Professor previously wrote letter, and now he's not responding to my emails [closed]

Question

Last year I applied for PhD programs. I got together four letter writers two from my current MA program and two from a previous MA program. I was rejected from every PhD program that year, and I was devastated but not deterred. Now I am trying again and one professor who wrote me a letter last year, is not responding to my emails. Nothing has happened between last year and this year that would change his opinion of me and he hasn't responded to my emails about other things (for example what do I make of last years rejections?). I will also add that one letter writer didn't get back to me for some time before agreeing. All of these things make me unsure of all of this. What do I do?

I have been asking this professor for about a month and a half. After three attempts I went to the administrator in my department. I'm worried it was a bad idea but all I can do is stop before it gets too much of a problem.

Last year I applied to ten schools but I'm in the humanities and I have been repeatedly told that it likely has to do with playing the odds and finding a program that is a good fit. I have complete confidence that these professors themselves know that and to be honest I'm not too worried about that.

Answer 1

Some students may believe that professors just sit in their offices between classes, but I assure you it's not true. A typical professor, if such exists, will have teaching, service, and research obligations, of which teaching might be about one third of the professor's time. Class time might be a third or less of the teaching time; the rest being preparation and grading.

You say you've applied to ten schools. If the professor is like me, that means he has already written ten letters, each tailored to the particular school. And you are not the only student asking for recommendation letters.

The comments suggest several reasons for failure of communication, including things like vacations and changed email addresses. From the professor's viewpoint, those ten letters might be construed as fulfilling the obligation the professor took on. (Or not; I can't read your professor's mind.)

No matter what the reasons, take the advice given by Ricardo Cruz in the comments. Find more recommenders. You say you are currently in an MA program. Probably more than two faculty members know you. Does your department chair know you? How about other faculty in your prior MA program. Employers or others who know your work?

Answer 2

Professors work differently. Some are very respondent to emails; some are clearly overwhelmed by the volume they receive. They also write LoR differently. One LoR writer clearly told me that they just use a word template and then swap some words and add changes only when they have strong personal connections (so marginal effort for new letters very low). Some professors tailor-make their letters much more. Some are basically unreachable during summer even to their own advisees.

It sounds like indeed you need to find a different recommender, or at least treat this certain professor as a backup. Obviously, you can try chasing them down somehow if you know they might be on campus. Going to the administrator other than to find information on where this professor might be (on vacation?) might be a bit too much. Find someone else if you can't wait after summer. I was in a situation where one letter writer even after agreeing to write it did not submit a LoR within deadline, so I had to swap them out for a different one.

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I personally don't think getting rejected from programs has that big a chance of them thinking less of you -- most people should be content with the fact that the academic life is full of rejections. Time can both work for you and against you -- indeed this professor might have forgotten much about you, which seems like a probable reason for the current situation, but they also have a ready-made draft of LoR that seemingly they can just rehash.