Advisor gone AWOL

[ANerdHasNoName]

Please bear with me if a similar topic has already been posted - I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. My advisor, the one who would be my strongest recommender, has basically gone AWOL. I asked for the letter about 2 months back and he said he would write it in time for my Dec 15 deadlines. I even met him the past week and he was suggesting some schools that I should check out and stuff. Afterwards, its like he just dropped off the face of the earth.

I know that it's ok if our LORs arrive a little late, but in the event that I still cannot get him to submit his LOR, what should I do? And how long should I wait to contact him? I'm a little hesitant to rush him because I'm afraid then he wouldn't write me a strong letter; he thinks I'm not ready for a PhD and asked me to apply for Masters programs and I'm afraid this opinion might be reflected in the letters.

PS. All final exams are over now in my university and students have gone for their vacations - I thought he'd have more free time now.

I have a "backup" recommender but he's someone I never worked with directly so the letter would be rather generic.

Edited December 17, 2017 by ANerdHasNoName

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

It is now after the Dec 15th deadline. Did you send them an email or try to make contact this week to remind them? See if you can get in contact. If they get back to you with a timeline, awesome! Let the schools (from the passed deadline) know. If they don't, better to have a generic letter and a complete application than an incomplete app that no one sees.