Teacher still hasn’t submitted letter of recommendation

[Anonymous]

My child has asked their teacher in the spring of 2025 (junior year) when they said yes. They reminded them in September of this year and sent them their resume/brag sheet and as of today they still haven’t submitted a letter to Naviance. They are scared of reminding the teacher again this coming week in case they get mad. We are applying EA with a due date of Nov 1.
What should they do?

[Anonymous]

Talk to your school counselor, that's their job.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Have your child speak to their counselor.

[Anonymous]

It’s infuriating, college and medical school applications held up for months because teachers can’t take 5 mins.
Have your kid make an appt during office hours and sit there while they do it.
Teachers, do what you say you’ll do in a timely manner.

[Anonymous]

A thank you note is a gentle reminder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s infuriating, college and medical school applications held up for months because teachers can’t take 5 mins.
Have your kid make an appt during office hours and sit there while they do it.
Teachers, do what you say you’ll do in a timely manner.

While I agree, teachers should submit recs by the deadline, these recs don't take five minutes. I easily spend an hour on most recs, probably more if I include the brainstorming part. And many teachers are writing MANY recs.

I'm the person who said to write a thank you note. It'll remind the teacher, just in case something has fallen through the cracks. But if the deadline is 11/1, there's no issue right now.

[Anonymous]

What date did your student indicate they needed it by? Teachers often get 10-20 requests for LOR. A good one takes more than 5 minutes. We have to prioritize based on due dates. If it is not due till Nov 1, it can still be submitted Nov 1. If you wanted it earlier, you should have asked for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What date did your student indicate they needed it by? Teachers often get 10-20 requests for LOR. A good one takes more than 5 minutes. We have to prioritize based on due dates. If it is not due till Nov 1, it can still be submitted Nov 1. If you wanted it earlier, you should have asked for that.

We took this approach with kid's LOC. Teacher forgot to do it, so I'm team gentle reminder.

[Anonymous]

Give a deadline of two weeks before you need it. Request at least 4-6 weeks of when you need it, in which your kid's case sounds like what kid did by asking in spring and following up early in senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give a deadline of two weeks before you need it. Request at least 4-6 weeks of when you need it, in which your kid's case sounds like what kid did by asking in spring and following up early in senior year.

Many ask in the Spring but never follow up. Students are told to ask in Spring but teachers are way too busy at the end of the year. I say yes to everyone and tell them to come see me in the fall and give me their resume. OP's student didn't bring in brag sheet until September, so when they asked is irrelevant. Are they in common app? That always serves as a good reminder. Teachers get an email when we are added.

[Anonymous]

I’d ask another teacher.

[Anonymous]

Teacher recs and transcripts are generally not due in applications until about 2 weeks after the apps themselves are due. Check each school's website. There is a window of leeway.

[Anonymous]

If they're using Naviance, then they should be able to see your child and the deadline in the system. But I've had students ask me in the spring and then never follow up and then it turns out they've asked two other teachers. I only write for the kids I see in Naviance.

[Anonymous]

They take over an hour each. I usually get close to 50 requests.

Time isn’t built into our work days to write these letters, so they get done on family time.

Please be kind to these teachers. This is a favor and a gift of time to your child. We are not required to write these letters. They are not a part of our job as many people think they are.

And OP, if the applications are due 11/1, as I suspect they are, the teacher still has time. She is probably getting these done alongside all of her grading and planning that also has to get done at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s infuriating, college and medical school applications held up for months because teachers can’t take 5 mins.
Have your kid make an appt during office hours and sit there while they do it.
Teachers, do what you say you’ll do in a timely manner.

This is horrible advice. My guess is you wouldn't want the letter written while having a student stare at them while it was written.