<p>The admissions deadlines for a bunch of schools are coming up; however, I have one teacher, whom I’ve nagged multiple times (and she said she would do the rec. letters), who hasn’t even started yet. How do I, without sounding rude, ask her to fill out the rec. forms ASAP. I’m really concerned that my app. will be late.</p>
<p>Sidenote: Hotchkiss and Choate apps have been due; she hasn’t started on those either…</p>
<p>I would ask around the grade (if there are others applying to prep schools) and see if she has completed theirs</p>
<p>Also- if there are a large amount of people in your grade who are applying, she will have to do them all, or she might get in trouble.</p>
<p>Try asking politely if she’s had a chance to complete them, remind her of the deadlines, and tell her that some deadlines have already passed.</p>
<p>Emphasize the fact that some admission deadlines have passed and her procrastination could possibly hurt your admission chances.</p>
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<p>Guys, these kinds of tactics don’t work. You make sure she understands the importance of rec letter and its deadline for once, and if she responds affirmatively, then you will have to trust her words. Perhaps you could give her a courtesy reminder approaching to deadlines, but try your best to be polite and nice. After all, she is about to write something that matters a lot to you in a confidential letter. You don’t want to be described as someone who nags or threatens.</p>
<p>Application deadline is… for application, something that you’re responsible for and can control. They wouldn’t enforce a hard deadline for rec letters, transcripts, etc. Believe me, I’ve talked with Hotchkiss and Choate.
Like I said, give her a courtesy reminder close to deadline, and if she ever lapses past the deadline (hopefully not), then remind her in a serious, yet again polite tone. That should work for most teachers. Except wackos, then you’re out of luck.</p>
<p>A polite “follow up” call or email from a parent might be appropriate at this point. It worked for us last year, when a teacher just didn’t quite get the importance of this part of the app.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>I guess I wasn’t really “nagging”, it was really just sending out reminder emails and politely asking the teacher if they got the materials and confirming that they’ll do them.</p>
<p>But yes, I’ll definitely try the advice today.</p>
<p>I know this might be slightly different, but 8’m a college professor and get asked to write a lot of recommendations for grad school, summer programs, internships, etc. I tend to put them off and they sit in a pile on my desk until near the due dates, when it write a whole slew of them. Of course,that means sometimes they sit there for quite a while. I never mind students reminding me to get it done-- I always mean to get them done earlier,and the reminders make me sit down and do it. Maybe not everyone feels this way, and I wouldn’t want to be nagged constantly, of course, but I really don’t mind reminders at the time they’re due-- and I would certainly never let that reminder change what I was going to write.</p>
<p>Another way to approach your teacher is simply to ask if she needs any help in getting started. This could be used as a soft reminder (if she knows how) but some teachers could use real help. Middle school teachers might not be as familiar with the process of writing recommendation letters as college professors or high school teachers. One of D’s recommenders had put off until 2 days before deadline. So D took this approach and ended up spending 5 min to help her teacher click on gateway link and start whatever the initial process to get to the first screen. This sounds elementary but keep in mind that not everyone is computer-literate like CCers.</p>
<p>Rather than just handing the rec forms or Gateway links to them, I think it’s also a really good idea to arrange a time to sit down with the recommenders and let them know the reasons why you want to attend boarding school. (This isn’t directed at you, abcd, but a general suggestion for future applicants.) It might give them more motivation and they will be able to write a more effective rec, once they have that insight.</p>
<p>SharingGift does make a point. I only shared the info for the way I was taught to do it and what worked for me. It all depends on your teachers. Some request to be reminded as they are busy while others do not like the nagging. Knowing your teacher will allow you to know your limits. My teachers surely didn’t mind the added pressure I put on them once the deadline arrived.</p>