What Goes into a Good Letter of Rec?
October 15, 2020 8:08 AM Subscribe
My boss agreed to write me a letter of recommendation for law school! (So happy/excited/relieved to have her support). She asked me to create a list or outline of points that I especially want her to hit in the letter. That sounds like a great idea, except...what should those points be? Are there certain traits, interests, experiences that are especially important for a law school recommender to highlight?
The crux of my question is: Are there certain traits, interests, experiences that are especially important for a law school recommender to highlight?
My personal background: I'm a 34 year old accountant, so a nontraditional law school student. I'm also very involved in politics and the community. I'm planning to write my personal statement about my experience serving on the jury in an embezzlement case and how that changed my perspective on the intersection of accounting and the law. However, I haven't actually written my essay yet.
The crux of my question is: Are there certain traits, interests, experiences that are especially important for a law school recommender to highlight?
My personal background: I'm a 34 year old accountant, so a nontraditional law school student. I'm also very involved in politics and the community. I'm planning to write my personal statement about my experience serving on the jury in an embezzlement case and how that changed my perspective on the intersection of accounting and the law. However, I haven't actually written my essay yet.
Writing ability, analytical ability, ability to grasp complex issues and apply rules to specific cases, and, as with everything, passion and drive. You want a recommendation that is effusive and specific. This is not the time to create a balanced profile of you that includes your faults. It should not read as boilerplate.
posted by xammerboy at 8:46 AM on October 15, 2020
posted by xammerboy at 8:46 AM on October 15, 2020
I might consider explicitly telling your boss that the point of the recommendation is to make a best case argument for you being accepted to law school, and if they feel uncomfortable doing that in any way, they should let you know. In that case, you should seek a recommendation elsewhere. I mention this because if someone is not familiar with this process they could easily, with good intentions but mistakenly, believe they need to submit a rounded, balanced, assessment of you and your work. After all, who is not without flaws? However, in this case this will not come across as balanced, it will come across as a flag, or signal, indicating the recommender has reservations in regards to the school accepting you.
posted by xammerboy at 8:53 AM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by xammerboy at 8:53 AM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
I suspect seeking advice from people you trust who've actually read law school letters would be really valuable. Probably those people are here. (I'm definitely not one of them.) If there's someone you might want to work with in school, asking them for comments on a draft can be really useful. And a good excuse to start a conversation.
In competitive grad applications in the academic physical sciences, there are two things I notice that sometimes aren't obvious to non-academic letter writers. First, in the US nearly any negative comment will be given excessive weight. Any mention of a flaw that isn't immediately followed up by "however, they've made great strides to remedy this and are already performing at the same level as senior colleagues" WILL be judged as a warning sign. Don't aim for balance. The scale of people who will be considered for admission runs roughly from 95% to 100%. Anything short of unbridled enthusiasm will cause concern. (This is much less true in much of Europe and Asia, at least in my very small field, so country specific advice is important.)
Second, comparisons to other people are the gold standard in a letter. "I've worked with eight people at a similar stage in their career and X is the best of them" is good. "X is more intuitive and thoughtful than Y was at a similar stage in their career" is ideal. Those are harder among non-academic letter writers, but mentioning it is a good idea. Pointing out that you're already doing senior-level work, especially if it involves related skills, can't hurt.
Finally, starting and ending with a concrete endorsement never hurts for committee members who may be skimming letters. e.g., "I recommend this candidate with complete enthusiasm and no hesitation. I have no doubt they will become a leader in their new field."
Best of luck!
posted by eotvos at 9:31 AM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
In competitive grad applications in the academic physical sciences, there are two things I notice that sometimes aren't obvious to non-academic letter writers. First, in the US nearly any negative comment will be given excessive weight. Any mention of a flaw that isn't immediately followed up by "however, they've made great strides to remedy this and are already performing at the same level as senior colleagues" WILL be judged as a warning sign. Don't aim for balance. The scale of people who will be considered for admission runs roughly from 95% to 100%. Anything short of unbridled enthusiasm will cause concern. (This is much less true in much of Europe and Asia, at least in my very small field, so country specific advice is important.)
Second, comparisons to other people are the gold standard in a letter. "I've worked with eight people at a similar stage in their career and X is the best of them" is good. "X is more intuitive and thoughtful than Y was at a similar stage in their career" is ideal. Those are harder among non-academic letter writers, but mentioning it is a good idea. Pointing out that you're already doing senior-level work, especially if it involves related skills, can't hurt.
Finally, starting and ending with a concrete endorsement never hurts for committee members who may be skimming letters. e.g., "I recommend this candidate with complete enthusiasm and no hesitation. I have no doubt they will become a leader in their new field."
Best of luck!
posted by eotvos at 9:31 AM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm not in law, but I am in academia and I write and read recommendation letters. One of the most valuable things in my opinion is for the letter-writer to give concrete examples that illustrate the characteristics that they are ascribing to you. So for example, if they say "rue72 has leadership skills", they should be able to back it up by saying that you were the founding vice-president of the young accountants' mentoring group at your workplace, organized a team for the 5k for cancer run in 2018, etc etc. These examples are the things that your letter-writer needs you to provide, because there's no way they can know about or remember them all.
posted by heatherlogan at 9:46 AM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by heatherlogan at 9:46 AM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
The best thing I've ever read about writing a letter of recommendation comes from MIT's Admissions dept. It gives good guidance and then goes back through with examples and suggestions.
How to write good letters of recommendation
posted by Cris E at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
How to write good letters of recommendation
posted by Cris E at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think law schools look for people who give back to the communities around them (which you do), who use their influence to create something that benefits others, and who provide a unique perspective (which you have, of course, as an accountant and older student).
When I applied to law school, I wrote each of my recommenders an email listing all the traits I thought law schools were looking for and, under each bullet point, examples of times that I exhibited those traits. Worked well for me.
posted by saltypup at 1:26 PM on October 15, 2020
When I applied to law school, I wrote each of my recommenders an email listing all the traits I thought law schools were looking for and, under each bullet point, examples of times that I exhibited those traits. Worked well for me.
posted by saltypup at 1:26 PM on October 15, 2020
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I asked my boss to emphasize the work I had done that was on point -- I worked with our legal department on developing our policies around copyright and libel, for example -- my strong writing skills and my analytical approach to problem solving. Your boss probably can't speak to your jury experience but if you have any work experience doing forensic accounting or supporting clients through audits or court cases, they could speak to that.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:44 AM on October 15, 2020