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Just wondering, do people typically get LOR's from 2nd semester profs since you will be fresher in their minds? Or is it reasonable to ask 1st semester profs for letters of rec later on in the year?

Thanks in advance!

First semester is fine. How fresh you live in their minds is irrelevant if you ask a first semester professor now.

I'm asking first semester profs FWIW.

Either or is fine. Ideally you'd have some contact with them after first semester, but even without it, I doubt you'll have much of an issue.

I also doubt the recommendations make a difference unless someone is over the moon for you.

are all these stories I hear about professors being passive aggressive/unwilling to write LORs for transferring students common? I am hoping to get on the requests soon and find myself worried about scathing rejection.

stillwater wrote:are all these stories I hear about professors being passive aggressive/unwilling to write LORs for transferring students common? I am hoping to get on the requests soon and find myself worried about scathing rejection.

I didn't find that to be the case. I don't remember how exactly I worded my request, but I definitely hedged (IE "I did really well and some friends have told me I should look into transfer. I'm going to throw in a few applications and see what happens. I don't have anything to lose, but I'm far from making a decision one way or another. Could you write me a LOR?")

I never spoke to one of my LOR writers except when called on in class. I got an A in the class, so I thought I'd ask her even though I didn't know her at all. To add to the weirdness, I had to ask her over email because I was out of state for the summer. Anyway, she said she would happily write me a LOR, but advised me that it may not be a "rich" as if we had a more personal relationship. I said that was fine. Still got into my reach school.

my experience with LORs have been painless. make sure you phrase your e-mails/message correctly, and always be sure to follow up. if you get rejected, simply thank them and move on.

also, it's probably better to ask first semester professors since it may be a rush to meet deadlines if you wait on your second semester grades.

No downside to approaching early. Letters go to LSAC, where they'll wait indefinitely. I would encourage it. As you've probably seen from the grade waiting threads, law professors can be, and often are, incredibly slow. You can always choose not to use the letter if you find over the course of this semester that you have a better connection / better grade in another professor's course.

re: A professor being passive aggressive / saying no. My anecdotal experience was pretty much the opposite. Two said they would be happy to. One of my recommenders openly tried to talk me out of transferring (and succeeded), but he still wrote me an excellent, borderline man-crush revealing LOR. I think if they care enough to feel personally invested in you and don't want you to transfer, they're not going to fuck with your future.