My professor didn't end up submitting my Recommendation letter

[LindLLL]

I'm applying for several PhD programs and master programs. My first school is due today in 10 minutes. Two of my professors have submitted their LOR a long time ago but this one professor still hasn't hers yet. I reminded her three days ago and she promised me that she will have it ready by today. But well. I'm so disappointed and sad. I know her and she knows me really well so I completely trusted her. I've been doing research with her for a while and she's also the head of the department so I believe she can really write me a strong LOR. 

I've already submitted my application and i hope that the school do accept late recommendation letters (if she's ever going to write it and submit it)... Did she just forget? just why?  Should i find someone else to write? I know one other professor in person really well (since I'm from a liberal art college so we have a small faculty-student ratio) , but I've only taken one class with him, not sure if he has enough to write academically. 

Edited December 16, 2016 by LindLLL

[hopefulPhD2017]

This happened to me too. I called a former colleague and mentor, and she had my letter written the next day! Saved me. And yes, some of them were turned in late but so far it does not seem to have affected my applications. I followed up with each school to let them know and tell them my new writer would get it to them, then again to make sure it got in. Several schools told me letters were late. It's a lot of work!

[fuzzylogician]

Very often the deadline is for applicants, but professors get an extra grace period to submit their letters. They know it, and use it, to the great anxiety of their students. Since your professor is responsive, there is no reason to assume that she won't submit a letter. It's a Thursday, and there is very little chance that anyone will look at the applications before next week (actually, I would be surprised if anyone looked at them until after the new year, because it takes time to compile the materials and send them out to the committee members, and there is always some extra buffer for late or lost documents, etc.). As long as the materials are there by the time the committee actually needs them, most likely you will be perfectly fine (nerves aside). So, at this point I don't think you need a replacement LOR, especially if it'll be a weak one. 

[sivakumaranandan]

Please remind your professor again. Be watchful and remind them 3days before, and again on the deadline day,if needed.They might be very busy and often forget.

Choose recommenders who can strongly establish your credibility on time for the next applications!

[bommel]

Hi there,

I can't really help you with your worries and it seems that a lot of people experience problems with unreliable recommenders. A similar thing happened to me:

<<skip this part if you don't want to read my story about late LORs>>

I asked all the professors months before the deadlines (mid-September), met most of them in person, provided them with all the information on time, sent out the invitations on time, sent reminders and did all this while remaining absolutely polite and understanding. Still, I am missing one recommendation letter for one program that closed the appl. process on Dec 8th. I repeatedly asked this one professor (politely!) to submit his letters but I only received one of two, with the former being submitted one week late and the latter perhaps not being submitted at all. I wrote to the school and asked what the grace period is and they answered that they would start reviewing during the winter break. I called the professor, wrote to him again, tried to meet him at the office (impossible, because winter break has already started at my school) and, out of sheer despair, even contacted one of his colleagues. This helped, he submitted this one late letter, but not the second one.

I remember that, when we were discussing this issue in his office, he mentioned that he recommended somebody before and was rather confused by the online recommendation process. This should have raised some flags. At this point however, I did not think too much about it, because I thought, clicking on a link and hitting a button should not cause too many problems for a university professor. Naturally, this is very disappointing for me. If I were rejected from the school, I would have liked it to be my fault (i.e. simply not being competitive enough) but not because my application is not reviewed due to being incomplete. I could also be mad because the time and money (it is the most expensive program, 125$) on this application was apparently wasted, but I am mostly said because I really would have liked to have a chance. I don't feel that I could have done anything more. Even worse, I planned fo this professor to be the recommender for two other programs where the deadlines are mid-January. I should probably try to exchange him for another recommender, which is close to impossible on this short notice and at this time of the year.

<<end of story>>

Although this does not help me anymore, in response to LindLLL, I'd advise you (and all the other people in this stressful situation) to do this:

If you still haven't received the letter, write to the program and explain your situation. Ask when they will start reviewing the application, they might give you the ultimative deadline for the recommenders or at least an approximate period of time when it is still okay to send in letters. With this info in mind, try to get in touch with your recommender. If possible, do so by phone or in person, especially if she is rather unreliable and unresponsive. Do not give her the real deadline, but one or two days less, to make sure that the letters will be submitted for the definite deadline. If you get the chance to talk to her, ask her if you can do anything to help her with this (provide more information, prepare a sample letter or even come to her office when she clicks through the recommendation form so that you can assist if she does not know what to do).

I'm not sure whether a replacement is a good idea. Firstly, generic and weak LORs can hurt your application. On the other hand, two stellar and one mediocre LOR in combination with a strong application package (GPA, test results, SOP a.s.o.) is probably better than having your application rejected because of a missing LOR.

I hope everything will turn out well for you!

Edited December 23, 2016 by bommel

[Kaede]

Just wanted to vouch that some programs will definitely wait. One of my letter writers submitted her letter a week late and I still got interviews to great programs. Of course this depends on the program, but I don't think it will adversely affect your application unless it doesn't get in at all by the time they meet.

[hopefulPhD2017]

48 minutes ago, Kaede said:

Just wanted to vouch that some programs will definitely wait. One of my letter writers submitted her letter a week late and I still got interviews to great programs. Of course this depends on the program, but I don't think it will adversely affect your application unless it doesn't get in at all by the time they meet.

That's really good news. Between a missing LOR and GRE scores accidentally sent to the wrong school, I've been freaking out. Whew. 

[Troodondodo]

One of my referees was unwell and the LoR she wrote for me was submitted to Brown a couple of weeks after the due date - I contacted the university and they assured me that's fine :)