Letter from Alumni Forum

[rosenbiems]

,.

[No13baby]

Dear all,

A family friend, who attended my prospective #1, has offered to write me a letter. I do not know him particularly well, but I'm sure he would write nice things about me (I will conduct a phone interview with him beforehand and he will read my PS). Is such a thing appropriate? Would it even be helpful? How would adcomms look at such a letter?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated..

Best

If this person can't speak to your academic ability or work experience, don't have them write a letter. Adcomms care way more about how well your recommender knows you than where the recommender went to school.

[chem]

Dear all,

A family friend, who attended my prospective #1, has offered to write me a letter. I do not know him particularly well, but I'm sure he would write nice things about me (I will conduct a phone interview with him beforehand and he will read my PS). Is such a thing appropriate? Would it even be helpful? How would adcomms look at such a letter?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated..

Best

If this person can't speak to your academic ability or work experience, don't have them write a letter. Adcomms care way more about how well your recommender knows you than where the recommender went to school.

+1

[Samara]

I don't know, I think it could have some value as a third LOR or a LOCI accompaniment provided they know you well enough to speak cogently to your character. Academic/work letters are definitely better though.

[Hopefully2012]

I agree with Samara. Get the letter and keep it as a possible attachment to a LOCI if you get waitlisted.

[theadvancededit]

It can serve as a good supplement to LOCI-- however, still consider how well this person knows you. If they can talk positively about specific softs and other attributes, even better.

[ahduth]

No offense, this sounds completely useless. I wouldn't rely on it. Third person commentary is awesome and all, but it's not going to affect your admissions process. Focus on stuff that matters.

[bp shinners]

Yea, I'd skip using it as a third LoR as being peripherally related to an alumnus isn't really going to be a boost, but as a supplement to a LOCI, it might work.

[tennisballs]

If he's a notable alumni/still active in the university... I would go for it.

Character evaluations may not help, but if packaged correctly will not hurt.

[futurelawyer123]

I have a related question... one of my number one choices is Cornell, and my mother is an alum of the law school. She obviously knows me extremely well, so her ability to speak to my character and work ethic is not the issue. However, I would assume that having my mommy write a LoR would be a bad move... is this a safe assumption?

[kaiser]

I have a related question... one of my number one choices is Cornell, and my mother is an alum of the law school. She obviously knows me extremely well, so her ability to speak to my character and work ethic is not the issue. However, I would assume that having my mommy write a LoR would be a bad move... is this a safe assumption?

Don't they specifically ask on the application if you have any family who attended the school? That is the relevant place to mention your mother. They only want to know about legacy. They wouldn't care what she has to say about you, nor would it be relevant. They just want to know about legacy info, since legacies are using good $$ for the school.

[CanadianWolf]

OP: I doubt that a letter from a family friend will be helpful unless this person has an unusually close relationship with the law school.