Missing letters of recommendation

[Dani55]

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Hey everyone,

One of my professors, who agreed to fill out my letters of recommendation mind you, has not turned any letter in to multiple schools. I only found out when I received an email from U of Indianapolis telling me I would not be considered for their PsyD program because of this missing letter. They did, however, offer to change my application for the master's program since everything was not due until February 25.

To my surprise, I receive yet another email from U of Indianapolis this morning stating they still have not received my last letter of recommendation and if they do not have it by next wednesday I will not be considered for enrollment.

I have tried emailing the professor multiple times and he never responded. I assumed he would have sent in the U of Indianapolis letter because a week after emailing him I received a postcard from a different school I applied to stating they received the letter from him.

I don't know what to do.
This is incredibly frustrating that I put in the time and effort (and money!) for this application, yet because of this I may not be going to grad school.
Any advice??

Thanks and sorry this was so long!

 

[psychnic]

Hi Dani--First off, I am so sorry, this situation sucks!! The same thing happened to me last year. Even though you got a postcard from another school, it would still be helpful to call the secretaries at each school you applied to--when I did this I found that none of the schools had my prof's rec. Because I called, the secretaries worked it out so that my app. would still be considered as long as I got another rec. sent to them quickly. Hope this helps!

 

[FranklinR]

It does suck. No way around that. I feel your pain.

You should contact all your schools immediately (by email, phone or both) to make sure they have the letter. If they don't, explain what happened.

You should hunt the professor down and find out what happened. Be nice - s/he still has to produce the letter - but be insistent. Find the professor. Don't just leave messages, but find him or her. (not at home, though - that's creepy) Is he or she currently teaching a class? See if you can get the letters submitted (if it's being done electronically) while you're in the room. Offer to 'help'. Offer to mail the letters yourself to 'save the professor time.' Whatever it takes.

You should ALSO see if there's someone else who could write a substitution letter for you. As in start both the professor-hunting and replacement-finding processes simultaneously, so if one fails to bear recommendation fruit you still have a backup.

Go forth!

 

[deleted176373]

Sorry to hear you got shafted.

I've given this advice before, but it never hurt to send 4 letters to each program. I had this same problem with one professor, fortunately, I had rotated professors through various programs, not allowing any one the opportunity to write a weak letter (some professors insisted their letters would be blind.) and made sure each program had 4 letters to account for lost letters etc.

Mark

 

[dd123]

do you really want a letter from someone that you have to hunt down and force to write for you?

 

[FranklinR]

do you really want a letter from someone that you have to hunt down and force to write for you?

It's possible the professor is highly regarded is his or her field, thinks very highly of the applicant and writes eloquently. S/he is, however, a bit forgetful. It certainly happens. If the person has a solid reputation and writes a good letter, then yes, I'm willing to hunt the person down.

 

[Tyness]

This happened to me and I also applied to the university of Indianapolis. I can now only be consider for the master degree program as well. It sucks, no way around that. You trust someone that you thing is professional and responsible and they crush you. Sorry

 

[Dani55]

It's possible the professor is highly regarded is his or her field, thinks very highly of the applicant and writes eloquently. S/he is, however, a bit forgetful. It certainly happens. If the person has a solid reputation and writes a good letter, then yes, I'm willing to hunt the person down.

I couldn't have responded better myself. That's the exact situation. I really like this professor, he's a great guy and very knowledgeable, but he is a bit lazy and forgetful.

I searched to find out what his office hours are (since I am not enrolled in his class this semester) and will hunt him down Monday and offer to send the letter myself (express delivery!)

Thank you everyone for reading my rant and responding with great advice.