Top Law Schools

Hey gang. Question regarding reusing LORs, but first a bit of background: I got WL'ed at my top choice last cycle. In the meantime, an opportunity at work opened up that I wanted to explore, so I ended up withdrawing my name from the WL. In my withdrawal letter, I explained the situation and notified them that I intended on reapplying in the next cycle (i.e., now).

Of my three LORs from last cycle, one was academic and the other two were work-related. I'm not in a position to get another a academic LOR. Should I have any hesitation reusing it? What about the other two? I suspect an updated letter from my boss could be helpful, but I don't want to needlessly inundate the school. I plan on calling the admissions office, but wanted to get the temperature around here before doing so.

Of course, I realize this takes a backseat to getting a higher LSAT score, but I want to make sure I'm going about all of this the right way.

table3 wrote:I'm not in a position to get another a academic LOR.

How long have you been out of school? And have all of your professors from undergrad died? If your answer is less than 7 years and no, then you're still in a position to get academic letters.

bp shinners wrote:

table3 wrote:I'm not in a position to get another a academic LOR.

How long have you been out of school? And have all of your professors from undergrad died? If your answer is less than 7 years and no, then you're still in a position to get academic letters.

Why seven years? That strikes me as arbitrary. I've been out less than seven but more than four.

The only salient difference between a letter from my academic advisor written last year and one written this year would be the dateline. There are no other professors that I could reasonably ask for a LOR.

table3 wrote: Why seven years? That strikes me as arbitrary. I've been out less than seven but more than four.

It is. But there's a line somewhere in there where you can reasonably shift academic LORs to professional ones, and it's somewhere around 7 years.

There are no other professors that I could reasonably ask for a LOR.

Again, if they're not dead, then that's not true. Even if they don't remember you, they can get a sense based on the grade they gave you and any papers you wrote for them (which you should try to track down if possible). I've had students 8 or 9 years go back and get a solid LoR from a professor. In fact, despite the fact that the professor probably didn't remember the student, it might have been a stronger letter for the fact that the professor "remembered" the student after so many years.