Letters of Recommendation and Evaluations

nyufan2013
Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:47:48 +0000

Is there a rule-of-thumb concerning the maximum number of LORs one should submit (i.e., if the law school does not specify)?

For example, NYU says that one LOR is required but that applicants may submit more and that they may also submit supplemental evaluations. I am worried that my LSAT score may be a tad weak and hoping that my LORs/evals can help my chances.

At this point, I will definitely be receiving LORs from:
1). A tenured history professor (dept. chair) with whom I took an honors course fulfilling a core (200-level) requirement; I’ve heard that schools prefer LORs from professors of upper-level courses you’ve taken, but I honestly think this prof. will give me a stellar LOR.
2). A non-tenured philosophy professor with whom I have taken 3 upper-division classes.
3). My boss from a 2-summer unpaid internship.

However, I’m debating whether or not to ask for LORs from 1 or 2 of the following:
1). A non-tenured poli-sci professor from whom I took a 200-level course and received an A- and with whom I am currently taking a 400-level senior seminar. This prof. is also sponsoring my honors thesis in poli-sci.
2). A non-tenured poli-sci professor from whom I have taken two very different 300-level classes (and, as a result, may be able to give a unique perspective?).
3). An English professor (who I believe has tenure but am not positive) with whom I took a 300-level course. This professor is an alum of NYU (PhD) - I know LORs from law school alumni can sometimes carry more weight, but what about alumni in other areas? Would his LOR be beneficial?
4). A non-tenured philosophy professor with whom I took a 400-level course categorized as philosophy and women’s studies. (Perhaps this LOR could add more depth to my application?)

With respect to evaluations:
When should evaluations be used as opposed to LORs? From whom should I get evaluations?
There were a couple of 200-level classes I took that were taught by post-grad students (one in English and one in Philosophy). I thought that perhaps I could supplement my application with their evaluations, which I think would be pretty strong.

Any advice as to how I should decide which LORs to use? Would 4-5 LORs and 2 evals be too many?

Sorry about the length of the post (which ended up being much longer than I had expected), and thanks for the help!