Hi everyone, would love to get some perspective on my letters of recommendation! I currently have 3 letters in LSAC and am contemplating getting one from my current employer, but don't know what distribution would be best (2 academic & 1 professional or 1 academic, 1 professional, 1 current employer).
Currently, I have 1 from a close professor (will definitely use this one), 1 from a more distant professor (4.0 in class and was a capstone advisor but didn't know me super well), and 1 AMAZING letter of recommendation from the city manager of the city that I did civic volunteering at (i served on a city council committee and worked very closely with him).
For context, I am 3 years out of college and had a lower GPA than the average of the schools I am applying to (3.67). I plan to definitely use the close professor and the professional volunteering letter. I'm conflicted on if I should include a letter from my current employer or the letter from my more "distant" professor that may be more generic.
My question is: How much would T50-70 schools value current employer letter vs a second academic letter? Since my GPA was lower, would they want to see more from my academic side or would it be better to get context to my current role (does have some overlap with real estate law).
4 comments
Speaking from the admissions perspective, it would be good to have a letter of rec from your current employer. It'd wouldn't be weird to not have a letter from your employer just because I know there are sometimes internal office politics (eg, you may not be in a position to let your boss know that you're planning on leaving). But would it be good to have a letter from a supervisor/manager? Oh, totally! Especially if you're been there for a year or more!
As far as the blend of things goes, don't think too hard about it. I'd honestly say one academic, one professional, and then it seems like the volunteering position means a lot to you. There's three right there. If you already have that other academic letter then - sure - throw that one in for those schools that allow you to submit four.
@JacobBaska Thank you so much for your input! I will get a letter from my current employer to add to the mix.
Do you always recommend submitting the maximum amount of recommendations allowed, assuming they are all strong?
@kgeee Since you already have all the letters assembled, you might as well use them. But if we flipped the situation around ("I'm just starting to reach out to recommenders. Should I just do two? ... three? FOUR?!?!), I'd politely encourage you to keep it to a minimum. From professional experience, LoRs aren't going to be a big factor in your admissions decision and I rarely learned anything substantive on the fourth letter that I didn't learn on on the first two. So rather than "more being helpful," it's just "more being 'more.'"
Admissions officer say it’s about how well the people know you and are able to speak in detail about how you are, not the persons rank.
You could have your prof you know well brush over your capstone even if it wasn’t under them, and then you’ve covered that academic base in one letter. A second academic letter without providing any additional information may be not very helpful.
Don’t listen to me too much though I’m just guessing.