Application ready to go, but...

[Packers04]

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I am all ready to go with my application on VMCAS, however one of my evaluators who is a veterinarian has not filled out the eLOR form. While I was in today shadowing I brought it up that there is only a week and she said she is still working on it, and has said she is working on it for the last couple of weeks. Is this typical or should I be extremely worried? I have been observing this vet for almost a year so I feel I understand her well and she wouldn't just ignore it; however she is extremely busy at the same time.

 

[Kipani]

I'm in this exact same boat... Literally! To the T!

I'm thinking you and I should go ahead and go through with it like cowgirla said she did in this situation, cause I'd rather have to cry / stalk the vet to get the letter in than somehow miss the deadline because I was too worried about being out the cash. That is, however, my concern as well 🙁

May not be typical but at least for me its comforting to know other people have gone through the same thing / are in the same boat with me. We aren't alone! I wouldn't be extremely worried. I keep telling myself, I know this vet's character, I know she will get it done, I know she knows how important this is to me. They'll come through, even if it is at 11:59am next friday.

Fingers crossed they do them this weekend, right? 😀

 

[LMMS]

I am all ready to go with my application on VMCAS, however one of my evaluators who is a veterinarian has not filled out the eLOR form. While I was in today shadowing I brought it up that there is only a week and she said she is still working on it, and has said she is working on it for the last couple of weeks. Is this typical or should I be extremely worried? I have been observing this vet for almost a year so I feel I understand her well and she wouldn't just ignore it; however she is extremely busy at the same time.

Hang in there!! I'm sure that your vet will come through... The questions they answer are super simple. She's probably just agonizing over the letter trying to make it perfect. 🙂

If it helps, I'm still waiting on 3 (out of 4) - two of which did it for me last cycle; so all they have to do is cut and paste. I know for sure that one of them will be done on the late side because she didn't submit until the day before the deadline last year. But, because I can't locate the third (which worries me because he had some difficulty last year), I added a fourth this week to cover my butt. Thankfully, she's assured me she'll be done this weekend. So, even if I don't have everything by Wednesday, I'm planning to submit. Let's hope I have the guts to go through with it!!

 

[Marsala]

After reading this I feel a little better. I submitted 6 refs, and only one has turned it in and one is working on it. The others haven't even started. I sent "gentle reminder" emails, and I know people are busy, but COME ON!

(I hope that they don't forget!😱)

 

[EllieGirl89]

I've got one working on one, and I'm not terribly worried about her. The other two, the vets, were beginning to concern me a bit. I sent them an email today that said I just wanted to touch base with them and let them know the deadline was 6 days away, and if there was anything I could help them with to please let me know. I also made sure to let them know I appreciated what they were doing and thanked them for all their help. One of them submitted their ELOR about six hours later. The other I know will be a last minute-er but he's writing LORs for two other people this year so I'm operating under the assumption that he won't forget ALL of us. If it gets to be three or four days before the due date and there's nothing I'll probably give him a call.

 

[DVMDream]

I am still waiting on one of my four letters. I used the three I used last year and then added this vet on this year. I already have 2 from vets and one from an academic so I am covered, but she sent me the letter she wrote and it is REALLY good. So I REALLY want her to submit it and at this point all she has to do is copy and paste. I have known her for 4 years and I am friends with her; we hang out together, etc. I have sent her a reminder before and she can get a little snippy at times (like if she is in a bad mood) and that is kind of what she did with the first reminder. So I am really wanting to send her another reminder but at the same time if she is not in the best of moods I don't want her to take my reminder the wrong way (which I know she can do). Grr... it is frustrating knowing my eLOR so well that I do not want to upset her because she is a friend but at the same time I really want the adcoms to see this letter. I will probably end up sending her a reminder on Monday if she has not submitted it yet being as nice and thankful as I can (I did the same thing first time) but just to let her know that the deadline is literally right around the corner.

 

[sunnyshine]

Went through that same garbage last year. One of my elors waited until the day before the application was due to submit it. Drove me freaking bonkers - especially when she seemed annoyed when I reminded her. Anyway, she had a long while to complete the elor and since she still didn't have it done I didn't trust her to finish the elor anymore than I trust a politician to do anything. So I found another person and asked them (literally 4 days before elors were due) to right me an eval -> she said yes and submitted it that day. I figured that if my slow evaluator got hers in on time then I would just send 4 and if she didn't then at least I would still have my minimum three and my required veterinarian and academic evaluator. I don't know if you know any other vets and I don't know if you would really want to, but you could find another vet to fill out an eval for you quick to increase your chances of getting your vet elor and minimum of three in. Best of luck.

 

[oregonhopeful]

My evaluator got her letter in .... four hours before the deadline. I was so nervous. I was completely convinced that I had just wasted my money on application fees. 🙄

 

[Robdude]

This is exactly why I think LORs are a bunch of crap 🙁

You are putting hundreds of dollars, countless hours, and the next year of your life in the hands of people you hardly know.

Seems like a bad system to me.

 

[goldielocks137]

You are putting hundreds of dollars, countless hours, and the next year of your life in the hands of people you hardly know.

Well they shouldn't be people you hardly know...or else how are they going to write a compelling recommendation about you? And actually the LOR writer I know the best is the one who has still not submitted!

 

[EllieGirl89]

Well they shouldn't be people you hardly know...or else how are they going to write a compelling recommendation about you? And actually the LOR writer I know the best is the one who has still not submitted!

Agreed and ditto! I have one LOR left and it's from the writer I know best as well. I called her today and she said she'd get it done tonight.

 

[Robdude]

Well they shouldn't be people you hardly know...or else how are they going to write a compelling recommendation about you? And actually the LOR writer I know the best is the one who has still not submitted!

'Hardly know' is a relative term, sure. But I don't consider people I work with in a professional setting 'close' to me. They are acquaintances, co-workers, or even supervisors/bosses.

Nobody you ask to fill out an LOR for you is going to care about your getting into vet school, even a fraction as much as you do. (Not you, specifically, but you know what I mean).

People know it's important and they don't want to be jerks and say no; but when it really comes down to it - most people just see it as a hassle. They have their own lives, their own things, and they really don't want a homework assignment (as evidenced by the fact that so many LOR writers wait until the last second).

I've never heard of anyone being told 'No' when they ask for a letter of recommendation. That also makes the whole thing seem kinda iffy to me.

 

[hunterjumper12]

I have one LOR left to submit (my academic one), and I talked to him yesterday, and he assured me that it would be submitted by Thursday at the latest. *crosses fingers*

 

[Zusie]

The day after the VMCAS closed one of my ELORS showed as not being received (I worked for her so I'd been keeping tabs on it). I actually called the woman at like 9 am in the morning. She was sooo ticked off with me and told me she'd done it. So here I am thinking maybe she was just computer illiterate or something and only THOUGHT she had submitted so I'm sending them frantic emails.

Turns out there was some sort of delay and it appeared later that day. However, I did have some reason to be a bit concerned/worried as two regular snail mail LOR she (supposedly) had mailed in weeks earlier were never received by either school. She had to redo them. I know that she was definitely tired of the process there near the end. Sheeh. Luck definitely wasn't with me several times. I still don't understand how TWO pieces of mail would get lost (I'm still wandering if she didn't find them like a few weeks later and remember they never made it to the mailbox).

That's the one part about the process that really made me the most stressed - I know how I am with deadlines and could get stuff in. Depending on other (extremely busy) people made me feel really powerless. Even having complete faith in their good opinion of you, things can go wrong.

 

[EllieGirl89]

'Hardly know' is a relative term, sure. But I don't consider people I work with in a professional setting 'close' to me. They are acquaintances, co-workers, or even supervisors/bosses.

Nobody you ask to fill out an LOR for you is going to care about your getting into vet school, even a fraction as much as you do. (Not you, specifically, but you know what I mean).

People know it's important and they don't want to be jerks and say no; but when it really comes down to it - most people just see it as a hassle. They have their own lives, their own things, and they really don't want a homework assignment (as evidenced by the fact that so many LOR writers wait until the last second).

I've never heard of anyone being told 'No' when they ask for a letter of recommendation. That also makes the whole thing seem kinda iffy to me.

I have to disagree with this, though I'm sorry if this was your experience. My LOR writers all WANT me to get into vet school. Maybe not as bad as I want to get into vet school but they genuinely took care in writing their LORs. One of my vets even went a step further. He took me out to lunch and we discussed what my goals are for the future, what contributions I want to make to veterinary medicine, what is my major "selling point." I wrote all this down as well as all of my academic credentials, experiences, and gave him a copy of my personal statement. He said to me "I'm not going to get you into vet school writing you a generic letter. If I'm going to get you into vet school I need more substance, I need to write you something personal, so let's sit down and talk about this." After I gave him all that information it took him about a week and his eLOR was submitted. I was honored that he felt it important enough to put so much effort into it and I'm sure he wrote me a really good letter because of the time and care he clearly put into it.

Unfortunately though, I'm sure not everyone has had awesome experiences with their LOR writers, which is unfortunate 🙁

 

[goldnretrivrgrl]

Yeah, my eLOR writers are all hopeful and excited about my applications. One of the vets has known me (and my goal of vet med) since I was about 12. So, while I agree that they aren't as invested as I am (that would be a little creepy), I do think that they sincerely care about the letters they wrote on my behalf. I'd be kind of sad if they didn't. 🙄

 

[hunterjumper12]

I just got an email from VMCAS that my last LOR has submitted! YAY! Now back to agonizing over these darn supplementals....

 

[princesspeaches]

I'm still waiting on one! He told me he would have it in last Friday...I hate to harass him but I asked him about it months ago.

I applied in 2008 (waitlisted, sigh) and one of my eLORs turned their letter in an entire day late. I panicked because my in-state MSU's website says/said "If all materials (including eLORS) are not submitted by the deadline date your application will be withdrawn." Luckily, everything was fine anyway. I applied to 5 schools and no one seemed to care. So, maybe don't panic too too much if they are a tiny bit late?

 

[thedogisgreen]

Ahhh! My prof submitted two months ago, one vet submitted just now, and I'm still waiting on the other vet. I'll have to nag him tomorrow like crazy at work, though I feel bad doing so. Why do they have to wait till the absolute last second? Scaryyy!

 

[DVMDream]

'Hardly know' is a relative term, sure. But I don't consider people I work with in a professional setting 'close' to me. They are acquaintances, co-workers, or even supervisors/bosses.

Nobody you ask to fill out an LOR for you is going to care about your getting into vet school, even a fraction as much as you do. (Not you, specifically, but you know what I mean).

People know it's important and they don't want to be jerks and say no; but when it really comes down to it - most people just see it as a hassle. They have their own lives, their own things, and they really don't want a homework assignment (as evidenced by the fact that so many LOR writers wait until the last second).

I've never heard of anyone being told 'No' when they ask for a letter of recommendation. That also makes the whole thing seem kinda iffy to me.

I am sorry that is your experience, but I have known two of my LOR's for over 5 years and one of them for over 4 years. The one LOR I see as more of a mentor/supervisor but I am still close to him and he is very excited and hopeful for me to get in (he is the owner/vet at the main clinic I worked at for 5 years). He really does care and is genuinely interested in my applying for vet school. My other two (of the three) LORs (both of which are vets) I am friends with. Yes FRIENDS. I hang out with them outside of work, call them by their first names and have them as friends on facebook, text them, etc. Just like any other friend I would have made through work. They both really care about my getting into vet school and the one wrote an absolutely AMAZING letter (I am sure the other one did too but I did not read hers). So I am going to have to disagree with you. I am sorry if you do not have the same experience but the people who I asked to write my letters DO care. Yes a couple of them waited until the end here to submit but that is because the one is a procrastinator (I had to bribe her with getting her a drink the next time we go out) and the other had been out of town.

You can not assume that all LORs are bad and terrible things simply becaue YOU had nothing more than a professional relationship with them. And just because that is the only relationship you had with them doesn't mean they don't care or will be bad LOR writers.

 

[nyanko]

He's posted that crap before.

Coming from someone who actually got told at her interview that "You come very highly recommended from someone who we know is a bit hard to please sometimes..." (understatement of the year), LORs are essential and getting them from someone who actually wants to see you succeed can certainly make a big difference!

 

[ArthurIhde]

lol dont worry,it will be ok

 

[KaibabVet]

when it really comes down to it - most people just see it as a hassle. They have their own lives, their own things, and they really don't want a homework assignment (as evidenced by the fact that so many LOR writers wait until the last second).

I only asked vets/professors who know me well, and I know at least 2 of my evaluators put a lot of effort (and several drafts) into writing my recommendations. However, I do think it was a favor they did for me, despite their busy schedules. We're not all lucky enough to have personal friendships with several vets. Those that do certainly have a competitive edge! 🙂

 

[BHLegend]

I finally have everything (and all my eLORs) submitted, with 22 hours to spare, woohoo! For a few days there I was wondering if the $980 I spent to apply would all go down the toilet. the procrastinators; One was from a vet I've worked with for 9 months, another from my advisor (going on 3 years here). oh well, it's in, now I can relax. Until April. Ha. Onto my master's thesis...

 

[anjabryn]

Both of my Veterinarian eLORS submitted yesterday, the 29th but all of my other evaluators submitted early. Yes, I too had to bug both of them many times, where I was started to feel like a nag.

 

[princesspeaches]

100% turned in! (finally!) The nagging was totally worth it 🙂

 

[thedogisgreen]

Pheww my last vet finally turned in his eLOR, 14 hours before the deadline. I was afraid he was going to wait until tomorrow morning and I would have to wake up in a panic and check, but it's all doneeeee!

 

[twelvetigers]

My last LOR went in at 8:40am today (with the app being due at 11 here). Two hours? Haha. It wasn't a crucial one though, so I wasn't freaking out. 🙂