A nagging problem that college students face is the letter of recommendation (LoR) from their professors. Many students find themselves in a difficult spot when they don’t receive LoR from their professors despite requesting to them through email. The students need these letters by a certain deadline and it’s natural for them to feel anxious and nervous about it. Well, the professor not responding to email letters of recommendation is a common problem that most students face.
What should the students do in this situation? Should they visit the professor at the department, and discuss the matter? But what if you don’t find him there? What if he does not want to offer you the LoR? Won’t it be awkward to try to meet him in this case?
But before we answer this overwhelming question of the professor not responding to an email letter of recommendation, let’s look at what a letter of recommendation is. And, when is this required?
What is a Letter of Recommendation?
In the academic context, a letter of recommendation is a letter given by a teacher to a student. It’s a formal letter in which the professor highlights the academic experiences and strengths of the student by mentioning some of the details. He or she also talks about the general personality, character, and attributes of the student. A letter of recommendation from a teacher reflects as much about the student as it is about the professor and the University. It reflects on the professor’s sincerity and integrity in identifying and highlighting the positive aspects of the student’s academic achievements. For this reason, the professors would not like to write an LoR if he does not know the student well enough.
When is the Letter of Recommendation Required?
When a student seeks admission to a Master’s program, he needs to attach a letter of recommendation from a professor with whom he had worked closely during his undergraduate program. Similarly, for admission to a Ph.D. program, he requires a letter of recommendation from a professor during his Master’s program. A student may provide more than one letter of recommendation. An LoR from a professor may also be required while seeking employment in the academic world, applying for a fellowship, a scholarship, or an academic project.
Professor not Responding to Email Letter of Recommendation: What to Do?
In this post, we try to provide the most appropriate answers to this question. One of the things that you may have to do is to write a polite follow-up email. To that end, we will provide you a format and some sample letters later in this post. But, right now let’s consider why the professor has not responded to your request for a letter of recommendation.
Was Your LoR Request Properly Written?
This is a very important thing to consider. Does the professor know you well enough? Have you met him many times and worked closely with him? Have you written the letter giving him enough time to respond? Usually, this time should be 2 months, clearly mentioning the deadline by which you will want the letter.
Talk to Other Students
You should talk to some students at your college/university about their experiences in this regard. You might get to know what could be the reason for your professor not responding to your LoR request.
A student recalls that she had written to two professors for LoR and neither of them responded. Later, she found out that one of them had been abroad. As she tried to collect more information on this, she came to know that professors are mostly accustomed to students asking for recommendations. They don’t take these requests with the same urgency as the students.
Also, they feel less awkward in delaying or saying that they don’t know you enough to write the recommendation letters. So, this means you need to think out seriously before choosing the professor you should write to. Of course, you should write to the professor with whom you have met a few times and enjoy a good relationship.
Your Professor can be on A Holiday
Have you checked out whether your professor is in town at all? These people have a lot of engagements in academic circles. They travel frequently in and outside the country to attend different academic programs. After a busy period at the university, they also may like to go on a holiday. Usually, your professor may have an auto responder in his email to let you know that he is out of town.
If your professor has not responded to your letter of recommendation request, he may be too busy to attend to this type of routine request.
To write such a letter can take half an hour to a few hours. Maybe, he is not finding an appropriate time to do this. If you have time, you can wait for him to reply to your request. In either case, you should write a follow-up email.
It doesn’t mean “No”
If the professor has not sent you the Letter of Recommendation you have sought, it does not necessarily mean that he is going to say “no” to your request. As a new student, you may be worried that the delay in the reply may mean that he is not ready to give you the LoR.
The maximum possibility is that your email is one of the many similar emails that the professor has received. For an ordinary professor receiving 30-50 emails a day that needs to be acted on is a routine matter. For a senior and busy professor, this may extend to 150-200 emails every day.
So, it is better not to presume anything and write to him a polite follow-up email and wait for his reply. He will most likely reply to your 2nd email even if he is going to say “no” to your request.
Look for an Alternative?
If the professor has not responded to your LoR request and you are short on time, you should think about the alternatives that you have. You may know some other professors who could give you this letter on an urgent basis. You can take the help of a friend who may know a professor who would do the favor. You should start working on getting your Plan B ready.
Format: How to write follow up email when the professor not responding to email letter of recommendation
To
Name of the professor
Designation
Department
Address: 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Contact: (202) 885-1000
From
Name of the student
Department
Address:
Email:
Phone number:
Dear Prof (Name of the professor),
I am Linda Aouine, an under-graduate student at the School of International Service, American University, Washington. If you can recall I have met you a few times in the last 3 years at the university. In particular, I have worked on an international service project in Italy, early this year.
I am writing this email as a follow-up to my previous email in which I have requested a letter of recommendation. I need this letter for applying to a new international service project in Japan. The deadline to apply for this project is 26 May 2021.
It seems you have not noticed my email as I haven’t received any reply from you. May I request you to kindly issue me a letter of recommendation for the above-mentioned project? All the details about me and the project are being given in a separate doc file attachment with this email.
Sincerely
Signature: ………..
Name: …………..
Sample 1
To
Jeffrey Bachman
Sr Professorial Lecturer
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Contact: (202) 885-1000
From
Linda Aouine
Final Year Bachelor of Arts
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Email:
Phone number:
Dear Prof Jeffrey Bachman,
I am your student Linda Aouine from the Final Year batch of Bachelor of Arts at the School of International Service, American University, Washington. I hope you remember me for I have been attending your classes and working on special projects throughout the last two-and-a-half years at the department.
I am writing this email as a follow-up to an email I had written on 23 April 2021. I need a letter of recommendation from you for applying to a Master’s Program in August 2021. In my previous email, I have given all the necessary details. You can find it in the attachment of this email as well.
It seems my email has not been able to catch your attention. Or, maybe, you are too busy to look at my email and reply. May I request you to kindly look at my request and process it at your convenience?
Yours Sincerely
Linda Aouine
Sample 2
To
William Belding
Professor
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
From
Linda Aouine
Final Year Bachelor of Arts
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Email:
Phone number:
Dear Professor William Belding,
I am Linda Aouine, a final year student of Bachelor of Arts at the School of International Service, American University. I hope you can recall me as I have worked on some special projects under you for my graduation degree.
I am writing this email as a follow-up to my previous email which seems to have gone unnoticed at your end. In my last email, I had requested you to issue me a letter of recommendation for my admission to the Master’s program. As I need at least 3 such recommendations, I have written similar requests to some other faculty members at the department.
I still have about 8 weeks before the deadline. Nevertheless, I thought I should politely remind you that I am expecting a letter of recommendation from you. I am resending all the necessary details through the attachment.
Yours Sincerely
Linda Aouine
Sample 3
To
Daniel Bernhofen
Professor
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
From
Linda Aouine
Final Year Bachelor of Arts
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Email:
Phone number:
Dear Prof Daniel Bernhofen,
Sir, I am your final year student at the School of International Service, American University. I am writing this email to gently remind you that my request for a letter of recommendation is pending at your desk. I had written an email on 23 April 2021, with all the necessary details provided in the attachment.
I am planning to apply for a short-term fellowship at an Australian University. I need your letter of recommendation to make my application count. Please, find all necessary details in the attachment.
May I request you to issue me this letter latest by 15 May 2021?
Yours Sincerely,
Linda Aouine
Sample 4
To
Aaron Boesenecker
Professor
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
From
Linda Aouine
Final Year Bachelor of Arts
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Email:
Phone number:
Dear Prof Aaron Boesenecker,
I am Linda Aouine, a final-year student at the School of International Service, American University. Sir, I hope you recall my last email in which I had requested for a letter of recommendation for a fellowship program. If you can recall I had met you at the department and shared all the necessary details with you.
Sir, the deadline for applying to this program is 5 June 2021. May I request you to kindly issue me this letter latest by 30 May 2021?
Yours Sincerely
Linda Aouine
Sample 5
Marcelo Bohrt
Professor
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
From
Linda Aouine
Final Year Bachelor of Arts
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Email:
Phone number:
Dear Professor Marcelo Bohrt,
I am Linda Aouine, a final-year student at the School of International Service, American University. Sir, I need a letter of recommendation for my further studies. I am planning to apply to a few universities for the Master’s program.
Sir, I would like to remind you that I had written an email on 23 April 2021, requesting a letter of recommendation for the same purpose. It seems you have been very busy these days as I neither got a reply nor the recommendation letter as yet.
May I request you to kindly issue me a letter of recommendation for further studies? In the attachment, you will find all the details of the projects I have completed under your guidance and supervision.
Yours Sincerely,
Linda Aouine
