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LOR: professor I don't know very well or supervisor I do?

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:20 am
by epetkova
I am seriously stressed about my LORs.

I have 1 LOR confirmed from a professor I still keep in touch with and 3 from supervisors. I'm 3 1/2 years out of university. I'm worried that 1 isn't enough from the selection committee's POV.

What do you think? Is it better to have a great LOR from a supervisor who knows you well or a from a professor who doesn’t? I'm thinking of reaching out to a professor I didn't know at all, but who gave me two As.
FYI: I'm applying to top 10 law schools. I'm competitive, but not an 'out of this world' candidate so I can't afford to make any mistakes.

Re: LOR: professor I don't know very well or supervisor I do?

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:31 pm
by westinghouse60
Are you talking about work related supervisors? 3.5 years out of UG I would think its understandable if you had more of them to write LORs than professors.

Edit: depends on the kind of work too, I would never ask any of my bosses for LORs no matter how much they knew/liked me because the jobs were all small time retail or something.

Re: LOR: professor I don't know very well or supervisor I do?

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:32 pm
by rinkrat19
Get both. See if you can figure out whether each school prefers two academic letters. Save whichever letter you don't use for getting off WLs later.