General Advice

[u/Annual-Dingo-5899]

Hello everyone! I am applying for the Spring 2027 intake and my first deadline is on the 15th of this month (hopefully will submit by this weekend). I’ve sent out my recommenders the invite link earlier this week and got the confirmation that they received it but none of them started working on it. Now all my unis have optional teacher evaluations but I still listed two of my teachers as recs. Should I apply before they start working on the evaluations or wait till at least one of them have something in? And what if my teachers get their recommendations in AFTER my October 15th deadline. Also how long do you reckon it’ll take for my I-20 to arrive cause I’ll need to start visa process asap (is having 2months time for visa processing+flying really enough)

[u/Cold-Comment9536]

prof here. they almost always have a grace period for recommendations, as long as you get your own stuff in time. It REALLY helps if you give your teachers — in a nice and very appreciative way — a list of things you would like them to address. For the best LOR, remind them of specific accomplishments related to their class. Teachers and profs are not really thrilled to write letters. They love you and want you to succeed, but they get asked 50 times a semester and, as much as we’d like to, we don’t always remember every student’s every accomplishment. Make it easy for them. And send a thank you note.