Sending reminders

[haltheincandescent]

Alright, so, I've got a week 'til my first deadline, and I just sent out reminders the last of my recommenders that haven't yet sent in their letters--but have a couple of questions.

First: If I use the automatic online system, should I send a separate reminder through my own email account as well? (Probably too worried about overly nagging/bothering, but also vaguely worried that the requests might have been spam-filtered--though it admittedly would be odd odd if all 15 were, only to one prof. Although: another prof. submitted 2/3 of them when I sent the original request, then only submitted the last few today after I sent the reminders, so I guess some were indeed missed--sort of worried it could happen again.) So: "Hello Prof X, I just wanted to check in with a reminder that the first few application deadlines (X-School, Y-School, etc.) are coming up in about a week. I sent separate reminders through each school's online system with the link to the recommendation form, but wanted to send this as well just to make sure that nothing was lost in spam filters or otherwise missing. If you got them, definitely no rush--I'm just double/triple checking everything at this point! Thanks-"

Second: should I send reminders for all my programs at the same time, or only the ones that are due in a week? (My deadlines are pretty spread out between Dec-Jan.)

Thanks!

Edited November 30, 2015 by haltheincandescent

[fuzzylogician]

I would have only sent an email from my own account, and included a line to the effect that "you should have received email prompts from Uni X at Date Y. If you can't find it in your inbox, please let me know and I'll resend the prompt." They may not appreciate suddenly having 15 new emails in their inbox from you. In any event, since you've already sent the reminders, I'd now send that email you quoted in your post. You can add a line saying that other deadlines for schools XYZ are at dates ABC, and you'll follow up about those again a week before the deadlines. 

[haltheincandescent]

37 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

I would have only sent an email from my own account, and included a line to the effect that "you should have received email prompts from Uni X at Date Y. If you can't find it in your inbox, please let me know and I'll resend the prompt." They may not appreciate suddenly having 15 new emails in their inbox from you. In any event, since you've already sent the reminders, I'd now send that email you quoted in your post. You can add a line saying that other deadlines for schools XYZ are at dates ABC, and you'll follow up about those again a week before the deadlines. 

Thanks. And, I only sent the soonest 3 so far, so no sudden glut of emails; I also didn't want to suddenly leave 14, and figured those three might be enough of a reminder to go back to the others as well, since they already have the list.

Edited November 30, 2015 by haltheincandescent

[fuzzylogician]

Sounds good. Good luck, I hope all your letters are submitted in time!

[EdNeuroGrl]

What about a writer who hasn't submitted yet and the due date is Dec 1? I sent her a reminder email about 4 days ago with no response... starting to get worried... :-( I also know she is a terrible procrastinator... what to do?

[rising_star]

EdNeuroGrl, I'd send another quick email with a reminder. Late LORs don't doom an application though.

[fuzzylogician]

Keep in mind that we're just now coming back from a long holiday weekend, so it's not too surprising that an email that you sent 4 days ago went unanswered. I'm sure the prof now has lots of things to get on top of, and hopefully your letter is one of them. And to second what rising_star says, LORs often get a grace period that applications don't, so it's not the end of the world if the letter is a little late. Schools know that you can't control when your recommenders submit their letters. 

[haltheincandescent]

He got them and all is good! Though he did say his letters would be in very close to the deadline. Then, that he's keeping his fingers crossed--though about what is not exactly clear. I rather hope it's re: me getting in somewhere and not re: him getting the letters in on time!