Assigning a Recommendation after Submitting an Application Forum

[agoodpimp]

Hi all,

I asked one of my professors to write a letter of recommendation for me, and he said he'd be able to, but he'd submit it around the beginning of December. I wanted to apply to law school by around later October or early November, and I know that you can assign letters after you submit the application, but is this generally a good idea? My main concerns are the following:

Will the schools know that there's another letter that's assigned to the application before they review the application?

If so, will I still get the advantage of applying early in rolling admissions? That is, will they wait until they see the letter (which will be around mid-December) and treat me as if I'd applied in mid-December?

If not, is there a chance that they'll review the application and make a decision before they see the letter?

I feel that it'll be a pretty strong letter, so I would like to include it in the application. I did research for this professor and I talk at length about my interest in doing research in law in my personal statement. I could also ask the professor to submit the letter earlier, but I feel that would be impolite and may slightly affect the quality of the letter (maybe I'm being overly cautious).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[m3taphysician]

Any thoughts on OP's question? I'd like to know as well.

[xmrmckenziex]

I'll piggyback as well, would love to see thoughts on this...

[agoodpimp]

Hi all,

I checked one of my applications today and I saw that some schools actually let you decide whether you want the schools to delay completion of the application until all of the letters have been received. Some (I think most) schools don't give you that option, however, so I'd still like to know what the default is, and whether it's a good idea to have them wait.

[Nulli Secundus]

Tagged.

[bigtexmex]

I'd like to know as well considering the amount of time LSAC is taking to process them right now.

I know it's also been asked, but I'll do it again. What about a pending LSAT score (December)? Is it fine to send the apps in even if the letters are not in and the score is pending?

[thisguy456]

Interested in how this works as well.

[ladybug89]

My understanding is that unless they ask/you specify otherwise, they'll review your file as soon as they get the minimum number of letters. That might vary by school though, so safest bet would be to just email them!

[thisguy456]

My understanding is that unless they ask/you specify otherwise, they'll review your file as soon as they get the minimum number of letters. That might vary by school though, so safest bet would be to just email them!

If you assign a new LOR through LSAC to a school where the application is already complete, will the school receive it no problem? Would I have to email the school to tell them to accept it? This part of the process is a bit unclear for me.

[kulshan]

Hey all, my last letter (3rd) got added to my LSAC account yesterday, so I assigned it to the schools I'd applied to. All my status checkers say it's been received by the school in question.

[kulshan]

"Dear X
 
As long as you have assigned the letter/evaluation to the school, LSAC will send it as an update, provided that the school has not already received the maximum number of letters that they will accept from LSAC. There is no additional charge.
 
This is done according to the each law school's particular update schedule, so you may see the letter/evaluation being sent to some schools earlier than others.  The law schools indicate to LSAC whether they wish to receive updated reports with a new letter of recommendation and/or evaluation: as soon as they are processed, on the 1st and 15th of each month, only on the 1st of each month, every Monday, or not at all. 
 
 
LSAC
Candidate Communications"

[Nulli Secundus]

Thanks for the info, Kulshan. Much appreciated.