More Advice from U Chicago Law - Letters of Recommendation

The University of Chicago blog, A Day in the Life, which was detailed here yesterday, has also posted a helpful missive on the elusive letter of recommendation.

The big takeways here are A) to find someone who knows you well enough to write substantively on your academic qualities and B) to "feather the nest" (so to speak) by providing a packet of information to the recommender in question, allowing that person to do a thorough job. Chicago also makes it clear that recommendations should be from academic sources whenever possible, so applicants would be well served to cozy up to a few professors during their junior year or (worst case) during the fall.

Furthemore, Veritas Prep is pleased to see our own tips and suggestions mirrored throughout the post. The client always wins when consultants and law schools see eye to eye.

The following is from Veritas Prep's Application Tips page and features many of the sentiments included in the U Chicago blog post:

One of the most egregious misperceptions regarding letters of recommendations has to do with the credibility of the source. While you do want to ask credible people to pen these letters, that doesn’t mean you want to ask famous people to perform the task. It is far better to have your anonymous history professor eloquently detail your passion for learning, your collegiality, and your desire for social justice than it is for a famous politician to deliver a canned letter about what a promising future you have. Admissions officers have many talents and chief among them is the ability to sniff out a cut-and-paste letter of recommendation.

Most law schools ask for either multiple academic recommendations or a combination of scholarly and professional references. The authors of these letters should be able to produce a nuanced recommendation that speaks to at least one of the five most important attributes in a law school applicant and they should really, truly know you.