... Forum

[cunninghat]

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[Nova]

1. Pretty sure 1 page is standard

2. Naa

3. The letter would probably marginally help. LORs in general are only a marginal factor. If its going to make your work situation very uncomfortable, I wouldn't ask for it.

[Cicero76]

1. One page. They won't read the rest

2. Maybe HCCN. But not necessary

3. Nope

[jselson]

Stanford says that they like a targeted LOR on their website, but it's not required. I don't think it matters anywhere else.

[Cicero76]

Stanford says that they like a targeted LOR on their website, but it's not required. I don't think it matters anywhere else.

I would add Yale to that. Their admissions process is very heavily dependent on LORs and targeted ones help there.

[Ti Malice]

Stanford says that they like a targeted LOR on their website, but it's not required. I don't think it matters anywhere else.

I would add Yale to that. Their admissions process is very heavily dependent on LORs and targeted ones help there.

YLS does care a lot about the quality of one's LORs, but I don't think they care even the slightest bit about whether the letters are targeted. Yale knows they're almost everyone's first choice. Asha and the faculty reviewers just want to read something that sets you apart from the typical high-numbers applicant.

Honestly, OP, I wouldn't (didn't) bother sending targeted letters to SLS either unless your recommender actually has meaningful things to say about why you and SLS are a particularly good match. That's tough to pull off if your recommender doesn't have meaningful knowledge of SLS. If all your professor does is substitute "Stanford Law School" for "law school" a few times, possibly throwing in a weak reference or two to something either easily found on SLS's website or common to most/all elite law schools, the targeted nature of the letter won't matter one whit.