Letters of Recommendation
LSAC’s Letter of Recommendation Service (LOR) is offered as a convenience to LSDAS registrants, recommendation-letter writers, and LSDAS-participating law schools. Use of LSAC's LOR service is optional unless a law school to which you are applying states that it is required. This service allows you to use your LSAC online account to have your LORs sent to law schools based on each school's requirements or preferences, and to direct letters intended for specific schools. You may submit up to four general letters to be sent to every school to which you apply. For general letters, all you need to do is identify your recommenders, print out your prefilled letter of recommendation forms, and give the forms to the appropriate recommenders. Your recommender must sign the letter, insert it in his or her own envelope along with their letter of recommendation form, and send it directly to LSAC. LSAC will send your general letters to law schools in the order in which they are received (up to the number required or preferred by the law school). You may also submit targeted letters that you direct to specific law schools. Use of LSAC's LOR service is optional unless a law school to which you are applying states that its use is required. [LIST OF LAW SCHOOLS AND THEIR REQUIREMENTS.]
When you go to the LOR area of your LSAC online account, you will be asked to provide the names and contact information of your recommenders, and to select the number of letters that each recommender will submit. (The number will be “one” if it will be a general letter to be sent to all of the schools to which you will apply.) Providing recommender information is optional but strongly recommended. Identifying your recommenders will ensure that your letters can be quickly matched and routed when received by LSAC. You MUST provide recommender information if you wish to direct letters to particular schools. For general letters, all you need to do is identify your recommenders, print out your prefilled Letter of Recommendation forms, and give the forms to the appropriate recommenders. Your recommender must sign the letter, insert it in his or her own envelope along with your Letter of Recommendation form, and send it directly to LSAC. If you do not wish to provide recommender information, you will still be able to print out paper LOR forms that include your preprinted name and address. The recommender will need to complete the form. These generic forms can only be used for recommenders whom you did not identify in the recommender box on the screen. All letters of recommendation that are received with one of these generic forms will be categorized as general letters.
If you choose to target specific letters to specific schools, you MUST use the LOR screens to provide a brief description of the intended use or content of each letter and to specify the school to which the letter should be sent. (If you neglect to specify a school for a targeted letter, the letter will not be sent to any school.) The description will appear on the prefilled LOR form that you must print out and give to each recommender. Your recommenders should check the description on the form to make sure they attach the letter that matches that description. They will need to sign each letter, insert it in an envelope along with your Letter of Recommendation form, and send it directly to LSAC. All letters received without an accompanying form or without the recommender's signature will be returned to the recommender. The accompanying form is an essential part of processing, as it ensures an accurate match of your letter to your account.
The screens provide space for you to indicate the law schools to which you wish specific letters to be sent if you choose to use that option. When you select a school from the pull-down menu, a box showing that school's preferences for LORs will appear. It is important to make sure you know each school's preferences so that you can direct your letters appropriately for each school (you can also check law school preferences by clicking on the link above). Depending upon where your letters are in processing, you may have the option of changing your mind and redirecting your letters if the change doesn't exceed the maximum number of letters that will be accepted by each school. In the absence of any specific directions, LSAC will send your general letters to all of the law schools to which you apply, in the order they are received by LSAC, up to the number of letters each school will accept.
Use the “INFO” boxes that appear throughout the LOR screens to help you through the process.
Examples of Possible Targeted Letter Descriptions
- A student who interned for the EPA might ask a professor to write a specific letter about that experience, targeted to a specific law school (Smith) that offers an environmental law specialty. The description would read: Smith Environmental Law Pgm. Smith would be specified in the Directed Letters for Law Schools box on the screen.
- A professor might be a law school graduate and want to recommend the applicant to her alma mater. The description could read: For Smith School of Law.
NOTE: Each recommender is permitted to submit one general letter and an unlimited number of targeted letters.
Copies of letters of recommendation processed by LSAC will be sent according to each school's specified schedule; i.e., some schools want LORs when the initial law school report is sent, some will take them when certain number of letters have been received, and so on. These schedules allow law schools to most efficiently use LORs in their admission process. Law schools may change their schedule for receiving LSDAS reports and LORs at any time.
You and your recommender will be notified by e-mail when LSAC has received each letter, so encourage your recommenders to provide their e-mail addresses. You can monitor the progress of your letters in the Reports/Letters area of your LSAC online account under the Account Status tab.
When you print out your letter of recommendation forms from your online account, the form will be barcoded and prefilled with your information and the recommender information. Mail or give this form to your recommender. Using this form will ensure accurate matching of the LOR to your account.
LSAC will accept copies of letters from undergraduate school credential services or career planning offices. The LSAC Letter of Recommendation form must accompany each letter. When the form is completed by the school’s service, the lower portion can either be filled in with the recommender's name and address, or—if the recommender’s address is not available—with the recommender's name and the address of the school's service.
Letters sent to LSAC remain the property of LSAC and will remain active for the life of your file. Letters will be neither returned to nor copied for the candidate.
You may access your online file to determine the status of letters in your file. Check your file status.
Remember to do the following:
For all letters:
- Provide the names and contact information of all your recommenders.
- Print recommender forms to ensure quick matching and routing at LSAC.
- If you plan to target letters:
- Indicate the number of letters each recommender will submit, and describe them.
- Select your law schools and specify the letters that should be sent to each one using the ID numbers. You must direct targeted letters or they will not be sent.
- Look at the school specific information boxes and be sure to follow each school’s requirements.
- Review your LOR specifications early in the application process so that you can redirect letters before LSAC sends them to a particular school.
