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Asking for Letters of Recommendation

emichaelemichael Member
in General 37 karma

Hey all,

Wondering if you might have some opinions about this: I'm ideally looking to apply to schools in October, right after taking the September exam, and need to give my recommenders enough time to write their letters, which means asking them no later than, I'd say, mid-July. I'm fairly confident that I can raise my score to my goal number by September, but also don't want to risk asking for letters now and realize in August that I want more time to study. How would you say I handle this? One of my three recommenders offered to provide a recommendation first, so that's out of the way, but the other two are still up in the air.

Thanks!

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  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma

    @emichael said:
    Hey all,

    Wondering if you might have some opinions about this: I'm ideally looking to apply to schools in October, right after taking the September exam, and need to give my recommenders enough time to write their letters, which means asking them no later than, I'd say, mid-July. I'm fairly confident that I can raise my score to my goal number by September, but also don't want to risk asking for letters now and realize in August that I want more time to study. How would you say I handle this? One of my three recommenders offered to provide a recommendation first, so that's out of the way, but the other two are still up in the air.

    Thanks!

    When you email your professors for LORs, keep it pretty concise, but cover the following 3 things:

    1) A refresher on who you are/the classes you took with them

    2) Overview of what you've been doing since you graduated

    3) Use point two to segue to your plans, i.e., law school with a brief summary as to why you're applying/what your career goals are.

    Importantly (so, I guess 4 things to cover!), when you make the ask for the LOR, note that you've attached your current resume for their reference and ask if there is any other information you can provide that would be helpful to them. (You want to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes.)

    Good luck!

  • emichaelemichael Member
    37 karma

    @"Alex Divine" Thanks, Alex! Very informative. I'm concerned about asking for letters too far in advance of knowing whether I'm going to need more time to study past September. I think I'll be good for the exam, but don't want to risk asking recommenders for letters now only to inform them in August that I won't be applying until the next term. What would you do in this situation?

  • akistotleakistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌
    9382 karma

    @emichael said:
    I'm fairly confident that I can raise my score to my goal number by September, but also don't want to risk asking for letters now and realize in August that I want more time to study. How would you say I handle this? One of my three recommenders offered to provide a recommendation first, so that's out of the way, but the other two are still up in the air.

    You can use the same LORs in the next cycle, so even if you decide to postpone your admission, I think it's ok to ask them now. Good luck :)

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma

    @curtesy said:
    @"Alex Divine" Thanks, Alex! Very informative. I'm concerned about asking for letters too far in advance of knowing whether I'm going to need more time to study past September. I think I'll be good for the exam, but don't want to risk asking recommenders for letters now only to inform them in August that I won't be applying until the next term. What would you do in this situation?

    That's fine -- you can use them for several years. 5 years I believe to be exact. I think it's just common curtesy to ask next cycle if you may use them. However, don't fret, as tat's generally a formality and not ever a problem. Lest you told the Prof in that year to F---- OFF!!

    Also, don't worry about asking too early. You never know how long they'll take to come in. I had 2 professors I was extremely close with. One I researched with and really was close to. She ended up taking 3.5 months to get my LOR in. I'm sure she was just busy, but I've heard of it taking people forever and having to pester to get them. Luckily, I didn't need them anytime soon, but it is sure nice to have one more thing taken care of vis-a-vis applications.

  • emichaelemichael Member
    37 karma

    Thank you, both!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma

    @emichael said:
    Thank you, both!

    Not a problem. You'll be happy once they are all set in your account :)

  • TheMikeyTheMikey Alum Member
    4196 karma

    Alex said it great.

    Don't worry about not being ready by September for the LSAT and having the LOR already. This happened to me last year and I just simply informed one of my recommenders that I will be waiting another application cycle due to personal reasons. She didn't bite my head off, most profs are very understandable!

    Good luck!

  • emichaelemichael Member
    37 karma

    @TheMikey Very reassuring to hear, thank you!

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