letter writer wont writer letter

[unleash500]

My letter writer is taking forever to write a letter of rec for me. I gave him a deadline earlier, but he said he was busy and now I don't know what the status of it is now.

I don't mean to complain, I understand how profs are busy. I am just wondering what I should do about it.

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[red10]

I had a prof who I told that July 1st was when our career center wanted it in. I still don't have it. I emailed him last week saying thanks so much for writing this letter for me blah blah blah...I've started applying and med schools have started asking for my rec letters..blah blah blah... The career center is recommending I have my letters in as soon as possible to expedite the process. etc
Of course he wrote back that he had been taking care of personal problems and would get right on it but I haven't gotten it yet.

I'd just say be really nice, say thank you a lot and then say that AMCAS or your career center (if your school sends letter packets) are asking for letters to be turned in soon

 

[redlight]

meet him face to face,

give him updates on where you are in the process,

thank him for agreeing to write your letter. present a card and a box of treats.

try not to act pushy or be overly concerned or annoying.

thats what i would do (use guilt lol).

 

[Bacchus]

Go talk with him. If he's still busy, find a new letter writer. Professors are there for you. It doesn't take too long to write a letter. Don't be a jerk about the whole process. But if he can't get the letter in for you, go ahead and find someone else.

 

[Dr Wake N Bake]

My letter writer is taking forever to write a letter of rec for me. I gave him a deadline earlier, but he said he was busy and now I don't know what the status of it is now.

I don't mean to complain, I understand how profs are busy. I am just wondering what I should do about it.

True, professors are busy, but in many ways they are never too busy to write a LOR for a student. Their professors wrote them LORs when they were moving up the ranks. So in many ways, writing LORs is an unwritten part of their job description.
With that in mind, have a talk with this professor asap. Ask him about the status of your letter. Ask him about when realistically he thinks he can get the letter finished. Be firm about your deadlines and stress the importance of this process. Remember, the only person who is out of line in this situation is your professor for ignoring your deadlines.
If after all of that you can't seem to get a comfortable answer and you still feel weird about the situation, just drop this professor and find another one to write your LOR asap.

 

[Trexate]

I had a similar experience, but the writer was supposed to be my supervisor from my ER volunteering.

That one letter won't make or break the application. The letters that will make or break it are the ones written by professors that care about your success enough to write a superb letter. Clearly, your prof has other things he's concerned with. Even if he did write it, I wouldn't be surprised if it lacked substance due to his head being somewhere else.

 

[Bacchus]

I had a similar experience, but the writer was supposed to be my supervisor from my ER volunteering.

That one letter won't make or break the application. The letters that will make or break it are the ones written by professors that care about your success enough to write a superb letter. Clearly, your prof has other things he's concerned with. Even if he did write it, I wouldn't be surprised if it lacked substance due to his head being somewhere else.

The problem is, if this goes into the committee letter it will hold him up, a lot. If not, like I said, drop the writer and get another letter.

 

[osumc2014]

The problem is, if this goes into the committee letter it will hold him up, a lot. If not, like I said, drop the writer and get another letter.

Or if its a required letter: ie science or non-science letter