I just received a letter of recommendation from my supervisor. It’s three paragraphs. 1st is about our organization, 2nd is about my specific role, 3rd is my traits that would be good for being an attorney. Is this typical? I don’t know what to expect from a letter of recommendation, I want to be sure they are all as strong as they can be. Any insights?

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1 comments

  • JacobBaska Admissions Strategy Expert
    Monday, Jul 27

    Yup, that's pretty normal, @Futurelawyer7916292! If it makes you feel any better, this is more or less what I want out of a professional letter of rec. I want to know what you bring to the team, particular successes, etc. It's usually four-ish paragraphs. Just enough detail for me to get a sense of things with a power read.

    And just to say this out loud - no one is admitted because of the "strength" of their LoRs, no one is denied because of the "weakness" of their LoRs. The LoRs are more like a "safety check" we're performing as AdComms prior to voting to admit/waitlist/deny. So I can get why you may feel a bit deflated, but just know that this isn't going to hurt you!

    And throwing this out there for folks reading this thread ... reading your LoRs is a bit of a Pandora's Box! I'd suggest opting out of reading them, just because - as mentioned - they're not going to help/hurt you so there's no strategy here. And if there's no strategy, it's probably best to not know the content of the letter so that there's no risk of you going "... aw, man ...."

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