LOR's customized to schools Forum

[SnakySalmon]

When I asked one of my profs if she'd be willing to write an LOR in the future, she said that she'd be happy too, but that if I wanted her to write any custom ones I should give her a "Why X" explaining what's unique about the school now. That way she'll have 5-6 months to write any number of letters.

I'm not taking the LSAT till June, so I'm not sure what schools I'm going to be applying to yet. My current thinking is that Yale is the only school that is likely to REALLY care about my LOR's, and Stanford has a custom form, so those are the two I should write up for her just in case. Is this correct?

[riverwater]

When I asked one of my profs if she'd be willing to write an LOR in the future, she said that she'd be happy too, but that if I wanted her to write any custom ones I should give her a "Why X" explaining what's unique about the school now. That way she'll have 5-6 months to write any number of letters.

I'm not taking the LSAT till June, so I'm not sure what schools I'm going to be applying to yet. My current thinking is that Yale is the only school that is likely to REALLY care about my LOR's, and Stanford has a custom form, so those are the two I should write up for her just in case. Is this correct?

I suppose a custom rec would be an advantage at any school you apply to. But I would be careful not to put too much of a burden on your professor. Personally, I don't think you should ask for more than 3 recs (1 Yale, 1 Stanford, 1 general).

[SnakySalmon]

When I asked one of my profs if she'd be willing to write an LOR in the future, she said that she'd be happy too, but that if I wanted her to write any custom ones I should give her a "Why X" explaining what's unique about the school now. That way she'll have 5-6 months to write any number of letters.

I'm not taking the LSAT till June, so I'm not sure what schools I'm going to be applying to yet. My current thinking is that Yale is the only school that is likely to REALLY care about my LOR's, and Stanford has a custom form, so those are the two I should write up for her just in case. Is this correct?

I suppose a custom rec would be an advantage at any school you apply to. But I would be careful not to put too much of a burden on your professor. Personally, I don't think you should ask for more than 3 recs (1 Yale, 1 Stanford, 1 general).

Yeah, I probably wouldn't have asked, but since she offered, it seems foolish not to accept.

[malleus discentium]

When I asked one of my profs if she'd be willing to write an LOR in the future, she said that she'd be happy too, but that if I wanted her to write any custom ones I should give her a "Why X" explaining what's unique about the school now. That way she'll have 5-6 months to write any number of letters.

I'm not taking the LSAT till June, so I'm not sure what schools I'm going to be applying to yet. My current thinking is that Yale is the only school that is likely to REALLY care about my LOR's, and Stanford has a custom form, so those are the two I should write up for her just in case. Is this correct?

I suppose a custom rec would be an advantage at any school you apply to. But I would be careful not to put too much of a burden on your professor. Personally, I don't think you should ask for more than 3 recs (1 Yale, 1 Stanford, 1 general).

Yeah, I probably wouldn't have asked, but since she offered, it seems foolish not to accept.

Custom LORs are generally for when the professor has some connection to the school in question, not because they write something unique the school (that's actually a bad idea, since LORs are about you, not schools). If your professor has a connection to one of the HYS law schools, then it might be worth it. If she doesn't, you shouldn't burden her and yourself with the extra work of a special LOR. Unless you have the most accommodating recommender in the world, asking for three unique LORs is probably going to be more work than she wants to put in, which will probably make them all weaker than one solid one. Also, and this goes without saying but I'm going to anyway, I assume you have a reason to believe YS are even legitimately in play. If they're not, then don't waste anyone's time getting a targeted LOR.