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The Deadlines are in January 15th with some in March. Just want to get them out of the way. Any suggestion would be great.
When Should I ask for letters of Reccomendation
- Thread starter Intermillan
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Yesterday. Seriously.
The holidays are a mess, and you want to give a few months of lead time. I remember asking in the fall for Dec. deadlines. Professors can take forever to write them, plus you want to be considerate of their busy schedules, etc.
-t
The holidays are a mess, and you want to give a few months of lead time. I remember asking in the fall for Dec. deadlines. Professors can take forever to write them, plus you want to be considerate of their busy schedules, etc.
-t
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Now. 😱
IMO, those that are due in January should really be done before your university goes on winter break. It is entirely possible that at least one of your writers will be slow to get the letters done, so you need some cushion time. Schools vary, of course, but a lot of of programs want everything sent to them in one package. That means you need to have it ready to send by the first of January so that there are no snafu's in making the deadline. If that's the case, you're going to want to have your materials in hand before Christmas so that your stress level is under control when it comes to mailing everything out in a timely manner.
...just my $.02.
Good luck!!!
IMO, those that are due in January should really be done before your university goes on winter break. It is entirely possible that at least one of your writers will be slow to get the letters done, so you need some cushion time. Schools vary, of course, but a lot of of programs want everything sent to them in one package. That means you need to have it ready to send by the first of January so that there are no snafu's in making the deadline. If that's the case, you're going to want to have your materials in hand before Christmas so that your stress level is under control when it comes to mailing everything out in a timely manner.
...just my $.02.
Good luck!!!
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Now. 😱
IMO, those that are due in January should really be done before your university goes on winter break. It is entirely possible that at least one of your writers will be slow to get the letters done, so you need some cushion time. Schools vary, of course, but a lot of of programs want everything sent to them in one package. That means you need to have it ready to send by the first of January so that there are no snafu's in making the deadline. If that's the case, you're going to want to have your materials in hand before Christmas so that your stress level is under control when it comes to mailing everything out in a timely manner.
...just my $.02.
Good luck!!!
Get to it. In all liklihood, the profs already have a short stack to write for other students. The Fall being a frenzied mess with adjusting to a new schedule, classes, graduate students and the holidays--they need as much time as possible.
I assembled my recommenders very early--I asked the LAST one in August. Additionally, I gave them a CV, my PS (with my research focus), my GRE scores, all of the schools and deadlines, stamped and addressed envelopes and weekly reminders--all in an effort to make the process as easy as possible.
good luck.
Agreed.
Whereas the rest of the application pieces are all up to you and fully your responsibility when they get done, you have to put the LOR's in someone else's hands... and that someone may have 5 other students asking him/her to write 20 LOR's each for them.
In other words, it's not a very nice feeling to have all of your application stuff done ahead of time and then being forced to sit and wait for a few weeks because your letters aren't ready yet and your schools require you to send all the materials together in one envelope.
Whereas the rest of the application pieces are all up to you and fully your responsibility when they get done, you have to put the LOR's in someone else's hands... and that someone may have 5 other students asking him/her to write 20 LOR's each for them.
In other words, it's not a very nice feeling to have all of your application stuff done ahead of time and then being forced to sit and wait for a few weeks because your letters aren't ready yet and your schools require you to send all the materials together in one envelope.
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If it makes you feel any better, I just asked this week and nobody flipped out. In fact, they were more than happy. But one has been writing me letters for 2+ years and I go to a very small school with few people applying to grad school.
I was always told to give them at least six weeks. Mine have about 9.
I was always told to give them at least six weeks. Mine have about 9.
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Yes, definitely give them as much info on yourself and your applications as you can. I did the same thing as socialcog...handed them an organized bundle with each school separated with instructions, preaddressed/stamped envelopes, etc. There was a master list of what went where and redundant instructions attached to each letter to try and make things as easy for them as possible. I also included my PS, CV and for one of them a synopsis of my performance in his class as a particular grade was his prerequisite for even considering writing for me.
Don't freak out about this...it's not too late. I would just be knocking on doors first thing Monday. 🙄
I have to agree with everyone here. When I applied, I waited until about early to mid-November to ask for the letters, which were due from Dec. 15 to Jan 1. I ended up having to fedex many of my apps overnight (at great cost!) in order to make my deadlines! Please don't wait! Especially if some of your professors are swamped.
