Recommendation Regrets
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:38 am
I've sent applications in for all but two schools on my list, and I'm beginning to freak out. I have three letters of recommendation: two from professors I'm very close with (A+B) and one from a professor (C) who knows me quite well and has taught me in legal classes.
One of these professors (B) just won't send their letter, and I believe he may be sending my most important recommendation. I first asked him before the fall semester even started. Since then, I've spoken with him three times, giving him more information about myself, including spilling my guts about some pretty personal stuff that would help him understand me better.
This last session happened last Monday, after B told me he had finished a draft of the letter. This meeting was so he could make the draft "more personal." B told me he now had plenty of information to work with, so I sent in my applications, thinking he'd send the letter in.
It's now Wednesday, nine days later, and still there's no letter. I know I will get a notification about it immediately after he sends it - this happened with both of my other recommenders. I've emailed him, asked him if he needs any help, all semester. I set an arbitrary deadline for the end of October, then right before Thanksgiving, then before Thanksgiving break ends. Still nothing, and now I don't know what to do. I just checked my Harvard application and they've already sent it in for review, even though I noted in the application that I needed one more letter sent to them.
How do I approach this? Do I try to go through with my applications sans this letter and hope for the best? Or should I pressure the recommender to get it in ASAP? A, I know, is fine. C could be a wild card (the professor told me the focus of my personal statement should be the law classes I've taken and the grades I got in them). I have Yale and NYU left to do, but I'm beginning to worry that the lack of this third letter could harm my chances even at Cornell, even though my numbers are above their range.
One of these professors (B) just won't send their letter, and I believe he may be sending my most important recommendation. I first asked him before the fall semester even started. Since then, I've spoken with him three times, giving him more information about myself, including spilling my guts about some pretty personal stuff that would help him understand me better.
This last session happened last Monday, after B told me he had finished a draft of the letter. This meeting was so he could make the draft "more personal." B told me he now had plenty of information to work with, so I sent in my applications, thinking he'd send the letter in.
It's now Wednesday, nine days later, and still there's no letter. I know I will get a notification about it immediately after he sends it - this happened with both of my other recommenders. I've emailed him, asked him if he needs any help, all semester. I set an arbitrary deadline for the end of October, then right before Thanksgiving, then before Thanksgiving break ends. Still nothing, and now I don't know what to do. I just checked my Harvard application and they've already sent it in for review, even though I noted in the application that I needed one more letter sent to them.
How do I approach this? Do I try to go through with my applications sans this letter and hope for the best? Or should I pressure the recommender to get it in ASAP? A, I know, is fine. C could be a wild card (the professor told me the focus of my personal statement should be the law classes I've taken and the grades I got in them). I have Yale and NYU left to do, but I'm beginning to worry that the lack of this third letter could harm my chances even at Cornell, even though my numbers are above their range.