Letter of Recommendation Question Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm trying to decide who to ask to write my second LOR, and I'm between two choices. I feel like I could get the strongest letter from my legal writing professor, as I had her all year, we have a good working relationship, and she really likes me a lot. However, I'm concerned that as a legal writing professor, her recommendation would not be as strongly respected as a doctrinal professor. I could ask a professor who I didn't have much of a relationship with, but did well in her class, and she seemed to like me. It's a tough call. What do you guys think?

[heavoldgotjuice]

I think you need to start asking ASAP. The deadlines are coming up and it takes a bit of time for a professor to write your recommendation, namely because they are busy doing their own research and enjoying time off.

I would ask every professor you think would be a good professor to have write you a recommendation - weighing the relative value of the (hypothetical) substance of each recommendation is just another way of procrastinating. In reality, you know not what one professor will say, or whether what one professor says is more helpful in scoring a successful recommendation than some other professor, or how the school assigns credence to each recommendation - everything you could possibly consider is truly futile (especially because the deadlines are rapidly approaching).

Practically speaking, ask the professors you've formed relationships with and whom you've done extremely well in their class. If you've not formed any relationships, then choose the professor who has a better CV. If you don't have access tot heir CV/Resume, then ask the doctrinal professors rather than the legal writing professors. Above all, ask the professor whom you have a relationship with, who has a good CV, and who teaches substantive courses.

[Anonymous User]

I think you need to start asking ASAP. The deadlines are coming up and it takes a bit of time for a professor to write your recommendation, namely because they are busy doing their own research and enjoying time off.

I would ask every professor you think would be a good professor to have write you a recommendation - weighing the relative value of the (hypothetical) substance of each recommendation is just another way of procrastinating. In reality, you know not what one professor will say, or whether what one professor says is more helpful in scoring a successful recommendation than some other professor, or how the school assigns credence to each recommendation - everything you could possibly consider is truly futile (especially because the deadlines are rapidly approaching).

Practically speaking, ask the professors you've formed relationships with and whom you've done extremely well in their class. If you've not formed any relationships, then choose the professor who has a better CV. If you don't have access tot heir CV/Resume, then ask the doctrinal professors rather than the legal writing professors. Above all, ask the professor whom you have a relationship with, who has a good CV, and who teaches substantive courses.

OP here. Thanks for the reply and the great advice. I'm in a weird situation in that I actually haven't been procrastinating on this. Rather, I had an average first semester and then a phenomenal second semester that catapulted me into transferability territory. This literally became a possibility yesterday with my last grade coming in. As such, I have to move, and move quickly.

Thanks again.

[BVest]

LRW prof. Other prof can say "Anon got an A in my class and generally didn't say anything stupid when cold-called," but the adcomm can figure out the former from your transcript and don't really care about the latter. Otherwise they can't say anything other than you have a pulse and don't appear to be a psychopath. Your LRW prof can assure them of the pulse/psychopath issues while saying a lot more good things about you.

ETA: LRW prof is also less likely to resent it when you ask her for a quick turnaround.

[Anonymous User]

ETA: LRW prof is also less likely to resent it when you ask her for a quick turnaround.

This was exactly my thinking.

[Nebby]

My LRW instructor initially convinced me to apply for transfer. They're a much better resource for LOR than professors, since they are (usually) practicing attorney’s that understand much better where the rubber meets the road in regard to schools and employment numbers. Thus, they're usually less resentful or they're even happy to hear you're interested in transferring.