When to send thank you letters out to LOR writers?

[jlee306]

Hello. I am wondering when to send out thank you letters to LOR writers. Do you send them when it has been confirmed that your programs have received them, or do you wait until you know if you have been accepted anywhere so you can tell the LOR writers in the letter where you are going? What have you done or are planning to do? Thank you!

[Lauren the Librarian]

My school has an online LOR system. As soon as the letter showed up in the system, I sent a quick, "Everything updated, thanks!" email. Then when the decision came in I emailed a "Got in, Thanks!" email. Previous semesters when I was rejected, I made office hours appointments to dicusss why I sucked so much.

As soon as I find out yay or nay for the current semester (third round of applications, but different program) I will send an email off with the info. I am only applying to one program, so I don't have to mull over which school to go to. However, when and if I apply to multiple programs I will probably send out a "Responses are starting to come in, so far 1 yay, 1 nay. I'll send you a final email when I've made my final decision" emails. I figure it's polite by keeping them in the loop without overwhelming them with contact.

Edited December 25, 2009 by Lauren the Librarian

[hubris]

I sent (will send) upon confirmation that the letters have arrived at their proper destination.

Seems to have worked well.

[socialcomm]

I sent a quick thanks when they show up in the online system and then once I get responses from school I'll send another note to let them know the final outcome.

[fuzzylogician]

My writers usually updated me after they uploaded each letter so I just replied with a quick thank you. I sent them one email after I confirmed that all the paper letters arrived at their destinations. I then sent another email after I had all the outcomes, and then a last email with my decision after I visited everywhere. I sent all of my writers Christmas cards this year, because I want them to know how thankful I still am.

[JennyFieldsOriginal]

I gave handwritten thank yous after I had given them everything (final forms, final emails, etc) in the case of the one who dragged his feet a little, because I just wanted to get everything out of my hands, and after the other two had submitted nearly everything. I also gave them little tokens of my appreciation.

For what it's worth, they seemed to really like getting a card and a little something. I applied to a ton of schools, so I thought it was only fair to express my huge amounts of gratitude that way.

I'm also planning on letting all of them know as results start trickling in, because one made a point of saying he wanted me to let him know and I know that they all talk to one another so I figure better to find out from me so no one feels out of the loop (not that they would really care at all, I'm just nuts about stuff like that).

[Ziz]

Once I saw the LOR had submitted all their letters, I sent a thank you for their support, etc. adn I would let them know the outcomes. When I find out my result at all the schools I will send them another email with an update, and probably ask their advice on what to choose (hopefully there will be some choices!)