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[mr_nobody]

I apologize if this has been asked before.  I couldn't find it in the search. 

I'm finishing up an M.S. and have been applying to PhD programs.  I had all my stuff together and sent all my application materials out on the Monday after Thanksgiving here in the States. Two of my three letters of recommendation were complete and submitted to all of my schools in early December.  When I pestered the third one about it, he mentioned that his letter was done and he'd submit them/mail them out the following morning.  I took him at his word, which is where I made my mistake.  A few weeks later (during the break), I checked just to make sure that the two programs who required paper mail LoRs had recieved his letter.  Their websites showed that they hadn't, so I checked the departments with electronic LoRs (the ones where the status updates almost immedately and doesn't have to be manually changed by an overworked secretary).  Only the two that had mid-December due dates had a record of his submission; the later ones did not.  I emailed my professor to ask about this, and got his "away on vacation" message.  When he checked his email nearly a week later, he sent me a reply, apologizing for forgetting to send the rest out.  He submitted the electronic ones that day, but had to wait until his return to mail the paper ones. 

As a result, his LoRs missed the deadline for a couple of the programs I've applied to by a few days. My question is this: Are departments usually a little more lenient about application materials which the student doesn't have complete control over or is the late LoR going to kill my chances at those schools?

[waterbaby]

I had the same thing happen.  Programs understand that some things, like transcripts, letters, etc., can trickle in late.  The point is you submitted the actual application on time, and now they have everything they need from you.  So don't worry about it!

[hegemony]

Recommendations come in late all the time.  It probably won't make any difference.

[john_proctor]

Recommendations come in late all the time.  It probably won't make any difference.

I agree.

It actually makes your referees look worse than it ever could you.

Rarely, the non-arrival may delay action on your application (sometimes, there needs to be the official "trip wire" of all documents in before the candidacy is officially "alive.").  If there are a huge number of applicants, this could result in your application not being read/reviewed (it "shouldn't," but when details are sluffed by search committee members, this is one of the prime ones). 

Most likely, though, if the committee has reviewed your partial portfolio and liked you, but need, for some internal policy reason to have a completed application before they can "officially" act on your request, they will contact you (and you then forward this contact on in some way to the delinquent referee(s).  S/he, hopefully chagrined, responds immediately. 

Your particular case seems that all documents are "in."  It _might_ (maybe, possibly, could be) a problem if (and pretty nearly only if) there is some internal policy that would have weeded you out.  Most likely, there isn't (inside academy perspective; you'd be surprised how often this happens - even for job applications for tenure track faculty); savy committee members know this could happen.  Sometimes (sometimes), faculty are constrained by idiot policies from idiot HR people.  Generally, though, they are not (or they deliberately plan around such policies with an arbitrarily early "deadline" date).

Most likely, the deadline for applications was a bit fake.  The actual selection review would very likely not occur for a week or two after the posted deadline (in other words, the actual decision makers wouldn't even be looking at documents for days).  It's possible they may never even know any of your documents were "late."  Don't count on this, by any means (in the future), but also don't panic (at present).

It would be more of an issue if you, personally, had not sent something (say, an application essay, etc.).

So, in sum: 1. yes you are right to be concerned.  2. yes, you were absolutely correct to contact your referee (and you are completely in the right).  3.  Don't panic.  It likely didn't hinder your application.  4. For the future, mark the tardy professor.  If this is a pattern, factor that in to your future plans regarding his/her recommendation.  You may have no choice (because s/he is so strong, appropriate, or singular).  But, when you do . . .

[svenc]

It depends.  At my graduate institution, the graduate committee never even saw incomplete applications, regardless of what was missing, as the department secretary wouldn't forward them (I know this only because my own application was processed late as a result, but I obviously still got in).

At my last job, we would generally admit students if everything was good and we had at least 2 out of the requested 3 letters.  Two missing letters would have been a problem for us, though.  It seems to be similar at my current department as well, but I have not been as directly involved in admissions here.

I suspect some departments may refuse to ever consider applications with a late letter (i.e., even after the letter arrived), but this is probably not common - just my guess.  The university-wide graduate schools tend to have stricter rules, though, so you may lose out on some funding consideration, e.g., for fellowships administered at the university level.

At this point, the error has been caught and corrected, so no reason to worry even if it does cause a problem somewhere!

[seniorscholar]

We have a January 1st deadline and expect to be getting bits of the application until the end of the 1st week in January though we do start reading them as soon as they're complete. At the other end, the graduate school has a February 15th deadline to receive paper from us for anyone to whom we want to award a fellowship or teaching assistantship. That deadline is firm and unbendable, so if the letters are not all in by then, there will not be any funding for that student. We do read the application materials (even without all the letters) towards the end of January, so we can get in touch with a super-duper applicant who has a missing letter . . . but unless the applicant is clearly more than our tentative "try to get funding for this one" stack, we don't bother getting in touch.

[systeme_d_]

In my program, letters of rec are mailed directly to me (as DGS).  If letters are missing at the deadline, I contact the applicants, inform them of the situation, and provide them with a strongly worded statement in the email that they can forward to their recommenders.   I've never had to wait longer than five days for a "missing" letter afterwards.

Yesterday (it is still a couple of weeks until deadline) I contacted an applicant to inform her that two of her letters were inappropriate, since they came from employers rather than professors.  She now has a bit of time to make other arrangements.

[msparticularity]

In my department, your application wouldn't go to the faculty in the specialty area until it was complete. It would still receive full consideration for admission as long as it wasn't weeks and weeks late, but you might miss out on equal consideration for the best fellowships.

[shrek]

In my program the graduate coordinator will check regularly and remind you that your application is complete up till the time the committee meets. At that point it is probably too late, but not between the deadline and the meeting time (as long as the rest of the application was complete of course).

[lerasmus]

I learned much after I got into my PhD program (I applied to 2 schools only) that there was one particularly comical conversation that happened after the application due date where the head of the committee at school A called up one of my letter writers to find out why the letter hadn't arrived - the letter writer was the head of the committee at the other school, and asked the caller where HIS letter (as coincidentally they were both writing letters for me) was...