So - I got good grades at a top 20 school (~ top 10%).
Never considered clerkships till now - plan on applying to a broad array. I know I am behind the ball.
My biggest problem is I never really talked that much in any class and I never met with professors. Any advice on how I should go about approaching professors to write letters of rec?
asking for letters of rec - never meet with any profs Forum
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Re: asking for letters of rec - never meet with any profs
I literally never volunteered a single opinion in the class I took with one of my three clerkship recommenders (will be clerking in an SDNY/DDC/EDNY district court in 2013). Never went to his office hours except once to discuss a potential independent research paper idea that I scuttled within days (never brought it up again with him, and never had any contact with him until I asked for a recommendation).
Just e-mail him and tell him you're thinking about clerkships and that you'd like to meet with him and discuss the idea. He'll get the message. Professors are routinely asked to write recommendations for students whom they don't know well. In all likelihood, the prof will just ask you to write him a cover letter of sorts that describes why you want to clerk, where you want to clerk, and what your future career goals are. That, in addition to hopefully strong performance in his class, should be enough to get you a good letter.
Just e-mail him and tell him you're thinking about clerkships and that you'd like to meet with him and discuss the idea. He'll get the message. Professors are routinely asked to write recommendations for students whom they don't know well. In all likelihood, the prof will just ask you to write him a cover letter of sorts that describes why you want to clerk, where you want to clerk, and what your future career goals are. That, in addition to hopefully strong performance in his class, should be enough to get you a good letter.
