Academic LOR necessary? Forum

[r18s30]

I'm currently completing my undergraduate degree this spring. I have 3 very strong LORs secured from an internship advisor, an advisor of a student organization that I worked closely with during my leadership, and a letter from a non-profit coordinator that I organize events for. The only LOR i have missing is my professor who I built a relationship with/excelled in their class. They are running late on writing.

Is it absolutely necessary to have an academic letter if I have 3 strong additional LORs who know me very well, know my work ethic, ect? I want to turn in my applications soon!

[Christinabruin]

I thought law schools want to see academic LORs on top of anything else, especially if you are still in undergrad.

[BobBoblaw]

It will raise huge red flags if you don't have an academic letter of recommendation, unless you have about 10 years of post graduate experience.

Even only sending one out of four might look odd, but perhaps others can chime in

[fmmf]

Yes, you want the academic LOR - especially considering you're a KJD.

[01panm]

For a K-JD, law schools heavily suggest that they want multiple academic LORs (not just one!), and some will explicitly require them. Not submitting a single academic letter suggests that you couldn't find someone to write one - which is understandable if you're ten years out of college, but extremely questionable if you're still in college.

I would definitely wait, but what's more urgent now is to read the instructions for the schools you're applying to carefully. If they say they want two academic LORs, you need to have two. There's still six weeks until Christmas, so there is still some time. Even if that letter is mediocre, it's better than you being dinged for not following instructions.