Timeline for I sent an email asking for letter of recommendation almost a week ago and have not received a response. Does it mean NO?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
21 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 23, 2016 at 0:25 | comment | added | confused | This is more common during school breaks. Some professors only check email intermittently during this time of year. It has happened to me twice before and both professors sent me an email after the school year started that they would be happy to give me a recommendation but by then it was too late. | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 23:34 | comment | added | J... | @CaptainEmacs Proper spam filtering should work before it even hits your mail server (meaning your auto-responder need not distinguish). In any case, it's a public professional address and people expect you to be there and responsive. You don't have to be a mail slave to get back to someone within a week. If you're not using an auto-responder, surely you just end up with three times the mail volume anyway when everyone who's trying to get in touch emails back several times over the interval asking "erm... did you get my message?", wondering why you're ignoring them? | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 22:45 | comment | added | Captain Emacs | @J... our auto responder does not distinguish. After all, some mails marked "spam" are actually important and urgent - and BTW, this is another possibility why OP may not have received a reply, especially if the prof has an intelligent auto responder that does not respond to spam-like mails. In short, the auto responder solution is either intrinsically flawed or does not solve the problem in the first place. | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 22:33 | comment | added | J... | @CaptainEmacs If you are getting any spam at all, your IT department isn't doing its job. | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 22:11 | comment | added | Captain Emacs | @J... I do not have an auto responder; I do not think every spammer and his neighbour need to know when I am traveling. Frankly, the existence of email is quite bad for one's life balance as it is. It is people expecting others to be reachable at all times that is discourteous. And, yes, I try to respond to emails, as long as the mailers don't express entitlement. | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 17:29 | comment | added | J... | @CaptainEmacs Yes, but professors also should have auto-responders on if they are not in the office and checking mail. Especially in such an important position it is very discourteous not to. | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 16:55 | answer | added | ParanoidGeek | timeline score: 10 | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 14:54 | answer | added | Jeff | timeline score: 3 | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 14:39 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackAcademia/status/767732878528610304 | ||
| S Aug 22, 2016 at 13:00 | history | suggested | psmears | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Improve grammar and wording
|
| Aug 22, 2016 at 12:50 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Aug 22, 2016 at 13:00 | |||||
| Aug 22, 2016 at 11:47 | answer | added | Jack Aidley | timeline score: 17 | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 9:46 | answer | added | Patrick Sanan | timeline score: 30 | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 8:50 | answer | added | Ébe Isaac | timeline score: 5 | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 7:51 | history | edited | Alyssa88 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 187 characters in body
|
| Aug 22, 2016 at 7:48 | comment | added | Captain Emacs | It's August. Even professors may have a life and holidays. That being said, professors can be expected to explicitly say "no" in a polite way if they know you and are not going to provide a letter. Caveat: if they do not know you, and you haven't communicated with them before, they may consider your request as spam. | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 7:41 | comment | added | Jeromy Anglim | very similar to No response from Professor, how should I write a follow email for recommendation letter? | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 7:39 | history | edited | Jeromy Anglim | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited title
|
| Aug 22, 2016 at 7:38 | comment | added | yoki | I had that same dilemma with two professors, and after a few weeks it turned out both of them had been abroad. I personally think that professors are usually accustomed to people asking them for recommendations, so they are generally less awkward in this than you, and won't have a problem telling you they don't know you enough for a recommendation if that's the case. I would try very politely to inquire again. | |
| Aug 22, 2016 at 7:11 | review | First posts | |||
| Aug 22, 2016 at 8:25 | |||||
| Aug 22, 2016 at 7:06 | history | asked | Alyssa88 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |