Teachers- if you don’t have time, then please don’t agree to doing it. It’s that easy!

The deadline is November 1. It’s not October 25. Teachers are professionals and get them done. Does your child take a test 7 days early? Do you turn in projects at work 2 weeks early?

And be careful about pestering a teacher to turn in the rec early. Do you want the last contact before the teacher submits the rec to be negative?

I’ll also share that if the teacher doesn’t fill it out, they have a grace period. One year a child spelled my email wrong so they were upset I didn’t fill it out, and I was perplexed because I never got the request through any portal.

We found the mistake and the college had given recommenders 3 weeks beyond the student deadline to submit things, so it got in on time.

I had 22 requests this year. I sat with every child to discuss what to put in them, took detailed notes, and have been cranking them out one at a time when I have a free hour (they don’t take 5 minutes). The ones that are due 11/1 are my agenda for this afternoon after my kids’ sports games.

Please understand that the total commitment is probably 1.5 hours. 20 minutes talking with your kid, 45-60 minutes writing it, 10 minutes filling out the common app ranking/checkbox questions, and 5 minutes filling out the summary questions on the form and uploading the pdf.

If you need it done faster I’m happy to speed it up, but then ChatGPT comes into play out of necessity. My day job is already 10 hours of time. This is a weekend only project. (And yes, I could have written it in June but I have been burned too many times by kids who asked for it and never followed through with applying to schools that needed them. That’s 2 hours of time wasted, so I’m gun shy now and wait until my name shows up in the portal in August or September)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Nothing like a teacher saying it’s okay to wait until the last minute . . .

Teacher here and I’ll write this again:

We are not given time to write these letters. They are done at home, along with most of our planning and grading. When you’re adding an extra 50 hours of work on a teacher’s already overburdened plate, it’s reasonable to assume they are going to triage.

My lesson plans for tomorrow always take precedence. I need to be prepared to teach. Next comes anything due back to students, like essay comments or a graded quiz. Then come LOR, mainly because I know I have until 11/1 and other deadlines are earlier. All of this comes before quality time with my family.

So please be gracious to the people giving up their time for your children. We’re getting it done. It may not be prompt and to your liking because of many other obligations, but they are getting done.

I’ve never heard of teachers agreeing and then not timely submitting them. I get that it’s stressful. But they aren’t late. There’s still a full week.

Anonymous wrote:I’m the OP.thank you for all your feedback!
The teachers name is in Naviance system (which automatically shows EA due date of Nov 1 so it’s not like the student could have told them it’s due in October or earlier than needed.) it still says “requested”. One of my child’s application is to UMD, and I believe they have a pretty strict deadline about the Nov 1.

As long as it's in by Nov 1, it's fine. It's also true that the teacher/school info coming in a few days late, probably won't matter, but regardless, the teacher should get it in on time.

Tell your kid to write the thank you note. It'll be fine.

I’m the OP.thank you for all your feedback!
The teachers name is in Naviance system (which automatically shows EA due date of Nov 1 so it’s not like the student could have told them it’s due in October or earlier than needed.) it still says “requested”. One of my child’s application is to UMD, and I believe they have a pretty strict deadline about the Nov 1.

DD purposely chose two teachers we knew would take it seriously and who also had reputations within the school for being “good” LOR writers. At school, they only agree to do a limited amount in order to be able to complete them all. DD’s letters have been in for weeks.

I would also emphasize to your kid that following up is part of what good students (or employees) do. It’s not annoying to the other person or scary. It’s just part of the process.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Nothing like a teacher saying it’s okay to wait until the last minute . . .

Anonymous wrote: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.

This. Maybe a gentle reminder of your EA apps, but don't stress too much about it

Anonymous wrote: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.

Really which schools? UMD wants a completed application on 11/1.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Have your child speak to their counselor.

My child has one outstanding letter too and the counselor has offered to speak to the teacher. My kid now plans to take her up on it.

Lots haven’t. Write a thank you / nudge. Do it today.