All That You Wanted to Know about Letters of Recommendation

Recommenders, as I'll call them, are people who know you well and can objectively describe activities you have been involved in or comment on your character, talents, or intellect. They fill out forms or write letters. Although a few law schools discourage you from submitting letters of recommendation, most actively seek them, claiming that they provide valuable information about your potential for success in law school. Here, for example, is what the University of San Francisco hopes to obtain from recommenders:

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The Committee [on Admission] is interested in knowing how long, how well, and in what connection you have known the applicant. We are particularly concerned with your comments regarding the applicant's 1.) native intelligence and independence of thought; 2.) special interests, motivations, personal qualities, social and academic background or emotional makeup which may distinguish the applicant from other applicants; and 3.) overall promise, character and fitness to practice law. [Emphasis added]

Like essays, writing samples, and the other subjective parts of the application process, letters of recommendation are not central to the admit/reject decision. They will not outweigh poor numbers. They are counted and skimmed, and may be summarized by a secretary or clerk. But at most law schools admissions officials do not scrutinize them carefully except in marginal cases or when a letter reveals some otherwise unreported blot on the applicant's character. Group I and II law schools, which must sort out large numbers of candidates with outstanding numbers, traditionally pay more attention to letters of recommendation.

Most applicants, therefore, should approach this part of the admissions process defensively, making sure to obtain the required number of letters from well-chosen recommenders who are unlikely to write bad recommendations. In most cases, good letters are unlikely to make a critical difference (although they may help a little), but bad letters can hurt. By contrast, marginal applicants and applicants to top law schools must try to obtain the best possible letters.

How Many Recommenders?

Each law school determines how many letters of recommendation it wants you to submit. Most indicate, either in their catalogs or in the instructions that accompany the packet of blank application forms, that they require or "strongly recommend" two, three, or four. If you don't submit the required minimum, the law school may consider your file incomplete and take no action on it. Some law schools try to notify candidates if their files are incomplete. Others do not. Whether you are notified or not, you'll be rejected if your file remains incomplete when the school's application deadline has passed.

Some law schools have set maximums or ceilings. They state in their catalogs that they will read no more than four, five, or six letters for any one applicant. They do so to protect themselves against uncontrollable increases in their workloads. The limits are also meant to discourage you from submitting barrages of letters from famous or politically influential people (perhaps friends of your parents) who know you only superficially. Law school representatives have reported applications accompanied by as many as thirty superficial letters; they view these letters either as camouflage meant to disguise an otherwise poor record or as efforts to exert political influence. (One law school official described a blizzard of letters praising a poorly qualified applicant as an "epistolary snow job.")

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Since they may not be read, there's usually little point in submitting more than the maximum number of letters. But there are exceptions. If you are a nontraditional applicant and you want to demonstrate a consistently distinguished, or at least interesting, business career, you should seek a letter of reference from each of the places you have worked. Warn the law school that a large number of letters will arrive by including a statement like the following on your application:

In the oil business, salesmen tend to move around a great deal. I've had seven jobs in the last twenty years. To make sure you fully understand my employment history, I've asked each of these employers to write you a letter of reference. I hope you don't mind reading an extra letter or two. But I couldn't think of any other way to provide this necessary information.

You may also want to guard against the possibility that one of your recommenders will forget to send off his or her letter. This is not usually a problem. Most professionals and employers consider writing letters of recommendation to be part of their jobs and set time aside C for that purpose. College professors, especially x tend to take pride in the professional placement of their former students. In a sense, it's what they have to sell. They're usually quite conscientious about writing useful letters and meeting the deadlines. However, there really are absent-minded professors out there. At large state schools, professors have so many students and are so consistently overworked that there is a very real possibility that a form will get misplaced or a deadline will be missed.

If you're worried that one of your recommenders may default, consider the strategy of seeking one extra recommendation. Arrange to submit three letters if two are required, or four if three are required. If all the letters arrive, you may have wasted time and effort. But if one of the recommenders defaults, you will have protected yourself against the risk of having your file set aside as incomplete.

Format

Some law schools have no special forms for letters of recommendation. They tell you to ask your recommenders to write on their letterheads. Other law schools have elaborate appraisal forms or referral forms; some include detailed objective questions or scales that the recommenders are encouraged (but not required) to use to evaluate your intellectual skills and communications skills. Still other law schools provide only a half-page set of instructions which you are asked to give to each recommender. You should type your name and address on whatever forms the law school provides. Make photocopies if the law school didn't send enough for all your recommenders. Keep extra photocopies; if a recommender bungles the form, or loses it before it's mailed off, you'll have to supply a replacement. Until 1974, law schools kept letters of recommendation confidential on the theory that recommenders would be more candid if they knew that their comments would not be reported to the applicants whose qualifications they were discussing. But the federal Privacy Act of 1974 creates a right of access; law schools must show applicants the contents of their files if they ask to see them. Law schools responded to the Act of 1974 by asking applicants to accept confidentiality voluntarily. Most now include a section on their recommendation forms titled "Waiver of your right of access" which you are asked to fill out and sign. If you check the box marked "I waive my right of access," then you will never be permitted to see that letter of recommendation. The recommender will always know in advance whether you have waived your right of access.

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