I graduated fairly recently (spring of 2024) and have been working since right after graduation. Most of my application is looking good but I'm having trouble with LORs from professors. I know my current boss will write an exceptional LOR, but I'm less confident about my academic LORs. I was a good student, but I never really went to office hours or did anything to build relationships with professors as others did. That being said, I would bet that many professors wouldn't even remember me.
I've seen a lot of people online saying just send a request to professors whose class you did well in, but I'm curious if that's good advice or not. It seems weird to base my acceptance into a law school based off of the recommendation of someone who wouldn't remember me if I hadn't reached out, but I've been told academic LORs are expected for someone who graduated as recently as I did.
Any thoughts or similar experiences?
3 comments
what I would suggest is, when you email the professor of your choice, attach your resume, transcript, an excellent paper you wrote in their class (any other doc that might be helpful for your professor to know what kind of a student you were). This should help. Be mindful about how you address the email as well. Explain your situation and tell what things you like about his class and why you chose him for a recommender.
@DulasiTennakoon This was great advice. The professor that I reached out to responded and wanted to connect and learn a bit more about what I'm up to now and my goals as well, so it gives me confidence that their letter will be more personal than just a generic professor recommendation.
Two things can be true at the same time:
Yes, I will expect an academic letter of rec if you graduated two years ago. It would look a bit odd if I read your file and didn't see one.
No, it will not be the end of the world if there isn't an academic letter of rec.
Make of that as you will but I hope it alleviates some stress!
The bigger issue is that most apps require two LoRs. So if you don't have any academic letters, that means you should have two professional ones. As long as you cover your bases there, you're fine. This really shouldn't be a make-or-break aspect of your application.