I'm new to all of this, and I am getting a very late start. I have a couple of questions about letters of recommendation, and I am just wondering what the opinions of the more experienced people are.
I recently spoke to the pre-law advisor at my school, and she said that I should have two letters from Ph.D. professors. At first, I was shocked, because I did not know any professor that might be willing to write a letter for me. Then, I remembered one that I had had for two different classes, both small, both major classes, and both with great endings (A and A-, we have no A+ here). He was not a doctor at the time, but I have recently learned that he did finish his Ph.D. here (U of Georgia), and he now teaches at San Diego's business school. I have sent a request to him, but no other professors. My other two letters are coming from our local (home district) rep in the Georgia House of Representatives and a lawyer that I worked for in high school. The rep did his undergrad for pharmacy at UGA, has been in the house since 1985, and is a family friend. The lawyer is also a family friend, did his undergrad at UGA, and received his JD from UGA law school (probably where I will be going).
1) If all three agree to write a letter of recommendation for me, will I be okay at most schools with only one being written by a professor?
2) If a school requires only two letters, would I still be able to submit all three?
3) If the answer to #2 is yes, would the three letters give me an advantage over a competitor with two?
Any input is welcome and appreciated.
Letters of Rec Questions Forum
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flyingpanda
- Posts: 824
- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:32 am
Re: Letters of Rec Questions
1. Yes
2. Yes for almost all schools, some schools have a max though.
3. No, letters of rec don't make a huge difference and a large number of people send in 3.
Also, it's important that a letter be from an academic source, does not have to be a PhD.
And... all 3 of my letters of rec were from summer internships and my cycle has been fine so far.
2. Yes for almost all schools, some schools have a max though.
3. No, letters of rec don't make a huge difference and a large number of people send in 3.
Also, it's important that a letter be from an academic source, does not have to be a PhD.
And... all 3 of my letters of rec were from summer internships and my cycle has been fine so far.
