away for the holidays), which would mean I'd send my application very close to the deadline. If I ask her to mail it now rather than wait a few weeks, do you think it would reflect poorly on my application that the letter arrived separate from everything else?  

[rising_star]

Why not have her mail you the letter now for you to include in your packet? It really doesn't matter whether your application arrives on the day of the deadline or 2 weeks before unless there's rolling admissions so there's no reason to rush your writer for that. The reason they prefer things all in one packet is so nothing gets lost (and you include a table of contents with those so they know what's inside). So, you're taking a risk the letter might not get attached to the rest of your materials if you mail it separately. That doesn't reflect poorly on your application, it's just the reality of the situation. I would see if you can get it mailed inside a separate sealed envelope to you and then you could forward it on from there.