so my question is ....

[Cheeks]

So my goal with LORs is to get a couple that basically don't screw up my application.  I know who I'm going to get them from and I'm not too worried about it ... but ...

Are you going to read your LORs before you send them in?  I mean, I'm pretty sure I'll get mine in a sealed envelope.  Is everyone planning on reading them first?  or asking for a copy so that you can check it out prior to submitting it?  just curious ...

[dta]

The proper etiquitte is, in my opinion, to ask for an LOR and then provide a pre-stamped envelope addressed to LSAC and give it to the recommender along with the LOR form from LSAC. The recommender then mails the recommendation *directly* to the LSAC. You never see it.

I believe it is uncouth to expect to read your own recommendation before the recommender sends it it. You have a right to frankly ask the person "Can you give me a good recommendation? If you can't, i would appreciate a frank response.". But you have no right to *review* the person's recommendation before it's sent in. That's completely rude. If the person *offers* (unsolicited) for you to review it, that's another story. But if I were the recommender I'd be extremely insulted if you asked to review it - so much so that I might refuse to give you one.

By the way - I am on friendly terms with several of my professors in philosophy from my first degree. Enough so that I was able to actually ask a couple of them about the rules of ettiquitte in this regard. Both confirmed my innate understanding of the situation.

[Cheeks]

dta,
I agree that it would be rude to ask someone you didn't know if you could read their recommendation prior to it being sent.  However, I come from an extremely small undergrad. program and know most of my professors on a personal level.  In the past, when I have gone to them for LORs, I have normally been emailed the LORs, without me asking.

Anyways, I suppose when it comes to issues which are important enough to seriously affect the rest of my life, I'm willing to ignore some of the rules of "proper etiquitte".

[guyutegirl (Jew-Lo)]

yep-as much as i hate to say it, dta is right. U definitely reserve the right to ask your potential recommender whether it would be worth ur while (and theirs) to get a recommendation from them. Some recommenders may ask you to write the letter yourself, and give it to them to review, make necessary changes, and send. But schools want to rest assured that the person writing the reccomendation is being candid, and not holding anything back. This is necessary in order to get a reliable assessment of your character/work ethic/academic performance etc. If schools knew that LORs would be proofed by the recommendee beforehand, they would expect to receive biased reports which would pretty much render the whole process useless since essentially, a filter would be instituted. If ur unsure about whether a specific person is going to write a glowing report or not-you may be asking the wrong person. They want people who know you, and who have had ample opportunity to assess you, not just someone with a title. If ur not sure about them, ask. If they're not sure about u, find someone who is.

[dta]

You asked. If you care nothing for etiquitte, then don't ask for opinions on the matter - just do what you will. Asking for opinions about what should/shouldn't be done is implicity asking a question about etiquitte.

[Cheeks]

You asked. If you care nothing for etiquitte, then don't ask for opinions on the matter - just do what you will. Asking for opinions about what should/shouldn't be done is implicity asking a question about etiquitte.

Yes ... i suppose you have a point.  However, I don't think I said that I care nothing for etiquitte.  Also, I was asking if people were planning on doing this, not if people felt it to be morally wrong.  Jew-Lo does make a decent point though that the whole process would be essentially useless if this was the common practice.

One more question then ... Does LSDAS have a specific procedure for submitting LORs?  Sorry, I haven't signed up or I would probably be able to answer this question for myself.

[dta]

Yes they do have a specific procedure. You go to the LSAC site and download a PDF that is the LOR request form that you present to the person who will be writing you an LOR. The form basically gives some guideline instructions to the person writing your LOR and also has some identifying information in it so that the LOR, when received by LSAC, can be hooked up to your file.

Good luck. And, by the way, you're not really taking a risk by not reviewing the LOR beforehand. If you *know* the person you are asking and *know* you have made a good impression then you can count on a good LOR. If you don't *know* these things, you shouldn't be asking for an LOR from this person in the first place.

[exposé]

Well, one other point here since I haven't gotten this far in the process.  Once your LOR's have been sent to LSAC, are you able to go online and see them?  Seems I heard this is the case and that if you don't like what you see, you can delete it and not use it (and get another, I guess).

[dta]

On the LOR form you give to your recommender is a checkbox that basically says "I want to reserve the right to review this letter of recommendation". You can check this box before giving the form to your recommender. However, if you do check this box your recommender will see it. Also, all schools that receive your LOR will be informed that you insisted on seeing the contents of your LOR. They will respond appropriately. If you do not check this box you cannot view the LOR contents online.

I really don't understand why you are so hyper-concerned about viewing the contents. Applying to law school is no bigger deal for you than anyone else on this board. Did you really go through your entire undergraduate degree without impressing *ANY* of your professors? Surely not. And if you did impress some of your professors you should know this and thereby be comforted in knowing you will get a good recommendation.

I can't help but believe that those so hyper concerned about the contents of their LOR's are in that situation for a reason - namely, they never took the effort to make a good impression on any of their professors. If so, well - too bad. The rest of us thought ahead and now have an advantage.

[exposé]

Oh, I was just curious about the process. So...you think that if law schools see that you are able to view your LOR's they regard them as less effective recommendations (since the authors may have been less candid about you)?