LORs: do schools care about who your profs. are? Forum

[JayJones78]

I am wondering if the schools care at all where your profs. came from i.e where they got their phd and their standing in your school (for exp. I have a LOR of rec from an associate dean, does that play any role?)
also - I have in two different apps recommenders who got their phds from the school I'm applying to. Do adcoms look into things like that at all? Is it ever a factor in evaluating the LOR?

Thanks!

[TripTrip]

I am wondering if the schools care at all where your profs. came from i.e where they got their phd and their standing in your school (for exp. I have a LOR of rec from an associate dean, does that play any role?)
also - I have in two different apps recommenders who got their phds from the school I'm applying to. Do adcoms look into things like that at all? Is it ever a factor in evaluating the LOR?

Thanks!

No and no.

LoRs are about YOU. Doesn't matter who they come from; content is all that counts.

[JayJones78]

I am wondering if the schools care at all where your profs. came from i.e where they got their phd and their standing in your school (for exp. I have a LOR of rec from an associate dean, does that play any role?)
also - I have in two different apps recommenders who got their phds from the school I'm applying to. Do adcoms look into things like that at all? Is it ever a factor in evaluating the LOR?

Thanks!

No and no.

LoRs are about YOU. Doesn't matter who they come from; content is all that counts.

Makes sense. I was just wondering if they even care about who those people are

[fallingup]

i don't see how it would help for the LOR writer just to state that they attended the school - he/she would have to actually know shit about what the adcoms want and explicitly make the connection between their personal knowledge and YOUR candidacy. even then i can't imagine it meaning much. it's just an LOR after all.

one of my LOR writers is a professor who graduated from a T14 law school that i'm applying to. she didn't include anything about the law school in my LOR, but did send a separate letter to "her people" at the law school on my behalf. it is nice to have an extra "something" in my file to underscore my interest since i never interviewed at the school or anything, but it's nothing more than that.

[JayJones78]

i don't see how it would help for the LOR writer just to state that they attended the school - he/she would have to actually know shit about what the adcoms want and explicitly make the connection between their personal knowledge and YOUR candidacy. even then i can't imagine it meaning much. it's just an LOR after all.

one of my LOR writers is a professor who graduated from a T14 law school that i'm applying to. she didn't include anything about the law school in my LOR, but did send a separate letter to "her people" at the law school on my behalf. it is nice to have an extra "something" in my file to underscore my interest since i never interviewed at the school or anything, but it's nothing more than that.

I agree with the notion it most likely means nothing but I was just wondering.

[Br3v]

no, in fact several deans are on record saying they prefer LOR's from TA's if they know your work better than a PhD who really doesn't know who you are.

[JayJones78]

no, in fact several deans are on record saying they prefer LOR's from TA's if they know your work better than a PhD who really doesn't know who you are.

Well in my case in LORs are from an S.J., a ThD and a PhD, all of them know me personally. The first two were my profs. in multiple classes (EDIT: of 20 or less students) and the last was my advisor my entire time in undergrad and knows me and my story back to back. That's one of the good things of going to a super small college

[dowu]

LORs mean close to nothing. HTH.

[JayJones78]

LORs mean close to nothing. HTH.

My opinion is that like other parameters in the app they come to play when the adcoms are trying to decide between two applicants, or when they are unsure about you and what to know more. I am happy with the people I chose for a rec.

[cgw]

lol. I had such a hard time convincing my recommender that law schools don't care about this. She seemed to think they have a great disdain for english profs and that this would hurt my application somehow. I was like, dude, I took 4 classes with you and you advised my honors thesis who else am I supposed to ask?

[JayJones78]

lol. I had such a hard time convincing my recommender that law schools don't care about this. She seemed to think they have a great disdain for english profs and that this would hurt my application somehow. I was like, dude, I took 4 classes with you and you advised my honors thesis who else am I supposed to ask?

Ha. It was pretty easy for me to get my recs. I was sorry to read here about people who had trouble with either finding recs or making them actually send their letters to LSAC. I found it one of the easiest parts of the app.

[cgw]

lol. I had such a hard time convincing my recommender that law schools don't care about this. She seemed to think they have a great disdain for english profs and that this would hurt my application somehow. I was like, dude, I took 4 classes with you and you advised my honors thesis who else am I supposed to ask?

Ha. It was pretty easy for me to get my recs. I was sorry to read here about people who had trouble with either finding recs or making them actually send their letters to LSAC. I found it one of the easiest parts of the app.

It was kind of a funny experience, really. She agreed to do it but insisted on thoroughly researching the process and polling at least 3 people who had written law school recs. I know she wrote me the best letter I could ask for, in the end.

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

lots of cool stories in here

[JayJones78]

lots of cool stories in here

Mine was like: hey Dr/Dr/Fr. I'm applying to law school. Can you please write me a rec?
Sure. Okay thanks. I'll email you the info later today.

That was it. All 3 were submitted withing 3 weeks or so.