Hey everyone, just signed up for 7sage.
I wanted to post and get opinions of people on this discussion board.
My concern falls into letters of recommendations, I never really connected with my professors and my last two jobs don't write letters (I've asked), luckily I had an employer from years ago that said yes but that means I'm missing one letter. My question is should I email all my professors (I moved across the country so I can't ask in person) and try to get a letter that will most likely be generic or should I delay a year, get a job and ask them for a letter?
Oh and my GPA is below 3.0 and the last 5 PTs I've taken have been 165+ (diag was around 150). Sorry my numbers are estimates I can't recall exactly and I'm not home to check haha.
Thank you!
Comments
From a few of the school admission officers (T-14s and a few T-25s) I have spoke to when you're are 10+ years out of undergrad, work letters hold a greater value, but academic letters are still appreciated. Once you hit the 15+ years out mark it seems work letters are even more important to have. I had two solid academic letters and was advised to get a work one.
@hector.liang a strategy another 7Sager used was to take a summer class, (they had been out of school for a while) with the purpose of getting a recent academic letter. If you have a subject you are really interested in and a community college near by, you might consider that, if you are worried an old professor might not have good things to add. Some have short classes that just run a few weeks, vs an entire semester, so maybe consider that? David had posted in that thread that it was not an unusual practice to do that.
And @stepharizona didn't even think about summer school, I'll look into it as well although it may be a bit too late.
I agree with @montaha.rizeq that delaying your application for a work LOR is probably not worth it.
So I emailed my professors and only 1 replied back (hmm was I that horrible of a student ). I had a call with him and things were going well, he still agreed to write the letter but said the letter won't be great because I was just an average student, he said if I had gotten that A+ then he would definitely include the words such as "excellent, amazing, etc" but because I got the B and it's been 2 years since I took his class he can't write a great letter. He said he won't write anything negative in the letter but it will most likely be just a run of the mill letter.
I'm going to assume an awesome world right now in regards to my lsat score/my PS: I get 175+ on my lsats, I have a 2.94 GPA, how bad is this situation, my other letter is a professional LOR. I'm planning to apply to a majority of t-20 schools.
That is quite unfortunate and your professor sounds like an ass, but I get his reasoning . Is there anyway you can contact someone else? Perhaps looks up their office phone number or find a way to get in contact with them.
I just get a really bad feeling about him telling you it won't be a great letter. Good letters of recommendations are the norm, and they don't seem to help much, but rather just a necessary condition of applying. However, on the flip side, "not great letters" can actually hurt from what I understand.
I do think if you have only been out of UG for a short period, you should try to secure an academic LOR, but you should make sure it is someone who can write a good one.
I mean I guess this makes it alright if you have literally no other choice. I just can't get over the fact he said it won't be great. The point of a LOR is to show you are great!
Are there any professors whose class you did well in that know you? If you can get someone to get on the phone with you, they might be more receptive to writing a great letter?
@"Alex Divine" oh I wouldn't say that, he took a call from me to talk and stayed on longer than planned just to discuss law school and gave me alternative ideas but simply said just based on tangible evidence that's most likely going to be the result of the letter "average letter". Him being truthful about it is definitely him lying then end up writing a shitty letter and then I end up applying thinking he wrote me a great letter haha.
And of course I'd look for a letter to make me sound great but as mentioned other professors haven't replied and my gpa doesn't indicate any "great" moments.
Thanks for your help!
I hear ya....Him being truthful is definitely a good thing, I agree.
I still don't like the idea of getting an "average" letter. I also don't like the idea of taking a community college class or something just for a damn LOR. I'd say keep calling, emailing, writing letters to get in touch with old profs. There HAS to be someone you got an A with that will remember you, right? Or did you go to a big state U where there are 500 people in some of your classes like me? Lol.
Don't give up. Just keep emailing and whatever else to get in touch with these people. Even if they don't remember you, a generic good letter sounds preferable then an admittedly average one. Just one man's opinion.