I have no idea what the right answer is, I was hoping there would already be comments.
I basically just told them in a very straight forward way that upon further consideration I decided not to apply to school X because of Y, or in your case because you've decided it is no longer a good fit for you. Then I stated that due to these reasons I will no longer be needing a reference letter for this school.
I then thanked them for their reference and signed off.
I agree with Anonymous. You definitely should say something so your referees don't go through all the trouble of writing these letters. I think they would understand that after doing more research, you've noticed that these programs can't support your research interests. As I'm guessing has happened with you, it's hard to know just by looking at websites whether professors will support your work.
With that said, I'd just email your referees and say: "After more research into programs X, Y, and Z, I've decided not to apply to them because they will not support my research interests. I will not need letters from you for these programs. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." And leave it at that.
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I have no idea what the right answer is, I was hoping there would already be comments.
I basically just told them in a very straight forward way that upon further consideration I decided not to apply to school X because of Y, or in your case because you've decided it is no longer a good fit for you. Then I stated that due to these reasons I will no longer be needing a reference letter for this school.
I then thanked them for their reference and signed off.
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With that said, I'd just email your referees and say: "After more research into programs X, Y, and Z, I've decided not to apply to them because they will not support my research interests. I will not need letters from you for these programs. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." And leave it at that.
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