Stanford c/o 2015 Applicants (2011-2012 cycle) Forum

[heptune]

Is it a really big deal not to have targeted LOR for Stanford? Neither of my recommenders have any connection to Stanford Law and I suspect anything they might write about Stanford would seem incredibly generic and would likely apply to any top law school. I suppose I could have them write separate letters anyway that mentioned some of Stanford's clinics, etc, but this seems like information that might better apply to a Why Stanford essay. What should I do?

[nids333]

Yeaaa so happy this thread has been started!

Are you guys attaching the Statement of Instructor with an LSAC form and then request that your recommender send it to LSAC?

Also is this form being used for this cycle? I looked at Stanford's JD Application Procedure and can't see it. I do see the Dean's Form.

Best of luck to everyone!

[hdivschool]

Is it a really big deal not to have targeted LOR for Stanford? Neither of my recommenders have any connection to Stanford Law and I suspect anything they might write about Stanford would seem incredibly generic and would likely apply to any top law school. I suppose I could have them write separate letters anyway that mentioned some of Stanford's clinics, etc, but this seems like information that might better apply to a Why Stanford essay. What should I do?

I used generic LORs, with a few Stanford-specific sentences in my PS.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Yeaaa so happy this thread has been started!

Are you guys attaching the Statement of Instructor with an LSAC form and then request that your recommender send it to LSAC?

Also is this form being used for this cycle? I looked at Stanford's JD Application Procedure and can't see it. I do see the Dean's Form.

Best of luck to everyone!

I emailed Stanford about this Friday afternoon. If I don't get a prompt response, I'll call in and ask. I was wondering the same thing.

[nids333]

Yeaaa so happy this thread has been started!

Are you guys attaching the Statement of Instructor with an LSAC form and then request that your recommender send it to LSAC?

Also is this form being used for this cycle? I looked at Stanford's JD Application Procedure and can't see it. I do see the Dean's Form.

Best of luck to everyone!

I emailed Stanford about this Friday afternoon. If I don't get a prompt response, I'll call in and ask. I was wondering the same thing.

Thanks for staying on top of things! Did you hear back yet?

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Yeaaa so happy this thread has been started!

Are you guys attaching the Statement of Instructor with an LSAC form and then request that your recommender send it to LSAC?

Also is this form being used for this cycle? I looked at Stanford's JD Application Procedure and can't see it. I do see the Dean's Form.

Best of luck to everyone!

I emailed Stanford about this Friday afternoon. If I don't get a prompt response, I'll call in and ask. I was wondering the same thing.

Thanks for staying on top of things! Did you hear back yet?

Not yet, unfortunately If I don't get a response in a couple days, then I'll call in.

[LaCumparsita]

They better accept Form C... two of my professors already used it and sent in it, and I don't feel like asking them to redo their recs.....

[Hawkeye Pierce]

They better accept Form C... two of my professors already used it and sent in it, and I don't feel like asking them to redo their recs.....

Er, why would they have to redo their recs?

Form C is a supplement to the LORs that you send.

[southwick]

I have it from Piyada Nonzee as of ~10 days ago that they won't be using the special form this year. They still look highly upon targeted LORs, but no special form is required.

[MumofCad]

I have it from Piyada Nonzee as of ~10 days ago that they won't be using the special form this year. They still look highly upon targeted LORs, but no special form is required.

Sweet! I didn't see it on the initial application page and wasn't aware of it being used in prior years, so my recommendations have already been submitted to LSAC without it. I was thinking it would be a real pain to try and get LSAC to retroactively add it to the recommendations at this stage.

[LaCumparsita]

So what do we do if our professors already sent in the rec with Form C? Will it be considered or tossed out? Will it look bad that we used stuff from the last admissions cycle?

[nids333]

So what do we do if our professors already sent in the rec with Form C? Will it be considered or tossed out? Will it look bad that we used stuff from the last admissions cycle?

I don't think it will look bad, but just email them and ask them to remove it from your file. If anything it shows that you were being proactive by sending in what you anticipated to be a component of the application.

[LaCumparsita]

Thank you for your email. Form C is no longer required for letters of recommendation. We will accept letters of recommendation along with Form C that have already been submitted to LSAC prior to this change in our procedures. Per our instructions on our website, all letters of recommendation must be submitted to LSAC's Letter of Recommendation and Evaluation Services. We will not accept letters submitted directly to our office.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

[freestallion]

Is it a really big deal not to have targeted LOR for Stanford? Neither of my recommenders have any connection to Stanford Law and I suspect anything they might write about Stanford would seem incredibly generic and would likely apply to any top law school. I suppose I could have them write separate letters anyway that mentioned some of Stanford's clinics, etc, but this seems like information that might better apply to a Why Stanford essay. What should I do?

I used generic LORs, with a few Stanford-specific sentences in my PS.

That's good to hear, thanks!

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I'm not going to ask again to try to get Stanford specific LORs. So if I get WLed, I'll ask one of my professors this quarter to write a Stanford specific LOR and then write a LOCI (same goes for Y or H).

[Perdevise]

Re Form C:

I am sorry I don't fully understand, but i thought form C wasn't required in the past, just heavily recommended.

If its not required, will SLS still favor apps that have form C?

And how would I even go about including form C? Would I give my recommenders the LSAC form and form C? Would they just send in all three in one envelope, and LSAC would know to send the form only to Stanford?

Thanks for any help.

[spek]

Re Form C:

I am sorry I don't fully understand, but i thought form C wasn't required in the past, just heavily recommended.

If its not required, will SLS still favor apps that have form C?

And how would I even go about including form C? Would I give my recommenders the LSAC form and form C? Would they just send in all three in one envelope, and LSAC would know to send the form only to Stanford?

Thanks for any help.

Form C wasn't required unless you wanted to do a targeted letter. Now it's not required even if you do one. I think they'll still accept Form Cs that have already been submitted to LSAC. The last question is now irrelevant but yes, both forms would be given to the recommenders who would then put all three in one envelope.

[Perdevise]

Re Form C:

I am sorry I don't fully understand, but i thought form C wasn't required in the past, just heavily recommended.

If its not required, will SLS still favor apps that have form C?

And how would I even go about including form C? Would I give my recommenders the LSAC form and form C? Would they just send in all three in one envelope, and LSAC would know to send the form only to Stanford?

Thanks for any help.

Form C wasn't required unless you wanted to do a targeted letter. Now it's not required even if you do one. I think they'll still accept Form Cs that have already been submitted to LSAC. The last question is now irrelevant but yes, both forms would be given to the recommenders who would then put all three in one envelope.

Thank you spek. I guess I misunderstood, I thought form C was to be included for any letter. I thought Stanford would appreciate the quantitative analysis even if the letter wasn't specifically targeted to Stanford. Do you think it would be a waste of time to include it then?

[spek]

Re Form C:

I am sorry I don't fully understand, but i thought form C wasn't required in the past, just heavily recommended.

If its not required, will SLS still favor apps that have form C?

And how would I even go about including form C? Would I give my recommenders the LSAC form and form C? Would they just send in all three in one envelope, and LSAC would know to send the form only to Stanford?

Thanks for any help.

Form C wasn't required unless you wanted to do a targeted letter. Now it's not required even if you do one. I think they'll still accept Form Cs that have already been submitted to LSAC. The last question is now irrelevant but yes, both forms would be given to the recommenders who would then put all three in one envelope.

Thank you spek. I guess I misunderstood, I thought form C was to be included for any letter. I thought Stanford would appreciate the quantitative analysis even if the letter wasn't specifically targeted to Stanford. Do you think it would be a waste of time to include it then?

Well that was my understanding of Form C, I might be the one that's misunderstood. I've emailed my recommenders to let them know that the form is no longer required. I don't know if it's a waste of time to include it but I figured it would be one less thing for my professors to do (since they are already writing two separate letters). The form isn't on the "JD Application Procedure" page anymore so it seems like they don't want it to be an option. No idea if submitting it, even though it's not required, would affect chances in any way [if, for example, an evaluation wasn't the most favorable it might have been better for the applicant to just have the LOR].

[nids333]

How are you guys having your professors tailor their recommendation to Stanford? I was considering asking mine to talk about certain clinics and centers that I am interested in, but I feel that this is not very substantive. I wonder what a good rec looks like w/o from a non-Stanford alumni.

[spek]

How are you guys having your professors tailor their recommendation to Stanford? I was considering asking mine to talk about certain clinics and centers that I am interested in, but I feel that this is not very substantive. I wonder what a good rec looks like w/o from a non-Stanford alumni.

I don't know how much more substantive the letter can be beyond recommending you for specific programs at Stanford and explaining why you would be a good fit. I think the targeted letter helps mainly by showing commitment and interest. I might be wrong but that's the most I'm hoping for from my LOR writers.

[Eichörnchen]

How are you guys having your professors tailor their recommendation to Stanford? I was considering asking mine to talk about certain clinics and centers that I am interested in, but I feel that this is not very substantive. I wonder what a good rec looks like w/o from a non-Stanford alumni.

I don't know how much more substantive the letter can be beyond recommending you for specific programs at Stanford and explaining why you would be a good fit. I think the targeted letter helps mainly by showing commitment and interest. I might be wrong but that's the most I'm hoping for from my LOR writers.

Yea I'd love to get some input on this. My profs are not affiliated with Stanford, but I'd still like to do a targeted letter. I just don't really know how to go about it.

[MumofCad]

LSAC updated to the app being ready on Aug 31st "Coming Soon"

ETA: Since Stanford likes targeted LORs, do they also prefer targeted PS that gives them some indication of your interest in the school? LSP has me as an auto-admit (ridiculous I know), then I looked at LSN and saw that several people I consider in my number range have been WL'd in previous cycles. I know LSP can be overly optimistic, but there is no real way to tell from what I see on LSN why these candidates were WL and others accepted so now I'm wondering if I need to lay out the reasons for Stanford.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Started filling out the app but ran into a problem: SLS wants you to list the name of the individual who completed the Dean's Cert. I guess I have to call my university later and acquire that name.

[MumofCad]

Started filling out the app but ran into a problem: SLS wants you to list the name of the individual who completed the Dean's Cert. I guess I have to call my university later and acquire that name.

Wow, that seems unnecessarily difficult. They have the form right? Why would they need you to know who filled it out? I'm going to have to guess the person I sent it to. I doubt they will remember having filled it out.