Polite way to remind LOR writers???

[medking]

---

Members don't see this ad.

What would you write in an email or say when you call them to remind them that your letter is due soon??? I dont want to be rude or sound like I am rushing them.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[viciouz]

Send them a thank you card with a gift. That always works.

 

[nyct]

Speaking of gifts...

What is a good price range to spend?

I don't want to insult them with too little, but I don't want it to seem like I'm bribing them either...

 

[boo-yeh]

I'm having the same problem. Here is what I wrote to the two people who still needed to submit their letters for me:

"I hope that you enjoyed the graduation ceremonies and that you are enjoying your summer.

Sunday, June 10, I completed my AMCAS application and they finished processing it today. Can you, at your convenience, submit your letter of recommendation?

I apologize for rushing things. I can’t thank you enough for all of your help in this."

One professor responded almost immediately, apologizing that he had completed it but forgot to submit it and Interfolio sent me a confirmation message a few hours later.

The other professor, however, has not responded...so the above email is batting .500.

 

[medking]

I've also heard of the thank you card and gift approach, but it just seems weird to give them those things when the letter isnt done yet. It just seems like those things should come after the letter is done.

Any other good ways of reminding them?

 

[medking]

I'm having the same problem. Here is what I wrote to the two people who still needed to submit their letters for me:

"I hope that you enjoyed the graduation ceremonies and that you are enjoying your summer.

Sunday, June 10, I completed my AMCAS application and they finished processing it today. Can you, at your convenience, submit your letter of recommendation?

I apologize for rushing things. I can’t thank you enough for all of your help in this."

One professor responded almost immediately, apologizing that he had completed it but forgot to submit it and Interfolio sent me a confirmation message a few hours later.

The other professor, however, has not responded...so the above email is batting .500.

I think that's a nice polite way to remind them.

 

[jochi1543]

Speaking of gifts...

What is a good price range to spend?

I don't want to insult them with too little, but I don't want it to seem like I'm bribing them either...

$25-50, IMO. I'd lean towards the upper limit if you are applying to a ton of schools and not using Interfolio, just b/c it's a hassle for them to keep sending endless copies. But I think that if it's at all possible, you want to give a gift that doesn't have monetary value readily showing on it (like a gift card), but is personal. For example, a certain bio prof was really great to me during the 2 classes I took with him, and so I sneakily found out his wife's name through the department secretary and bought the two of them tickets to the BodyWorlds exhibit (remember, all the plasticized corpses), which was scheduled to arrive to town shortly after.... He was thrilled.👍

 

[jochi1543]

The other professor, however, has not responded...so the above email is batting .500.

Well, it's summer, give him/her some time - s/he might not be in the office/checking his or her e-mail daily.

 

[boo-yeh]

Well, it's summer, give him/her some time - s/he might not be in the office/checking his or her e-mail daily.

Haha, I hope that's the case. My guess is that he's stumped at writing a med school letter of rec, seeing as he's a politics professor that's been asked to write law school letters for the past fifty years.

 

[jochi1543]

Haha, I hope that's the case. My guess is that he's stumped at writing a med school letter of rec, seeing as he's a politics professor that's been asked to write law school letters for the past fifty years.

"I see boo-yeh developing a successful career in the field of medical malpractice..oh wait....darn!"

 

[LolaGene]

I gave a card to my PI for helping me apply for a research grant after sophomore year (he wrote a rec etc) and he was offended. I don't think you should give gifts to thank rec writers in college, although i did in high school bc it was standard. but be sure to sincerely thank them.

as a reminder, you could ask that they let you know when the letter is sent in so that you can personally check if it got to where it was supposed to get (to take some work off their shoulders etc).

 

[riceman04]

I pretended as if one of my LOR writers had already sent the letter and I thanked him for it...but that I needed him to send it again b/c I forgot to tell him to attach a note stating that it was an update. I knew he never sent the letter to begin with (since I called the credentials office here at Penn 20 million times)...but I neither wanted to spend $$$ on him as a semi-bribe nor did I want to annoy him....TURNS OUT MY DEVIOUS PLAN WORKED

 

[Funky]

The best way by far is getting a picture of them doing something illegal and then blackmailing them with it

 

[jochi1543]

I gave a card to my PI for helping me apply for a research grant after sophomore year (he wrote a rec etc) and he was offended.

He was offended by a CARD? I'm sorry, but I think we've got an outlier here.

I spent most of my 4 years in school working part-time in various academic departments and I've never seen a prof do anything other than jump around giddily and drool when they got a gift from a student who had received some sort of favor from them.

 

[SIREN]

I gave a card to my PI for helping me apply for a research grant after sophomore year (he wrote a rec etc) and he was offended. I don't think you should give gifts to thank rec writers in college, although i did in high school bc it was standard. but be sure to sincerely thank them.

as a reminder, you could ask that they let you know when the letter is sent in so that you can personally check if it got to where it was supposed to get (to take some work off their shoulders etc).

Really? That's too bad, I guess some people just take things the wrong way. 😕

 

[armybound]

Good luck.

I requested LORs from 2 professors who would be "happy to" write them for me. I submitted my info to them with a deadline, then patiently waited. Reminded them it was closing in, still no LORs. Emailed them again after the deadline saying hey, it would be great if you could get them done just whenever, I'm hoping to get these turned in soon.

Neither of them ever emailed me back, so I expected they never would. Out of the blue one of them emailed me (about 2 weeks after my last reminder) saying he had been busy but that he would work on it. A couple days later he submitted it. The other one.. never wrote me back. That was actually the 2nd time I had asked that professor for one, he told me he'd write it, and never did.

 

[jochi1543]

Really? That's too bad, I guess some people just take things the wrong way. 😕

One time, someone tried to bribe me by holding the door open for me when I exited the office!😡 I put my foot down and had the dean suspend them for 2 weeks!😡 That way the little sucker will learn!😡

 

[Funky]

Good luck.

I requested LORs from 2 professors who would be "happy to" write them for me. I submitted my info to them with a deadline, then patiently waited. Reminded them it was closing in, still no LORs. Emailed them again after the deadline saying hey, it would be great if you could get them done just whenever, I'm hoping to get these turned in soon.

Neither of them ever emailed me back, so I expected they never would. Out of the blue one of them emailed me (about 2 weeks after my last reminder) saying he had been busy but that he would work on it. A couple days later he submitted it. The other one.. never wrote me back. That was actually the 2nd time I had asked that professor for one, he told me he'd write it, and never did.

I know your pain.
I asked a professor in march for a LOR
Emailed him 3 times
He finally wrote one and submitted it earlier this month.

 

[penisclaw]

I asked professors for letters in the beginning of april and they still have not submitted them. I have reminded them a few times when I ran into them around school. I even wrote the letter for one professor. All he had to do was sign it and mail it in the envelope I provided. So lazy.

 

[jochi1543]

I even wrote the letter for one professor. All he had to do was sign it and mail it in the envelope I provided. So lazy.

👍

 

[SIREN]

One time, someone tried to bribe me by holding the door open for me when I exited the office!😡 I put my foot down and had the dean suspend them for 2 weeks!😡 That way the little sucker will learn!😡

What on earth where you thinking? You had him suspended for only 2 weeks and you call that putting your foot down? He held the door open for Pete's sake, that should have never happened! You better up the ante next time, if you expect to be taken seriously!

 

[Dzeteo]

I once had a LOR writer, who had not yet submitted his letters, come up to me while I was studying and ask me if I had heard anything from schools yet about being accepted. Of course I hadn't because none of my secondaries were complete without his letter!

I just told him that I hadn't heard anything yet, since they were still waiting to get my LORs. Then he had the nerve to say, "Well, good luck! Let me know how it goes." This was nearly two months AFTER he said he would be 'thrilled' to write them for me. He must have sent them the next day, because a week later most of my secondaries were completed. I trusted him and he really was a turd. Anyways, I got in to my schools.

Ironically, his very last letter arrived after the deadline for one school. The school called me to let me know and asked if I wanted my application closed or if they should still wait for the letter. "Well, it's too late," I said. They said they were behind in the admissions process and would still accept my late letter. They actually called him to remind him for me and I was accepted to that school! Nice work guy.

 

[jochi1543]

What on earth where you thinking? You had him suspended for only 2 weeks and you call that putting your foot down? He held the door open for Pete's sake, that should have never happened! You better up the ante next time, if you expect to be taken seriously!

Well, you know what, the other day the sucker told me "thank you" when I gave him his exam back, and I wasn't gonna take it anymore!😡 So I grabbed him by the collar, dragged him outside, and ran over him with my environmentally friendly Subaru Outback covered with Kucinich stickers! Multiple times!😡

 

[Tenk]

bribe them with candy

preferably starburst.

 

[luv2sd]

I spent around $150 for each professor. Usually expensive perfume sets for women and various gift cards for men lol

of course this was before I asked them to write LORs lol

 

[stat3113]

well I applied to grad school this year and I experienced all these types of problems with LOR writers. Having to send SO many reminder emails, missing out on a few deadlines because they sent in the letters 2-3 months after my request.

Now, say a prof says that he would be happy to write a letter, and you submit all the documents to him, etc. Then say you have to send him MULTIPLE reminders, etc. Is it possible (or ethical) for him to change his assessment of you and send in a BAD letter just because he gets ticked off at your constant reminding?

I certainly hope it would be unethical, but the question is: is it possible to imagine it actually happening?

 

[jochi1543]

well I applied to grad school this year and I experienced all these types of problems with LOR writers. Having to send SO many reminder emails, missing out on a few deadlines because they sent in the letters 2-3 months after my request.

Now, say a prof says that he would be happy to write a letter, and you submit all the documents to him, etc. Then say you have to send him MULTIPLE reminders, etc. Is it possible (or ethical) for him to change his assessment of you and send in a BAD letter just because he gets ticked off at your constant reminding?

I certainly hope it would be unethical, but the question is: is it possible to imagine it actually happening?

Well, it IS, of course, unethical, unless your "reminders" are along the lines of "Where is my goddamn letter, you @!#%%^!!!! 😡" lol. However, just because it's unethical, it doesn't mean it never happens. Similarly, it's unethical for a prof to say "yes" when an applicant asks whether they'd write a good rec letter and then write a bad one, but it HAS happened to people on another premed forum I frequent. Imagine when you find out after the app cycle has (unsuccessfully) ended!

But back to your question - be as gentle as possible about your reminders. For example, if a prof says "I'll have it done by the end of tomorrow," and by the end of tomorrow it's not there, don't start e-mailing/calling right away - give them a few days. If after 3-4 days after the promise date there's still nothing, it's appropriate to send another tactful reminder. By "tactful," I mean something like "I appreciate your time," "I understand that it's a very busy time of year for you," etc. Make sure you don't come off as too demanding or entitled. I mean, some profs are just freaking procrastinators - I've had some that would take 3x their promise time to grade our papers, but would dock 10% if the paper was submitted a day late. It sucks, but you just have to remember that you are at their mercy and that the best you can do is cover your butt and hope for a good result.

 

[stat3113]

a related question: For schools where the pre-med committee writes a letter based on 3-5 letters they get from profs. Is it possible for the committee letter to be 'less than enthusiastic'? I would think not since the school wants to maximize the number of kids who get in. But at the same time, I can't imagine the committee writing with the same enthusiasm and support for a 40mcat, 4.0 and a 30mcat 3.0.

Is it unthinkable for a committee to 'recommend with reservations', which would effectively kill any app's chances of admission?

 

[riceman04]

a related question: For schools where the pre-med committee writes a letter based on 3-5 letters they get from profs. Is it possible for the committee letter to be 'less than enthusiastic'? I would think not since the school wants to maximize the number of kids who get in. But at the same time, I can't imagine the committee writing with the same enthusiasm and support for a 40mcat, 4.0 and a 30mcat 3.0.

Is it unthinkable for a committee to 'recommend with reservations', which would effectively kill any app's chances of admission?

Keep in mind that these people DO comment on applicant personality...If the former is a jackass then I would bet that the committee just might not give him/her as glowing a rec. as YOU would expect.

Or if the people writing the letter are unable to separate personal feelings from their job...then Houston we have a problem.

 

[monkeymeg2]

I know this advice probably won't help those of you who have already asked for your letters, but... What I did was ask for them 4-6 weeks before I needed them for my pre-med folder and asked them to be done by a specific date. I basically put together a folder (always brightly colored so you can see it under other stuff on the desk) with all the necessary items plus a reminder of the date I needed it by and how to submit it. All of them were turned in on time. I think if you ask for it to be finished on a certain date rather than just giving them too much time to finish the letter, it'll work out fine. For letters that I asked for well before I needed them (even a year before), I still picked a date and asked it to be finished by that date. Definitely pick a date that's still like 2 weeks away from when you would need it though...that way you could send a reminder email saying that the premed committee hasn't recieved the letter about a week after they miss the deadline. As someone mentioned, a lot of professors tend to procrastinate and I think we all know that the only end to procrastination is that deadline date.

 

[deleted103644]

Perhaps I've been playing Godfather on the Wii a bit too much, but have you tried throwing them around and punching them a few times, or throwing bottles around their offices?

 

[redteamz]

Is it okay to ask for a LOR over email? Is it better to call them? Does anyone know?

 

[da8s0859q]

Is it okay to ask for a LOR over email? Is it better to call them? Does anyone know?

I vote for doing it in person if at all possible.

 

[boo-yeh]

I vote for doing it in person if at all possible.

What worked for me with my other writers was emailing them asking them if it would be OK to meet and discuss the possibility of writing a letter. That way you kind of prime them for writing a letter, but you still formally request it and discuss it in person.