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Two Big Problems

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 1:38 am
by marco
I am really freaking out right now. The deadline to submit complete applications for one school was today and one of my recommenders sent the letter of recommendation to the incorrect school so now I have two major problems: 1.- It is past the deadline and one of my lors has not been sent. 2.- The letter that was sent to the incorrect school was addressed to the school he meant to send it to. What do I do?

Are schools firm with their deadlines? Are schools willing to let a professor resend a lor to correct his mistake?
Any advice?

Thanks a lot for your time.

Re: Two Big Problems

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 2:06 am
by IIIII
marco wrote:I am really freaking out right now. The deadline to submit complete applications for one school was today and one of my recommenders sent the letter of recommendation to the incorrect school so now I have two major problems: 1.- It is past the deadline and one of my lors has not been sent. 2.- The letter that was sent to the incorrect school was addressed to the school he meant to send it to. What do I do?

Are schools firm with their deadlines? Are schools willing to let a professor resend a lor to correct his mistake?
Any advice?

Thanks a lot for your time.
Schools normally are fairly lenient about LORs coming in (up to a week or so) late. Of course it depends on the department, though I wouldn't stress about. Just email the graduate office and say the LOR was sent to the wrong address, but a new corrected mailing is on the way. I'm sure that happens frequently.

Re: Two Big Problems

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 6:21 pm
by marco
Fortunately the school had no problem with the late LoR. I mailed the other school with the incorrectly addressed letter to see if there was a way to edit the letter and they plainly said no. Do you guys think this would greatly affect my application?

Re: Two Big Problems

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 7:55 pm
by waiting512
Unlike your personal statement, the reason for which you are a good candidate does not change much between recommendations; thus, I think that if your professor sent in the correct LOR there would be no issue from the committee's perspective (besides them laughing at your professor for making such a careless mistake). In short, I do not think it will reflect poorly on you at all. I am surprised, though, by the shortness of the admissions office. Maybe you should try the division secretary and explain the problem to her or him.

Re: Two Big Problems

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 8:19 pm
by math_stu
You can ask the professor himself to mail them/ Maybe they will take him more seriously

Re: Two Big Problems

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 8:49 pm
by marco
Yeah my professor wrote to them this morning. I hope that they take him more seriously and find a solution for him.
All in all, I think that regardless of the incorrect address what is most important is the content of the LoR and I hope that the admissions committee will focus on this and overlook the address. Well see.