1 week till deadline and no rec. letter from prof. yet

[Rk29]

I asked my professor in person to write me a lor back in December and she agreed. Since then I have talked to her on the phone and talked to her about my goals for grad school etc. The application deadline was march 1st and she did not submit a lor even though I sent multiple emails and voicemails. Later I was told my the admissions office that I have till march 31st to submit lors and I was finally able to get into touch with my professor and went to go meet her in person two weeks ago. She once again was very enthusiastic and told me to also apply to some scholarships but did not mention at all how she did not respond to my emails etc. She told me she would finish it within the next week. Now I have one week till lors are due and she again is not responding to my email. I have also sent her a reminder through the application website. Any tips on what to do now? I don't want to be annoying and contact her again, but at the same time ??????????

I've been told to go find another professor, but it's just not possible or polite to ask someone one week before. I'm not sure what to do.

[marycaryne]

I had a professor stall on writing her letter as well (my other ones submitted a letter within a couple days of me asking). I sent out the reminder from the application site, I sent friendly emails. She'd usually respond with "I have xyz going on but I will do it this week!" and then the week would pass with no letter. Finally I sent her an email that let her know (in a polite way) that her letter was the only outstanding item preventing my application from being complete. The letter was submitted that evening. Professors know there are several components to an application and it seems like when she realized she was the one and only component that could be blamed for an incomplete application, she was on top of it. If you're unable to get a substitute, I would perhaps go that route. Still be polite, but let her know her letter is the only thing everyone is waiting on. Hope you're able to get through to her!

[alberber]

omg I signed up just to comment on this because this exact thing happened to me. My professor lagged so hard that he sent it in late for at least 2 weeks. I asked him in September of 2015 and he didn't sent in until late January. Not only that, he did not send it to all the schools I asked him to send. I was rejected from three schools with an early Dec deadline (UCSD, University of Washington, and Riverside). During that month I was stressed as balls as I was out of the country and could not find him in person. I finally made him respond by emailing my undergraduate adviser to put pressure on him. With that, I was able to make him write my letters. Thankfully all turned out well and I was accepted to USC and UC Irvine, both are decent schools. Still waiting on UCLA, Rice, and Boston University. I cannot force him to write it but I was legitimately pissed off at him. He destroyed my chances for three schools.