<p>So I really like the looks of Harvey Mudd and would love to go there. The problem is I don’t have a recommendation from a humanities teacher – previous schools I applied to didn’t need one, for some reason I didn’t get one, and Harvey Mudd only recent shot up to the very near top of my list. Does this immediately disqualify me from admission, or might I still have a shot?</p>
<p>Why don’t you get one? </p>
<p>Or, in other words, is there some super nice teacher who will write you a rec in the next two weeks if you bake them a plate of cookies and offer to clean their classroom for the next year? My teachers started their recs 1-2 days before they were due, so it obviously doesn’t take very long. Try an unpopular teacher who liked you, so there won’t be other people asking them.</p>
<p>Well the thing is I doubt any of my English teachers could/would want to finish on time…semester ends on thursday for me and I’d have to ask monday so that’s really just leaving a couple days for them to complete it. I haven’t really had any strong relationships with a history/social studies teacher either. The only person that I could probably get would be my government teacher who I’ve only had for this semester, and that may even be a longshot. Even then all the teachers are going to be extremely busy though since it’s finals week.</p>
<p>No reason not to try. And they can do it over break, can’t they? And last minute recs≠bad recs, apparently.</p>
<p>So I ended up applying, but I still never got a humanities teacher rec. Should I email Harvey Mudd to see if they would let me send one later or something? I really want to go here.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with all the other advice people gave? They said to try it, so try it! Good luck.</p>
<p>Wait…what? I already submitted my app, the deadline was yesterday, but I never got a chance to get a rec from a humanities teacher. I’m asking if I should email Harvey Mudd to see if I could still get a rec and send it later, like by the end of the month or something.</p>
<p>I don’t see that there is any downside to asking.</p>
<p>I’d go ahead and get the letter and have it sent along, even if it arrives a week or two late. You should be able to explain to a humanities teacher why your request is so late, and grovel appreciatively for their help.</p>
<p>Well I don’t return from break until monday so the letter probably won’t be sent off to Harvey Mudd until mid to late January. I’ll email Harvey Mudd and see what they say though.</p>
<p>I would not ask them… I would just let them know that one letter will be late, and ask your teacher on Monday if they could possibly do it next week for you. If your HS uses the common app, you could then ask the GC office to upload it as soon as it is ready. If you are really nice to all of them, it may get done in a week. Remember that Mudd has a couple thousand apps to read. If yours sits for a week or two while they wait for the letter (because you said it was coming), it will not make a difference (some of the apps are going to sit anyway just because of the volume).</p>
<p>Well too late, kind of. I already sent an email. It basically just says I didn’t get a chance to send a complete rec by the deadline, although I did get 2 recs (just none from a humanities teacher) and then I asked if it would be okay if they received the letter later this month. Hopefully it’s fine.</p>
<p>Update: Just got a response. Officer said it was fine and that I definitely should get a rec, even if it’s a couple weeks late. Looks like I’ll have to do some serious sucking up on Monday.</p>
<p>Good luck. Mudd is such a civilized place.</p>
<p>Dang. I was in the exact situation you were in but I figured it wasn’t too important. 
Harvey Mudd dreams destroyed.</p>