Speeding Up LORs

[MedPR]

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I've got 5 LORs total. Only 1 of which has been submitted and received by interfolio and AMCAS so far.

As for the other 4, two have openly told me to "feel free to send me an email if the deadline is approaching and I still haven't submitted" but the other two haven't said a word since agreeing (happily) to write me an LOR. One is a professor, the other is a DO that I shadowed. When I originally requested all 5 back in May, I kindly told them all that the deadline was the first week of July. Since then, I've found out that DO secondaries come out next week, and MD secondaries as early as 6/29 so I would like to have all of my LORs submitted by then.

I know the general idea is to email the LOR writer something that lets them know I need/want it soon, but in a way that doesn't sound pushy or demanding. I have no idea how to write such an email.

Can someone help? Thank you!

 

[startingover84]

Because you told your letter writers the first week of July, I would not expect them to finish sooner. However, I would send them a friendly e-mail with something along the lines of,

"Thank you again for agreeing to write me a letter of recommendation for medical school. I have already submitted my applications, and I have been informed that it's best to have all parts of my application (including letters) complete as early as possible. Please let me know if there is anything else you need from me or if you will not be able to make the deadline of July 1st (or whatever date you gave them)."

That's what I would do, anyway. Good luck!

I've got 5 LORs total. Only 1 of which has been submitted and received by interfolio and AMCAS so far.

As for the other 4, two have openly told me to "feel free to send me an email if the deadline is approaching and I still haven't submitted" but the other two haven't said a word since agreeing (happily) to write me an LOR. One is a professor, the other is a DO that I shadowed. When I originally requested all 5 back in May, I kindly told them all that the deadline was the first week of July. Since then, I've found out that DO secondaries come out next week, and MD secondaries as early as 6/29 so I would like to have all of my LORs submitted by then.

I know the general idea is to email the LOR writer something that lets them know I need/want it soon, but in a way that doesn't sound pushy or demanding. I have no idea how to write such an email.

Can someone help? Thank you!

 

[MedPR]

Because you told your letter writers the first week of July, I would not expect them to finish sooner. However, I would send them a friendly e-mail with something along the lines of,

"Thank you again for agreeing to write me a letter of recommendation for medical school. I have already submitted my applications, and I have been informed that it's best to have all parts of my application (including letters) complete as early as possible. Please let me know if there is anything else you need from me or if you will not be able to make the deadline of July 1st (or whatever date you gave them)."

That's what I would do, anyway. Good luck!

Yea, I definitely don't expect them to get it submitted before the date I originally told them, but I'm already getting nervous about having them submitted even by then. I'll send an email similar to what you wrote. Thanks!

 

[excitedtoapply]

If you have not provided your personal statement or you have a new draft of your PS, you can tell them you thought it would help with writing the LOR, oh and by the way, I screwed up earlier when I told you July 1...obviously a bit more eloquently and apologetically.

 

[MedPR]

If you have not provided your personal statement or you have a new draft of your PS, you can tell them you thought it would help with writing the LOR, oh and by the way, I screwed up earlier when I told you July 1...obviously a bit more eloquently and apologetically.

Oh that's a good idea about PS. I'll send my CV too!

 

[MT Headed]

Oh that's a good idea about PS. I'll send my CV too!

I sent my LOR writers my entire AMCAS app, the interfolio barcode page, an addressed stamped envelope to interfolio, and a cover letter with a thank you and the suggested LOR topics from the UWashington (my dream school) website. The cover letter gave a deadline (July 1st) and a reminder about application timeliness.

Only one LOR writer didn't make the July 1st deadline, and I sent a tactful letter (sorry, not in my Sent Items folder anymore) on July 8th, to push things along. I think it was along the lines of "I see I am missing one letter, from you, just making sure you still have that big manilla envelope with all that crap in it".

I agree it would be inappropriate to speed up a letter to before your deadline, and you can't go suggesting a speedup until it is clear the letter is going to be late, so you are in somewhat of a bind. But giving the prof more material today like a PS with a reminder, that is genius!

 

[MedPR]

I sent my LOR writers my entire AMCAS app, the interfolio barcode page, an addressed stamped envelope to interfolio, and a cover letter with a thank you and the suggested LOR topics from the UWashington (my dream school) website. The cover letter gave a deadline (July 1st) and a reminder about application timeliness.

Only one LOR writer didn't make the July 1st deadline, and I sent a tactful letter (sorry, not in my Sent Items folder anymore) on July 8th, to push things along. I think it was along the lines of "I see I am missing one letter, from you, just making sure you still have that big manilla envelope with all that crap in it".

I agree it would be inappropriate to speed up a letter to before your deadline, and you can't go suggesting a speedup until it is clear the letter is going to be late, so you are in somewhat of a bind. But giving the prof more material today like a PS with a reminder, that is genius!

If I don't hear back from them this time around I'm going to send them my entire app as well. I thought I was going to have one extra science LOR, so it wasn't going to be a big deal, but a lot of schools said they would accept a third science (and not an employer) in lieu of a non-science.

I wish I had given them all a folder with more information. I should've read the LOR guide beforehand.

 

[dmf2682]

I sent my LOR writers my entire AMCAS app, the interfolio barcode page, an addressed stamped envelope to interfolio, and a cover letter with a thank you and the suggested LOR topics from the UWashington[\B] (my dream school) website. The cover letter gave a deadline (July 1st) and a reminder about application timeliness.

I thought about doing something like this but then thought of the nightmare situation where one of my dimmer recommenders might make the letter school specific. That would turn a great volunteering rec into a liability. Worth the risk?

 

[MedPR]

I thought about doing something like this but then thought of the nightmare situation where one of my dimmer recommenders might make the letter school specific. That would turn a great volunteering rec into a liability. Worth the risk?

Definitely worth the risk if you have extra LORs. Might not be if you have only the minimum/required ones.

 

[MT Headed]

I thought about doing something like this but then thought of the nightmare situation where one of my dimmer recommenders might make the letter school specific. That would turn a great volunteering rec into a liability. Worth the risk?

I didn't mention my dream school or any schools. Just UWash's bullet points on what a proper LOR ought to contain.