I just finished an English class and I think my professor would write a great LOR for me but class is ending really soon and I’m not sure what to ask her to do: I just finished freshman year and I don’t plan on applying to law school until i experience industry for like 2 years or so (so 5 years from now)to make sure I am 100% sure I want to go to law school. From my inquires with LSAC customer service, I think I should ask for a LOR but one that is editable so maybe 5 years from now I’ll show the LOR to her, ask her if she agrees still and I’ll change the date on the LOR. At that time she’ll also sign the LSAC LOR form.
Questions:
- Will this idea work?
- Does the LOR itself(not the form) need a signature or letterhead? (I'd rather not ask her to do too much stuff or else she may be discouraged from a huge paragraph of tasks because I'm pretty certain this is her last year teaching and won't be able to get an official letterhead or something) The LSAC representative said they have to be on the LOR itself but can anyone testify if its ok?
- I also considered asking her to fill out the LOR form now and submitting the form and my LOR now and let them stay in my account and this should work since my account doesn't expire right? (this was what LSAC representative told me but another representative told me the account expires in 2 years but can be reinstated easily and that the only thing that really c can be gone from the account is LSAT) (really confused here because I did not see LSAC website talk about expiration dates on their website except this phrase"Your account expiration date and the service(s) for which you registered are listed on the left side of your My Home page in your LSAC.org account." and this phrase makes me question what's the point of an account expiration date if it can just be reinstated and everything on my account stays and one of the representatives says she doesn't understand either)
- I think some universities prohibit LOR that are more than 2 or 3 years old but do the T14 do this? In any case, if it is ok that I have her upload the forms now, how disadvantageous is it that mine is 5 or so years old?
nvm question 2. I made an account anyways and it says that letter head is preferred and signatures are required on the LOR. My account says it lasts 2 years so question 3 still confuses me
NO, you cannot ask for an editable recommendation letter. You do not need a recommendation letter from freshman year; it would be different if this were a professor that you have known since freshman year, took multiple classes with or you worked with on research.
Although I don’t need a LOR from freshman year, I think she will write a really unique letter and probably better than generic ones I may have in the future (there are particular experiences that she witnessed).
Just take more classes with the same professor. You’ll get an even stronger LOR then in the future from that professor since the professor will know you even better.
@HappyAlumnus : OP said s/he was " pretty certain this is her last year teaching" so that does not appear to be an option.
@Prometheanart : If the professor has been at the school long enough, she would likely have access to [permission to use] letterhead as an emeritus, so that is not a stumbling block. The number of years that will pass IS a concern. I would talk to her and tell her that you would value an LOR from her when/if you actually apply [plans can change BTW]. She might well want to draft something now that SHE could edit in the future – reflecting her own experiences with you and perhaps drawing on consultations with current professors in the department if you take more classes.
Disclaimer: I have no personal experience with this kind of situation in academia, but that is what I would do if I were in her position. When my law clerks leave, I do exactly that. My recommendations for the jobs they are moving to are almost always oral: a direct conversation with the new boss/hiring partner answering specific question. But five/ten/twenty years down the road [especially if the person wants to be a judge, since the vetting committees go WAY back], I may hear from someone again – and it helps to have something written down. Past recollection recorded. There’s your first lesson in Evidence. JK [but only partially].
I like @AboutTheSame’s advice, and will add something that I’ve read here on CC.
If you approach the retiring professor and are told that she would be happy to receive inquiries from future employers/programs on your behalf and she would at that time be glad to offer up her view of your strengths and contributions, ask if it would be permissible for you to keep her abreast of the strides you are making in your studies and toward your career goals once a year.
Doing so would then make it quite simple for her to pull on her first set of notes about you, add her impressions of you from the information she has received from you in update, and produce a letter of recommendation for you, if a letter is how she chooses to assist.
^^ I concur. Great suggestion @Waiting2exhale.
I have relatives who are “retired” college professors. They often keep doing something, from teaching a class here and there to doing research projects or otherwise staying involved in academia. Ending time as a full-time professor probably does not mean the end of opportunities to interact with the professor. Keep in touch with the professor and do something more with the professor in the future. That will result in a stronger LOR than one based on one class.