Too Early to Start Thinking About LORs?....I think NOT!

CurlyQQQ

Hey guys,

So I plan on taking the September '18 LSAT. If I see improvement earlier then I'll take a stab at the June '18 test. But as you can see I'm one of those think far into the future/meticulous planner types. By the time Sept hits I feel as though LORs from my undergrad (2016 grad) will look inadequate because of how long ago it'll be. I definitely have professors I could contact (Calculus/Africana Studies/English) but I'm not sure an admissions committee will feel confident in letters written by people who can't attest to my best qualities at present time. I do have one person (fellow Board member from a local grassroots NGO/mentor) that will definitely write one for me but that's not enough by far.

Now here's my real question: After undergrad I simply worked, but I don't see my employer as beneficial additions to my overall application. I mean don't get me wrong my employers love me to pieces but I work in a field that is completely unrelated to law or anything I'm passionate about. Funny thing is I work at a medical school, Haha the irony. What are your thoughts on getting LORs from employers? Do you think getting LORs from professors is too late at this point? Would that look bad?

Alex

No, your LORs will still be fine to use. Obtain and get some from your undergrad profs. You're a recent grad and schools will want to see 2 strong LORs from Profs. I also have LORs from 2016 and plan on using them next cycle when I apply. So they won't be too old at all.

10000019

I'm not qualified to answer the questions you posed, but I would like to add one thing.
Do something that will give you the most options later. Ask for the LoRs now, and then in a year you can decide whether you want to use them.

CurlyQQQ

@"Alex Divine" I know that LSAC stores them for years so I guess it would make more sense to at least eliminate that stress early on. I do live in the same town as my Uni which is great so I could go and visit my old professors. My question is would it matter significantly if you use professors from sophomore year as opposed to senior year? My calculus profess is from sophomore year.

@10000019 That's exactly the plan. There's a judge and a council woman on my board that I plan on getting chummy with haha.

Alex

@CurlyQQQ said:
@"Alex Divine" I know that LSAC stores them for years so I guess it would make more sense to at least eliminate that stress early on. I do live in the same town as my Uni which is great so I could go and visit my old professors. My question is would it matter significantly if you use professors from sophomore year as opposed to senior year? My calculus profess is from sophomore year.

@10000019 That's exactly the plan. There's a judge and a council woman on my board that I plan on getting chummy with haha.

No, it doesn't matter what year you had them, just that they can write a strong LOR that speaks to your academic abilities.

CurlyQQQ

@"Alex Divine" So I'm guessing 2 LORs from academic professors makes more sense than NGO Board members? Depending on responses I get I'll do 2 Academic LORs and 1 Board member LOR.

Alex

@CurlyQQQ said:
@"Alex Divine" So I'm guessing 2 LORs from academic professors makes more sense than NGO Board members? Depending on responses I get I'll do 2 Academic LORs and 1 Board member LOR.

Get all 3, better to have options. Even still, put priority on academic LORs. While the NGO LOR may be helpful for some schools, ALL schools are going to put more weight on what the academic ones have to say.