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Who should write my LORs?

TooLiLTimeTilSeptLsatTooLiLTimeTilSeptLsat Member
in Law School Admissions 40 karma

Can you please help me decide on whom to ask for LOR?

I graduated undergrad 2012, went to graduate school, graduated 2013. Since then I have been working for three-four years.
I am now trying to go to law school and have been thinking of my LORs. My potential LOR Candidates are

1) My former supervisor whom I interned for during my undergrad years. He has great credentials and I am very close to him. Have been keeping in touch for a long time, so definitely easiest to ask for recommendation and I have no doubt that he can write me a great recommendation. Now, potential issues I have with this LOR is that 1) he is not my professor and 2) I interned for him, so this was very long ago, so I don’t know what the admission committee might think of that.

2) My current supervisor from a non-profit organization that I am involved in. I don’t think I can get a LOR from my main job because I can’t let the company know that I am applying to law school. However, I have been involved in this non-profit organization for as many years I have been working. It is not my primary occupation, but could even be more relevant to law school because I do more writing for this job than my primary job. My primary occupation is quantitative research, dealing with numbers and computer modeling. Now, the only issue I have with this LOR is that it is not from my main job.

3) A professor from my school years. Couldn’t really think of professors who would write me a good recommendation because 1) I went to a really big school 2) my major was engineering so most of the classes I took were exam oriented, requiring minimal interaction between students and professors. Fortunately, for this professor, I took his class and even became his TA. So he can probably write me a good recommendation. My issues with this LOR is that 1) I haven’t been in touch since I graduated, which was four years ago. 2) This class is a project/presentation class so I don’t know if my professor can write me the kind of recommendation that law schools are looking for. Also, maybe he will write a “meh” recommendation. Who knows what he will do whereas LOR 1) and 2), I can 100 percent guarantee that I will get really good LORs.

Now, I have been reading a lot about how an academic LOR is a must for law schools. But as you can see, I feel like I can get better recommendations from non-academic sources. So if I can get some feedback on which LORs I should get, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks a lot

Who should write my LORs?
  1. Who should write my LORs?9 votes
    1. My former supervisor, personally close, good credentials
      33.33%
    2. My current supervisor from not-my-main-job, volunteering NPO, personally close
      22.22%
    3. My professor, took his class and was his TA, haven't been in touch for four years.
      44.44%
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Comments

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma

    I wouldn't make my decision ahead of time until I've talked to people for the different options and can sort of get a sense of how enthusiastic they are about writing the letter. I'm inclined to say that the one from the professor your TA'd for may carry more weight, but if it's a "meh" LOR than it's probably not ideal. I think it's still worth the try!

    The non-profit LOR sounds like it would be great but, like you said, it's not from your job. I'm not sure if that will affect how much weight it holds. Though, if your current supervisor can speak to your strengths in a professional capacity, I'm sure it could be an option.

    In sum, I suppose I would put my feelers out and then access the options once you have a better idea of how the potential recommenders respond.

    Good luck

  • TheMikeyTheMikey Alum Member
    4196 karma

    I would say get at least 1 from a professor, but since you think that professor may write you a meh LOR, idk which options you should go for. the first 2 seems great, since you're that confident that they will write you great LORs, but idk how not having at least 1 academic LOR would affect you since you haven't been out of school that long.

  • Rigid DesignatorRigid Designator Alum Member
    1091 karma

    I'll second what @"Alex Divine" says - have a chat to the potential LOR candidates and figure out how keen they seem.

  • nevadacity37nevadacity37 Free Trial Member
    edited September 2017 163 karma

    While I concur with the idea of basically "shopping" your potential recommenders to see which one is best, I believe I conversation I had yesterday with an Admissions Dean at a T8 school might be relevant here. I'll call this Dean, Dean "X". I had inquired with Dean X about being a re-applicant whether I should gather new letters of recommendation (applied this past cycle). Dean X said that letters from professors I have taken courses with in the last two years was just fine. Dean X provided an example of an applicant that had a letter from a professor that they hadn't had a direct connection with for 4 years, would not be an advisable letter. Because they are considering your admission now, they want to know - ideally - within this last year, perhaps two, what kind of student and person are you. Someone 4 years removed from witnessing your performance and evaluating your work ethic might very well not know relevant information about the applicant anymore. For instance, Jonny Q-Lawapplicant has since developed a drinking habit and now is kind of a slacker and a liability. I am not saying this is you by any means, but what I am saying is that it was communicated to me just a day ago that a recommendation from someone that is beyond 2 years - or in a stretch 3 years - removed from seeing and evaluating your work is not the best reference. Just things to consider.

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