Professor very slow in getting me my LOR

[MrRed]

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So ~2.5 months ago I approached an MCB professor of mine and asked if he might give me a letter of recommendation for the honors program at my school. (In retrospect I should've probably asked at least one other, potentially avoiding this problem, but seeing as only 1 LOR was necessary I thought asking one professor would be sufficient)

Sooooo for the past 4-5 weeks I've been emailing him on average once a week, always being courteous of course, about trying to set up a meeting with him. We'll get to the point where he'll say "so whats your schedule like? can we shoot for next week sometime?" -- then I'll respond and he will not. This has happened 3 times already lol

About 2 weeks ago he actually told me he was done with my LOR, now the problem is getting him to respond so i can get it...
(Sidenote: He's also offered me a research position for the fall semester and wanted to meet with me to discuss when I can do rotations in his lab and what not, which is another reason I was to see him.)

Long story short he's failed to respond to my two most recent emails from 8 days ago, as well as another follow-up email I sent yesterday. The deadline for handing in the completed honors application is June 2nd, which is this Monday, 5 days from now. Everything else for the application is done; GPA is stellar, volunteer experience, essays, etc.

So that is the background story, sorry tis a bit long.
My plan was to drive up to my school tomorrow, only a 45min drive so not bad, and try to find my professor and meet with him in person. I understand he's very busy as he runs a prominent lab and its summer so family comes into play but I mean I gave him nearly 3 months to do it and all I need to do is get it from him...

Curious to hear some others opinions on what my plan of action should be?
I've tried calling the phone number listed on his department page quite a few times and it just rings for 5 minutes and then says the person you've tried to call is unavailable blah blah.

Thanks for all the help! Much appreciated 🙂 sorry for the long rant-type post

 

[kyamh]

I had to email a professor from February through June to get her letter in....I hate sabbaticals! It's frustrating, but all I can tell you is that you're doing things right. Finding the professor in person is best course of action. Also, can you stalk his lab techs/manager? Maybe they can help you find a time/place where you can bump into your professor?

 

[sakata8242]

LoRs are like underpants. Always take more than you think you need. That will hold true when you apply for anything else down the road, including residency.

Is the letter supposed to pass through your hands, or is it sent directly by your professor to the honor's program? Have you contacted them and asked if they got a letter from professor so-and-so? Does he have an administrative assistant or lab manager? Try contacting him through these people; professors are usually conditioned to answer emails from their ancillary staff because if they don't they usually start getting threatening emails/phone calls.

 

[Beargryllz]

Sometimes you just have to abandon a lost cause

I'm still waiting for a LOR from a really nice instructor that was really eager to help. It's been over a year now.

 

[sunflower18]

He might be balking at the fact that you are asking for the letter yourself. Most of the time, letters are confidential, and should not be handled by you directly. If you are wording your emails like, "Hey, when can I get your letter from you?" he might feel uncomfortable and unsure of what to say. Can you tell him, "If you're done, please email it to the honors program at xxx" and see if he does that instead?

 

[MrRed]

LoRs are like underpants. Always take more than you think you need. That will hold true when you apply for anything else down the road, including residency.

Is the letter supposed to pass through your hands, or is it sent directly by your professor to the honor's program? Have you contacted them and asked if they got a letter from professor so-and-so? Does he have an administrative assistant or lab manager? Try contacting him through these people; professors are usually conditioned to answer emails from their ancillary staff because if they don't they usually start getting threatening emails/phone calls.

amazing advice here! thanks all I knew i could count on this forum 🙂 Will definitely contact those working under him and contact the honors program tomorrow. You guys made me feel a hell of alot better! thanks again.

I had to email a professor from February through June to get her letter in....I hate sabbaticals! It's frustrating, but all I can tell you is that you're doing things right. Finding the professor in person is best course of action. Also, can you stalk his lab techs/manager? Maybe they can help you find a time/place where you can bump into your professor?

will definitely still try to find him tomorrow if possible and if not the lab techs for sure. great advice once again thanks!

He might be balking at the fact that you are asking for the letter yourself. Most of the time, letters are confidential, and should not be handled by you directly. If you are wording your emails like, "Hey, when can I get your letter from you?" he might feel uncomfortable and unsure of what to say. Can you tell him, "If you're done, please email it to the honors program at xxx" and see if he does that instead?

ahh I never though of it that way! I always assumed that the letter was supposed to pass through my hands and I hand it in with the entirety of my application but it makes sense that it might not be meant to pass to me and just go straight to the office. Will definitely look into this and apologize to him if I did come off in the wrong way, still need to confirm it will get there though!

 

[mrh125]

I had to nag my professor's immensely to get the LORs out on time. Going to their office hours if you can find their class syllabus and office would be good. Professors are very idiosyncratic about LOR writing and timing things.