LOR Question Forum

[bnssweeney]

How many letters of recommendation do law schools usually require? Do they all have to be from your undergrad? Can one be from someone you have interned with over multiple summers?

Also, have any of you had trouble pinpointing just who you want to write your letters? I have decent relationships with professors (I go to office hours, highly engaged in class), but I would be lying if I said they really knew about my involvement in the community/around campus.

What are some things you wish you did differently when asking people to write your LORs?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Are you still in undergrad or recently graduated? If so, the traditional wisdom says, I think, that you should have at least two professors, but a third letter could be from an employer. As for whether your professors know your community/campus involvement, that doesn't really matter. Law schools are looking for letters to evaluate your academic ability - critical thinking, reading/writing skills, etc. - not to give an overview of you as a complete person. Your campus and community involvement will show up in your resume, and maybe in your PS, depending what you want to write about. It's also much much less important than your GPA and LSAT.

[bnssweeney]

Are you still in undergrad or recently graduated? If so, the traditional wisdom says, I think, that you should have at least two professors, but a third letter could be from an employer. As for whether your professors know your community/campus involvement, that doesn't really matter. Law schools are looking for letters to evaluate your academic ability - critical thinking, reading/writing skills, etc. - not to give an overview of you as a complete person. Your campus and community involvement will show up in your resume, and maybe in your PS, depending what you want to write about. It's also much much less important than your GPA and LSAT.

I am still in undergrad and very set on being a K-JD (for various reasons which I won't talk about here). And okay, that sounds about right. The only reason I asked is that I saw an example of "A Great LOR" on lawschoolnumbers and the mock professor went off on saying about how the mock student was involved in this, this, and this.