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LOR Question

spitzy11spitzy11 Alum Member
in General 772 karma

Hi all!
Question regarding a LOR from a professor I am currently taking. To ask or not?
Background info: Major is Psychology with emphasis in Law and Criminal Behavioral Applications and minor in Legal Studies. GPA is 3.9
I am planning to apply in Fall 2017 and have already secured one LOR with my criminal law prof and am banking on that being a great one considering she offered to write it before I even asked. I plan to ask my advisor as well, who I have also had for two upper division classes, both received As in. I have another prof that I have right now that I am considering asking after the semester is over. I believe I will finish very well in her class. All of her comments on my assignments have been awesome. However, she's my Child and Adolescent Development professor. Should I not ask her because this class is so heavily psychology related and can't really directly be applied to law? The other two professors taught classes that were related (Criminal Law, Criminal Psychology). What do you guys think?

Comments

  • danielznelsondanielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    4181 karma

    The fact that any one professor is more or less tied to apparently relevant fields is irrelevant, so no worries there.

    If you think she will write you a great LOR, take advantage of it. Just be sure to abide by the principle "less is more," when submitting them. Unless they're all markedly different from each other, three LORs won't really help you and could work slightly against you. No admissions committee wants to read more than they have to (in this case, an extra LOR), especially when the same things are already said in the other two.

    Still, having an extra LOR that you could potentially tailor to certain schools is a bonus, so there's no harm in having it in your pocket!

  • spitzy11spitzy11 Alum Member
    772 karma

    @danielznelson said:
    The fact that any one professor is more or less tied to apparently relevant fields is irrelevant, so no worries there.

    If you think she will write you a great LOR, take advantage of it. Just be sure to abide by the principle "less is more," when submitting them. Unless they're all markedly different from each other, three LORs won't really help you and could work slightly against you. No admissions committee wants to read more than they have to (in this case, an extra LOR), especially when the same things are already said in the other two.

    Still, having an extra LOR that you could potentially tailor to certain schools is a bonus, so there's no harm in having it in your pocket!

    Thank you so much for your advice! There's one other thing that I should have added. I currently work at a Workers Comp firm and am a legal assistant. By the time I apply I will have been there for 2 years, while also in school. Do you think a LOR from one of the partners is a great addition to two academic LORs? I feel like it would seem odd to have that work experience and not include a LOR from one of them... but I have also seen the majority say that academic LORs are better than work experience ones.

  • danielznelsondanielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    4181 karma

    That's true, though some schools ask/require LORs from work if you've been away for 2+ years. So while you should probably only use academic LORs for most schools, you'll need the work one for a few others.

  • JustDoItJustDoIt Alum Member
    3112 karma

    Hi! I think it is a great idea to have a letter from your current job. Even if you don't have apply this cycle, you'll at least have them to show your work experience. Though like @danielznelson alluded to, there's no need to stress the importance of their field or their position. What matters mos is that you can solidify great LORs from whomever (with in reason of course). For what it's worth, my two academic LORs are from business professors.

    Hope this helps!

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