LOR: how long do you wait?

[Seville]

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How much time would you give your letter writer before calling/emailing to inquire about its statuts?

 

[sam1999]

1 month for the attendings becasue they don't know you very well

2 weeks for people you know them well, like PhD advisor, or if you have spent time in reserach with LoR writer etc.

 

[WhoisJohnGalt]

How much time would you give your letter writer before calling/emailing to inquire about its statuts?

I only gave mine two weeks, but that was because I waited too long to ask in the first place. In my case when I emailed to check on it, I found it had just been sent out, so if I'd been patient for a few more days I wouldn't have had to check 🙂 I think it depends on when you give it to them. If I'd asked in July or early August, I would have waited a full month. But it's getting kinda late to still have letters out, so personally I'd be more pro-active now.

 

[Seville]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I asked for the letter 6 weeks ago. I hate to bug the guy but I really want the letter!

 

[Seville]

So I checked with his secretary and she said he has not written it yet. I'm hoping this just means he is busy and not that he thinks I'm crap and thus doesn't want to write the thing.

 

[kralwok]

3-4 weeks (but i gave my letter writers a 6 week deadline)

 

[Seville]

So how do you prod the letter writer to get the letter done, without coming across as nagging/annoying?

 

[synapse lapse]

Dude I have this letter writer who is very unproffesional. I asked him for a letter literally in June with an August 15th deadline. I figured this would be ample time, as most people don't even approach writers until late July or later. Come August 15th it wasn't done, but obviously I had planned for that since the actual deadline is Sept 1st, so I reminded him that the deadline has passed but I needed it in within the next couple of weeks by Sept 1st. Guess what, no letter! Then he emails me and a friend (also getting a letter from him) that he will be leaving for vacation from sept 2-11, and hopes to do the letter "around a week after." Absurd. That's of course the last thing I need for a complete app, and it's pretty crappy that I was way ahead of other applicants and gave 2 months advance notice... very unprofessional. No point to this rant, just a warning to stay on top of your writers and be careful who you pick (not that I could have known he'd be this slow).