Letter of Rec. not sent, should I rescind?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of a missing letter of recommendation for PhD applications. Participants explore whether to rescind a request for a letter that has not been sent and its potential impact on admission chances.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that they requested four letters of recommendation, but one professor has not sent any letters or responded to inquiries.
  • Another participant suggests that it may be better to remove the unresponsive professor from the list, arguing that schools likely do not keep a record of changes to recommender lists.
  • Some participants express confusion over the requirement for more than three letters, questioning whether schools truly expect additional letters beyond the minimum.
  • A participant confirms that while a minimum of three letters is required, schools allow for additional letters as a backup, raising concerns about the implications of having an unsent fourth letter.
  • There is a consideration of whether having an unreceived letter could negatively affect the application, leading to thoughts about rescinding the request.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether to rescind the letter request and the significance of having an unsent letter. The discussion remains unresolved, with no consensus on the best course of action.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference the variability in letter requirements across different schools and the potential for confusion regarding the necessity of additional letters.

Cygnus_A
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Fortunately I asked for four letters of recommendation for my PhD applications. One of the four has not sent any letters in and has not responded to my emails asking about them.

Since all of the schools that I applied to require a minimum of two or three, I don't believe my applications are in peril. I'm just wondering if I should rescind the letter requests for this professor. Do you think it would reduce my chances of admission if I were to not rescind the letter (so I would just have an unreceived fourth letter)? Or would it be better to remove the recommender from the list?
 
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I feel like it would be better to remove the person from the list. I feel like the schools wouldn't have a record of the fact that you put someone's name in, but then changed/deleted it. Those sorts of changes can happen for any reason.
 
I find it odd that the schools have specified that they would like more than three reference letters. Three is commonly what is required. There are no bonus points for additional letters.

Is it possible that these schools actually only require three and this professor saw that you already had three references?
 
Choppy said:
I find it odd that the schools have specified that they would like more than three reference letters. Three is commonly what is required. There are no bonus points for additional letters.

Is it possible that these schools actually only require three and this professor saw that you already had three references?

Correct. There is a minimum of three for most of them, but they all allow more to be sent (as a backup or extra letter). In my case, I added four, and one of the four has not been sent (post-deadline). I'm just wondering if it's bad to have an unsent (but unneeded) fourth letter. I'm thinking that maybe I should remove/rescind the four letter that has not been sent.
 

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