How do I remind my professor to write that letter of recommendation?

When I was applying for grad school a few years back, about a month prior to the deadline I sent out a blind copy email to all my letter writers reminding them. My thinking at the time was that way it didn't seem like I was singling out anyone in particular. I just mentioned that the deadline was approaching and I think I just asked everyone to quickly reply with whether or not they had sent in their letter. Mind you we did not have a fancy online system to keep track of what letters were sent. All my letter writers could remember the rigors and stress of application time and no one seemed put off by this. If you do send this person an email, I would give them a week to respond and if not then got with a bit more of a direct approach.

I'd go with a quick, polite, informal E-mail. Dear Dr. So-and-So: Thanks very much for agreeing to write me a letter of recommendation. I appreciate the assistance. I was just wondering if you've had the time to take care of that yet? Thanks again, and thanks for keeping me informed. I look forward to hearing back from you. Yours, andeles

A polite email note is fine. Profs have a lot of these things to do, and I've never found one to be annoyed or angry that I reminded them to do it.

I would remind him indirectly by forwarding him something that you 'thought might be of use while writing your LOR'. Like an updated CV, or a copy of your statement of purpose, etc. Maybe something about how you know how busy he/she must be, and then remind them if there is anything else that you can provide them, as the deadline is ......

I had to do this about a month ago, when I had one reference left to be received by the school. I said something like this: Dear professor, Thanks again for agreeing to do a reference for me. At this point, the school has let me know that it is the only outstanding item for my application to be completed. The admissions committee has indicated that they will need it by [insert date] for my application to receive full consideration. If there is anything else that you need from me (writing samples, grades in other courses, etc.), please let me know. I appreciate all your help and support! It's been a great encouragement to me. Sincerely, SpacemanStix -- I guarantee that the professor doesn't want to think he/she was the one variable that caused your application to not be considered.

IAAP. mbd1mbd1's suggestion is the best so far. Don't ask, just remind; and an implication that it was "lost" (rather than forgotten) is a good face-saving gesture.

I'd go see them if possible and then use one of the polite "reminder" excuses already listed. Why not email? Because a very responsible, email-centric prof of mine agreed to write me a letter (he was the kind of prof who runs classes online, does online chat office hours, etc.). He emailed to tell me he'd received the stamped, pre-addressed envelope for him to use to mail the letter. I sent him a few polite reminder emails to which he responded-- the final one he sent said, "I've just written the letter and will mail it out tomorrow." Then 2 months after the application deadline the school contacted me and asked if I intended to turn in my final letter. At this point I emailed him again and heard nothing (and still haven't heard a peep from him in the intervening 6 years, although I know he is still alive and working).

Personally, I see no reason to beat around the bush. No need to invent some other pretext for the message. Profs are busy and letters sometimes slip. A concise reminder is all you need, but make sure you also remind them how to submit it. And I will second holyrood that it is better to stop by their office if you can. They will probably do it on the spot for you if they aren't otherwise occupied. Profs get a lot of e-mails and there is a chance your prof will not get to your message right away. And about what googly said - ordinarily I would simply remind the prof that the deadline is past, but sometimes letters do get lost along the way. Just last week I got a note from a program I applied for saying they were missing my supervisor's letter, which was odd because my supervisor had told me he submitted it. He double-checked and apparently had filled the whole thing out two weeks ago but forgot to click the 'submit' button (or else maybe it didn't go through, who knows). So give them the benefit of the doubt and phrase your question like "it looks like the letter hasn't yet been received" instead of "it looks like you haven't sent the letter".

I'm in the process of getting all of my recommendation letters in for various schools with different deadlines, and I have one professor who always has to wait until the day before the deadline for each school before she submits. She's genuinely concerned about me going to grad school and is probably one of my best referees; she just happens to be really forgetful about that sort of thing. I've been sending her reminder emails about a week before each deadline, and another reminder 1-2 days before the deadline if it hasn't been submitted yet, and it's worked fine.