Do recommendation letters expire?

rebelwithoutaclause

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to apply this cycle, but only if I achieve my goal score on the Sept/Oct exam. I feel like waiting until I get my scores to ask for recommendation letters from my professors will be too late, but also am concerned that after asking, I may end up needing to postpone my application until next year.

tl;dr - Can I ask for recommendation letters even if I might not end up applying this year? If so, when should I ask?

Thanks!

SuperMario929

My recommendation letters are still sitting in my profile from all the way back in December 2014. You should be ok if you ask for them now and wait a year or two. Only things to consider are: 1) will something about the letter potentially improve before your later date? If so, I would wait. 2) Make sure your professor doesn't put a hard date on the letter or imply a date if possible (e.g. "I hope you take this student this coming fall." For all I know the CAS report might show when a letter was submitted anyway so maybe it's not worth worrying about, but worth considering.

For what it's worth: I used a LOR from about two years ago on a T14 app this past Feb (got in, unfortunately had to decline due to spousal relocation) and the school didn't seem to mind. I think you can ask now if you want.

rebelwithoutaclause

Gotcha, thanks so much!