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[admithopeful09]

Hello. I have (what I think is) a kind of unusual problem and would appreciate any suggestions on the subject.

I've known for a while that I wanted to go back to grad school for a while, for at least over a year now. When I found out that the person who I wanted to write me a letter of recommendation was leaving her job (and the country), I immediately asked her to write me the letter. She did and even printed out a copy addressed to every school I might want to apply to. Great and fantastic. At the end of the school year both she and I moved away, her to another country and I 3000 miles away.

Fast-forward a few months to now. I've narrowed down my choices about which schools I wanted to apply to. And just found out that one of the schools I want to apply has changed their requirements so that they want all the letters of recommendation emailed/uploaded to their system by the recommender! And when I say just changed, I mean literally 2 days ago.

I don't know what to do about this. I don't have her current email address, or know anything about where she is now, or even have any current contact information. I'm not even sure who I can ask as I don't know anyone she was close to at the place we used to work. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

[iomhaigh]

Google.
Facebook.
Call the old department and ask the main secretary
Go the appropriate database for your field (Jstor, etc.) and see if she's published anything that tells you a current affiliation.

Use those research skills. 

[scheherazade]

Have you Googled her?  That would be my first step.  You can also ask your undergrad institution if they have forwarding information (do explain the situation).

It is possible you won't find her.  When I was looking for letters five years out of undergrad, I found that one of my former professors is completely and utterly MIA.  Left the country, cannot be found by anyone.  However, it's more likely that the above methods will find your recommender.  Good luck!

[admithopeful09]

Thanks for the suggestions. I should mention that she is not a professor, and that I knew her in a professional capacity. (She was my immediate supervisor at my old job).

[iomhaigh]

Ah, that does make it trickier.  But, if you call the department and talk with someone who was there when you were both there, you might eventually find someone who knows someone who knows where she is. 

Good luck -- and sorry for the typos.  I keep losing words today. 

[doctor_torrseal]

Write the professor in charge of graduate admissions in the department you're applying to and explain the problem (NOT the admissions or HR department).  Offer to submit the paper copy directly to the department, or whatever it was you would have done before this requirement, while saying that you are attempting to reach the person to submit it online.

Online admissions systems are often cooked up by the university or grad school admissions bureaucracy and foisted upon all the departments.  Frequently the departments chafe under unwieldy systems.  At one place I was, the professor responsible for admissions beta-tested the new online app system and found it was so horrid and placed such a burden on the applicants that he threatened to bypass it unless they made major changes.

[dr_prephd]

Just send the letter. See what they say. Chances are, they haven't completely switched over to the new system yet.