will 4 letters annoy them? Forum

[Happy Gilmore]

I've collected 5 letters of rec on my LSAC profile, and I have ranked them in the order of which will be the best.

First 2 from professor, 3rd from work, and 4th one from another professor.

Do they actually want 4 letters if they are all very good recommendations? The forth one literally says "Happy Gilmore is the best student I have ever had in 15 years of teaching at the college level...He's the kind of student that I would think of outside of class" (I actually only had 1 class with her-but I was a total kiss ass in that class and she sincerely wants to help.

So to my question, I know the norm is 2 letters, but would they actually want 4 letters if they are all good? or do they only want 2 and any more than that will annoy them.

[KD35]

I've collected 5 letters of rec on my LSAC profile, and I have ranked them in the order of which will be the best.

First 2 from professor, 3rd from work, and 4th one from another professor.

Do they actually want 4 letters if they are all very good recommendations? The forth one literally says "Happy Gilmore is the best student I have ever had in 15 years of teaching at the college level...He's the kind of student that I would think of outside of class" (I actually only had 1 class with her-but I was a total kiss ass in that class and she sincerely wants to help.

So to my question, I know the norm is 2 letters, but would they actually want 4 letters if they are all good? or do they only want 2 and any more than that will annoy them.

4th one sounds useless. Oftentimes, LoRs aren't huge helps to your application. But a bad one can kill you.

[ScottRiqui]

I don't think the adcomms are looking to your LoRs to discover great insights into your characters and abilities; they just want to know that you've got 1-2 people who are familiar with you and can vouch that you're not a mental/social defective. Anything beyond that, quantity-wise, seems like overkill.

[Happy Gilmore]

meh, that's what I thought. One of the TTT schools I visited with a school trip, the adcomm said they require two, but the ideal number for them was 4.

T6 pretty much just 2 though from what I can tell (but can never find it explicitly, which I was hoping somebody could point me towards?)

[hephaestus]

I'd just send 2. LORs really don't have much impact.

[Dr.Zer0]

I would recommend 2. Then if you get wait listed send an extra LOR along with your LOCI.

[ManoftheHour]

Except for about 0.1% of cases, LORs are TTT.

That is all.

[TheThriller]

save the 4th one for a wait list

[CyanIdes Of March]

meh, that's what I thought. One of the TTT schools I visited with a school trip, the adcomm said they require two, but the ideal number for them was 4.

T6 pretty much just 2 though from what I can tell (but can never find it explicitly, which I was hoping somebody could point me towards?)

Yale's blog specifically says do not submit more than 3.

http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/admissions/default.aspx

*Control F the word Overkill to help locate that sentence.

[Dr. Dre]

NUMBERS

[malleus discentium]

I've collected 5 letters of rec on my LSAC profile, and I have ranked them in the order of which will be the best.

First 2 from professor, 3rd from work, and 4th one from another professor.

Do they actually want 4 letters if they are all very good recommendations? The forth one literally says "Happy Gilmore is the best student I have ever had in 15 years of teaching at the college level...He's the kind of student that I would think of outside of class" (I actually only had 1 class with her-but I was a total kiss ass in that class and she sincerely wants to help.

So to my question, I know the norm is 2 letters, but would they actually want 4 letters if they are all good? or do they only want 2 and any more than that will annoy them.

What do you mean when you say "the fourth one"? You don't have to submit them in the order they're listed anywhere. So if this "fourth letter" is the best one you have, then it's not your fourth letter, it's your first. If it's not the best one because you have three LORs that are better than "best student I have ever had," then you should ctfd because you're good on LORs.

Also Cyanides has TCR: adcoms routinely say one of the easiest ways to fuck up your application is not following the instructions. If a school asks for 2-3, then submitting 4 is not following the instructions, now matter how great the fourth one is.