Letters of Recommendation

[mjs94]

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Hi all:

In early May, I asked six separate people for letters of recommendation. To date, I/AMCAS has received only one of them. At present, I have sent two reminder emails and had given them the ID/information form in early May when I originally asked them. Two or three of these letters don't matter too much, but two I consider the following two very important:

1) A professor that has graded my coursework, sought me out to offer me a job in her lab, and the professor through which I will be testing a device at a local children's hospital that I helped develop.

2) A professor that hasn't graded my coursework, but I have spent thousands of hours working for.

Due to the fact that each of these professors run a research lab and I have been praised consistently for my work, I figured they were clearly the two best letters I have the possibility of getting. However, I am at an absolute loss on how to expedite the process. It has been almost 3 months and neither has submitted a letter for me. If anyone has any advice on how to approach this situation, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you,
Matt

 

[medguy13]

You cut it kind of close asking them in May. I remember last year I asked my o-chem professor if he could write me a letter of rec and I gave him a deadline, while also stressing the importance of finishing as early as possible. But he took an extra whole month to do it (with constant reminders from me) and pretty much screwed me over in the process.

My advice is to be a pest. Professors are busy, and if they are not reminded they will either (a) forget or (b) figure that it is not urgent and put it off. Stress to them about how it will affect your application!

If that doesn't work, try other alternatives. I asked my physics professor to write one, but after several e-mails with no response I had a feeling he was never going to do it and just moved on to someone else.

Good luck.

 

[SN12357]

Hi all:

In early May, I asked six separate people for letters of recommendation. To date, I/AMCAS has received only one of them. At present, I have sent two reminder emails and had given them the ID/information form in early May when I originally asked them. Two or three of these letters don't matter too much, but two I consider the following two very important:

1) A professor that has graded my coursework, sought me out to offer me a job in her lab, and the professor through which I will be testing a device at a local children's hospital that I helped develop.

2) A professor that hasn't graded my coursework, but I have spent thousands of hours working for.

Due to the fact that each of these professors run a research lab and I have been praised consistently for my work, I figured they were clearly the two best letters I have the possibility of getting. However, I am at an absolute loss on how to expedite the process. It has been almost 3 months and neither has submitted a letter for me. If anyone has any advice on how to approach this situation, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you,
Matt

Did you give them a deadline originally? I hope so. If you did your case will be much stronger now.

Your next step has to be to pick up the phone. Have a clear deadline for them ("I know how busy you are, but I really need the letters in by x").

Be unfailingly polite. Be clear. Be apologetic. Ask them if there is any information you can help them with.

As a last-ditch attempt, you can offer to ghostwrite it for them. This is not desirable because of how hard it is to write for yourself, but it's pretty common practice. The way it works is you offer to write the first draft and then send it to them for finalization (you don't see it after it gets sent to them). This makes their work so much easier that they'll likely go for it.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Hi all:

In early May, I asked six separate people for letters of recommendation. To date, I/AMCAS has received only one of them. At present, I have sent two reminder emails and had given them the ID/information form in early May when I originally asked them. Two or three of these letters don't matter too much, but two I consider the following two very important:

1) A professor that has graded my coursework, sought me out to offer me a job in her lab, and the professor through which I will be testing a device at a local children's hospital that I helped develop.

2) A professor that hasn't graded my coursework, but I have spent thousands of hours working for.

Due to the fact that each of these professors run a research lab and I have been praised consistently for my work, I figured they were clearly the two best letters I have the possibility of getting. However, I am at an absolute loss on how to expedite the process. It has been almost 3 months and neither has submitted a letter for me. If anyone has any advice on how to approach this situation, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you,
Matt

Matt,

Have you followed up recently? Perhaps go to their offices in person if they are around for the summer; you showing up in person means much more than another e-mail in their inbox. Chances are that they totally meant to write you a letter but completely forgot after putting it aside; the end of the academic year is a pretty crazy time for most professors!

In my personal case, I asked professors in February if they would be willing to write a letter and then officially asked in May. They all got them submitted on time (before June), so I disagree with an earlier poster that early May was pushing it. I think that one month + is a fine amount of time with warning.

Best of luck.

 

[NorthernLights1]

Perhaps go to their offices in person if they are around for the summer; you showing up in person means much more than another e-mail in their inbox. .

This. Go see them in person!

Just show up at their office in the middle of the day when they're likely to be there. It will be:
a) memorable
b) fine, since you know them well enough that they're writing a letter for you

In my case, I had to see two professors last week in person because they hadn't submitted their letters. In each case, the letters were submitted less than two days after I visited (and no, I don't think they half-assed it to get me off their case. Both said they wrote very strong letters).

Plus, you'll probably get the added benefit of seeing your professors look reeeallly guilty for having messed up. Just remember to be so polite that a Canadian would tell you to tone it down.

 

[Flashfan]

If you can't go in person, pick up the telephone. It makes it personal.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Just remember to be so polite that a Canadian would tell you to tone it down.

Ha! I'm half Canadian, so I half laughed at that. 😛

That is a very obvious (but perhaps not apparent) note... Just remember they are doing you a favor. You don't want your recommenders being annoyed by you at the last minute.

 

[mjs94]

Thank you for your responses everyone! To offer some answers:

1) I see 3 of the professors (including the 2 I really need) a few times a week. 2 of the 3 have said they would get to it immediately (my last follow up was 3 weeks ago) but none have followed through.

2) I know they are busy and I always approach the situation with the utmost courtesy. However, the reason I'm seeking advice is I have become increasing salty about the situation. Truthfully, they don't owe me anything, nor are they required to write a letter. However, I took them at their word. Given that I show up on time, do exemplary work, and have gotten an A in their classes means that I do what I'm asked and in a timely manner. I just don't want any hint of the bitterness I feel to rear itself if I talk to them in person.

3) Since I see them all frequently, I am inclined to sit down with them (like an earlier poster said) and explain how this will affect my application.

4) I gave them a deadline of August 1st (after asking them on May 10th).

5) I consider two of these "make or break" letters, so seeking alternates isn't an option for me.

6) I did ghost write one letter and gave it to a professor in midMay, yet after two follow ups, he has failed to submit anything.

7) It seems that Chemical Engineering professors show much less guilt than other professors, I don't think that will make much difference.

Thank you for all of your suggestions!

 

[SN12357]

Thank you for your responses everyone! To offer some answers:

1) I see 3 of the professors (including the 2 I really need) a few times a week. 2 of the 3 have said they would get to it immediately (my last follow up was 3 weeks ago) but none have followed through.

2) I know they are busy and I always approach the situation with the utmost courtesy. However, the reason I'm seeking advice is I have become increasing salty about the situation. Truthfully, they don't owe me anything, nor are they required to write a letter. However, I took them at their word. Given that I show up on time, do exemplary work, and have gotten an A in their classes means that I do what I'm asked and in a timely manner. I just don't want any hint of the bitterness I feel to rear itself if I talk to them in person.

3) Since I see them all frequently, I am inclined to sit down with them (like an earlier poster said) and explain how this will affect my application.

4) I gave them a deadline of August 1st (after asking them on May 10th).

5) I consider two of these "make or break" letters, so seeking alternates isn't an option for me.

6) I did ghost write one letter and gave it to a professor in midMay, yet after two follow ups, he has failed to submit anything.

7) It seems that Chemical Engineering professors show much less guilt than other professors, I don't think that will make much difference.

Thank you for all of your suggestions!

Are these professors senior and important enough to have direct administrative staff?

You know the fastest way to get a professor to do something? If their assistant cares about getting it done.

....unfortunately, this only works for professors who have an assistant. But in all seriousness, if you're getting desperate, cozy up to the administrative support in the department and see if they have suggestions.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Thank you for your responses everyone! To offer some answers:

1) I see 3 of the professors (including the 2 I really need) a few times a week. 2 of the 3 have said they would get to it immediately (my last follow up was 3 weeks ago) but none have followed through.

2) I know they are busy and I always approach the situation with the utmost courtesy. However, the reason I'm seeking advice is I have become increasing salty about the situation. Truthfully, they don't owe me anything, nor are they required to write a letter. However, I took them at their word. Given that I show up on time, do exemplary work, and have gotten an A in their classes means that I do what I'm asked and in a timely manner. I just don't want any hint of the bitterness I feel to rear itself if I talk to them in person.

3) Since I see them all frequently, I am inclined to sit down with them (like an earlier poster said) and explain how this will affect my application.

4) I gave them a deadline of August 1st (after asking them on May 10th).

5) I consider two of these "make or break" letters, so seeking alternates isn't an option for me.

6) I did ghost write one letter and gave it to a professor in midMay, yet after two follow ups, he has failed to submit anything.

7) It seems that Chemical Engineering professors show much less guilt than other professors, I don't think that will make much difference.

Thank you for all of your suggestions!

Just to briefly reply to some of your comments:

1) I'm confused if you see the two letter writers a number of times a week. Why have you not talked to them about this pressing issue within the last three weeks?

2) Right. It sounds like you are justified in your feelings since, when they agree to write you a letter, they know they are now responsible for doing it unless they want to screw you over. Most professors know the importance of a letter since they are asked to write a lot (i.e., for grants, fellowships, grad schools, med schools, jobs, and much more). Any "good" professor should be prepared and ready to do such a thing. However, this shouldn't stop you from talking to them in person.

3)Yeah. Do it. Again, they are not stupid. They are professors and write a lot of letters for all kinds of situations. They went through grad school themselves. For some grants and things they may even need LORs themselves... It's important that they know the letter (and more importantly the timeliness of the letter) is important to you.

 

[NorthernLights1]

Both of mine were electrical engineering profs and didn't understand the timeline that medical school applications run on - perhaps that is the case with your ChemE professors as well?

If so, take the time to make sure that they understand that applications opened in June, the nature of most med schools having rolling admissions, etc. In my case I even subtly hinted that by waiting, they were hurting my application. If your professors remember what it's like to apply to grad school, they will feel guilty.

 

[mjs94]

I should have clarified this earlier, I just realized that this may be confusing, I didn't know if it was proper etiquette to refer to these professors by name, so I think I shall just refer to them by initials.

Dr. E: ChemE prof, not super important except that I've had several classes with him and will again this fall. We are on decent terms, he has no assistant.

Dr. M: She is the ChemE professor I work for, have had class with, and will have a class in the fall with. She is much younger and is almost ready to achieve her tenure. She has no assistant, but I consider this the most important letter.

Dr. C: This is the professor that hasn't graded my coursework but I have worked for in his lab for quite a while. I consider this my second most important letter (he is a professor of polymer science after being moved out of the ChemE department three years ago). He has no assistant.

johnamo:

1) I am uneasy about being overbearing/annoying with asking repeatedly. As well, Dr. E and Dr. M will be professors of mine this fall, so I'm unsure how to approach the situation and stay on their good side.
2) You are 100% right about that.
3) You may be surprised. Only Dr. E has written one before, and only one. All of my other letter writers have never written a med school rec letter. That is a great point about graduate school, though.

SN12357

I am debating on whether to ask these professors in person once more before I go see what the administrators recommend. No letter writer has an assistant.