LOR..

[sunshine02]

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I told one of my recommenders to submit the letter by today because my premed committee needs it in early June. She hasn't yet and I'm worried that she may have forgotten, which is weird because she's usually on top of things and almost never forgets things.. I'm at a lost for what to do and how to remind her without sounding crazy. Do you have any suggestions? Hopefully she's not backing out at the last minute D:

 

[deleted577188]

Just email her!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have to be persistent to get where you wanna go. If you don't email her you could jeopardize your application being considered at many schools. Let that sink in... Get over your nervousness and email her....twice if you have to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sunshine02]

What if she gets pissed?????!!!!! 🙁 She's an adcom 🙁

 

[sunshine02]

Or what if she suddenly realizes after I remind her and half-asses it in 30 min?

 

[hoihaie]

Email her with something new as a subtle way of reminding her the deadline is today. Like where to send the letter to or new information to help her write and sneak it in that the premed committee needs the letter early June.

 

[hoihaie]

Or what if she suddenly realizes after I remind her and half-asses it in 30 min?

It also doesn't really take a long time for seasoned LoR writers to write a letter, so even if they do it today, it'll be fine

 

[sunshine02]

It also doesn't really take a long time for seasoned LoR writers to write a letter, so even if they do it today, it'll be fine

I understand--but that kind of scares me--how can you write a great letter in just 30 min in half a page since the letterhead and signature prob takes up like the other half of the page?

 

[hoihaie]

I understand--but that kind of scares me--how can you write a great letter in just 30 min in half a page since the letterhead and signature prob takes up like the other half of the page?

If she's an adcom, then she's read thousands of letters and knows what a great letter reads like. She's probably also written many of them herself, and has a template or format of how to go about writing them. She just needs to tailor it to you, which isn't that hard either. The point is it usually doesn't take more than a day to write a letter and it'll be okay 🙂 Busy people always do things last minute anyways haha and their work all turn out okay

 

[chemist16]

If you last emailed her like this morning or last night, then you could afford to wait a bit. But if you had discussed it a week or more ago, then a reminder email wouldn't hurt. She's only gonna get pissed if you're a jackass about it.

Think about this in a rational manner now. You have two choices: 1) email her or 2) don't email her. Pros of (1): she is reminded and gets your letter in in a timely manner. Cons of (1): she is annoyed that you're bugging her or writes a ****ty letter. Pros of (2): you prevent the cons of (1) from happening. Cons of (2): your letter is delayed and you're at a slight disadvantage for med schools with rolling admissions. Now, the only person who is in a position to weigh the pros and cons of these options is you. We're telling you that an email wouldn't annoy someone unless you come off like an dingus or you just emailed her last night or something. You decide.

 

[sunshine02]

Emailed her and she gave an estimated date she'll submit it by and now that date has also passed by several days. Is she doing this on purpose lol...

 

[chemist16]

No, she is just probably really busy. Looks like you drew the short end of the stick there.

 

[gannicus89]

Wow. That is not ideal. Is her letter essential? Is she the one who would have given you the strongest letter? It honestly seems like she's just too busy or...unwilling.

 

[sunshine02]

Wow. That is not ideal. Is her letter essential? Is she the one who would have given you the strongest letter? It honestly seems like she's just too busy or...unwilling.

Yes it is essential. I don't know how strong the letter will be... 🙁 she seemed totally willing when I asked her. She's also an adcom so she should know how important this is. If she's unwilling, why did she tell me that she'll finish it by a certain day when I sent her the reminder email? 🙁 kind of makes me sad. I respected her so much and thought of her as a mentor. Now I feel like she doesn't care... *sigh*

 

[Affiche]

This should not be a difficult situation to handle. Go in to see her and ask how the letter is going and if there's any additional material you can provide for her that would help.

 

[sunshine02]

I've emailed this professor twice and have visited her face-to-face. I worry that at this stage, her letter may hold up my application from being complete since she still hasn't written it yet. I'm not sure what to do--email her a third time? Wait a few weeks and visit her again?

 

[sunshine02]

Maybe I should just send a thank-you card? But what if she takes that and still doesn't write it lol...then it would make it hard to remind her again especially if I sent her a thank-you note. Do you guys think I should find someone else or wait a few more weeks?

 

[GiveMeThatMD]

It's gotta be something! The longer we brainstorm a plan of attack, the less time we have to execute it! Go for it.