Recommender still hasn't responded

[DecCat]

I asked the professor for a reference letter for summer positions I'm apply to before the winter break and he said yes without any hesitation. At that time I didn't have the list of positions so I asked him if it were okay for me to send him the list over the break and he said it is totally fine. He also said he is generally not busy in January and it doesn't take him much time to write an letter since he knows me well. But the thing is, I sent him the email five days ago and he still hasn't replied. I even forwarded the email to his other email address yesterday. I'm in a foreign country right now, so I can't go to his office or call him. And it is kinda late to ask other professor. I don't think my email ended up in the spam because I was sending from my school email address to his school email address.  I was wondering if it is possible that the professor suddenly decided not to write the letter and is indicating it by not responding to the email? Or should I be patient and wait a few more days? 

 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

How long until the letter is due? If it's not due for a while the prof might just be focusing on other things. It's also possible that they don't check their email as often during the break or are currently away for a vacation despite usually being available. I'd send a follow-up just asking for confirmation they got it if you go a week or so without a response.

[DecCat]

5 hours ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

How long until the letter is due? If it's not due for a while the prof might just be focusing on other things. It's also possible that they don't check their email as often during the break or are currently away for a vacation despite usually being available. I'd send a follow-up just asking for confirmation they got it if you go a week or so without a response.

One is due in one week and the rest of them are due at the end of the month.

[rising_star]

I'll just say this. I have a number of rec letters due in the next week that I haven't started... much less finished and sent in. They'll get done though. Probably tomorrow because, really, profs do end up working at random times. 

[.letmeinplz//]

6 hours ago, DecCat said:

One is due in one week and the rest of them are due at the end of the month.

That is tons of time for a professor. Maybe start worrying in the afternoon of the deadline but 1 week is like 1 year to LOR writers.

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

7 hours ago, DecCat said:

One is due in one week and the rest of them are due at the end of the month.

Send a pleasant reminder and check-in email at the one week mark. I'd still want some kind of confirmation they got the email, but a lot of professors don't work on those things until right around the deadline so there's probably nothing to worry about.  

[DecCat]

Thanks guys! I sent my third reminder to both email addresses of the professor on Tuesday but still get no reply. I guess I will just wait until the deadline. 

[rockrmoose]

Hey! I had this issue with one of my professors and it was just that my email address would just go into her spam or she would have so many emails she'd be missing mine. Luckily I knew she was good friends with another professor in the same department who is lightning fast with emails and I was able to contact her and say "Hi Professor X, my letter of rec from Professor Y hasn't come in yet and I've been trying to email her. I was wondering if you could check with her for me since my emails may not be reaching her." And just like that, a couple minutes later I got an email from Professor Y apologizing for not seeing my email. Sometimes they're just too busy but at least their colleagues/friends have their personal phone numbers. Also, don't worry if they end up turning it in past the deadline. For the schools I applied to at least, they said they would be okay with letters of recs and official transcripts getting there within a week after the deadline.

 

.....Okay I totally just scrolled back up and realized this was more than 2 weeks ago. Hopefully you were able to get the letter and maybe my post will help others in a similar situation!