Self-study
Hi all,
I need some advice on whether to enroll in my old undergrad school as a non matriculated student for the sole purpose of obtaining an academic letter of recommendation.
I have seen some posts where really strong applicants who are lacking academic letters of rec are being rejected or waitlisted. Currently I'm PTing at around a 168 and have a 3.0 gpa. I graduated in 2023 and cannot get an academic letter. I am confident I can get strong letters from my boss and supervisor at the law firm I work at, but I am leaning towards taking a summer class as well to have at least the one academic letter.
I wish to make my application as strong as possible to possibly get a full ride somewhere or even hopefully get accepted into a T14. I will be applying this upcoming cycle. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
2
5 comments
@Thomas_Vega - Good question!
Once you're two or three years out of undergrad, admissions officers are no longer expecting academic letters of recommendation. Given that you graduated in 2023 and are applying in 2026-27, no one will be expecting an academic LoR. Two professional LoRs (especially if you've been working at a law firm) would be more than enough!
I'm also going to throw it out there to you that it would look extraordinarily weird for you to enroll as a non matriculating student in school right now. You'd have to explain that on your app because admissions officers will see that and raise an eyebrow ("... is he a 'continuing ed' student...?"). It's not worth it!
And another "throw it out there" - no one is admitted because of their letters of rec, no one is denied because of their letters of rec, no one gets more scholarship money because of their letters of rec. The LoRs do not override what we learn on the application from the applicant themself. The LoRs are just supposed to supplement what we learn on the app!
@JacobBaska thanks so much!
If you already received your degree I don't see how you could go back and take more classes. Just find a professor that would be willing to write an LOR for you. 2023 isn't that long ago. It doesn't have to be perfect, as long as they don't say anything negative you'll be fine. Law schools can see it has been a few years so your professional LOR will be perfect. Maybe try to get 2 professional ones just to make it a little better.
LSAT + GPA you will get some full rides. For T14 you will likely need to get your LSAT to a 170+
@LawStudent414244 My only thing here is I have reached out to multiple teachers and cant get a letter
@Thomas_Vega reach out to more. Are you emailing from a student email? Sometimes for security purposes they can get auto filtered out if it's from an outside person.