Ep 57: Letters of Recommendation: The Why, the Who, and the How
Today's episode is a special treat from both of our consultants, Monique Atkinson and Alice Foley. Learn why you should start asking for those letters of recommendations now, who you should be asking, and how to go about asking and getting the best recommendation.
Episode Highlights
Letters of recommendation give admissions officers a candid look at what somebody else is gonna say about you. Most specifically, what your professors say about you, because at the end of the day, law school is still school. Once you join whatever law school it is, and they wanna know how you're gonna behave in their classrooms. Are you engaged? Do you do good work? Do you come to office hours? Do you sit in the back end sleep? Do you ask good questions or questions that just hold up the class?
You will often come across folks telling you substance over signature. When you're thinking about who to ask, don't think of the shiniest name at your institution. Choose someone who has taught you and who knows your work style, who can speak to those academic skill sets that are being looked for in a letter of recommendation
A lot of folks write letters of recommendation, but don't know exactly what they should be talking about. Provide them with context and information and remind them of your time in their class.
Tweetable Quotes
“It’s important to build community and have a task force. That’s what my mentors call it. Letter of recommendations are a sort of symbol of how many folks are in your corner.”
“I only say this because it happened when I was still an admissions officer. Don’t write your own letter of recommendation. Please. Please don’t do that to me. I’m gonna be confused.”