LOR kissassiness & turnaround

[lexylit]

how far in advance are you guys asking for recs?

i want to get apps in as early as september for some schools, so i feel i should be asking right now. but i'm also hoping to be in palo alto 8/20 so i could ask my prof to his face and sit down and talk about it. is 30 days inadequate? if i ask him now by phone, shall i still offer to discuss it face-to-face in august?

i guess the turnaround time still sucks-- stanford prof send letter to lsac and lsac sends letter rigt back to stanford 

[casino]

i asked for mine this week, and both are happy to write them.  i am getting one from my old professor and one from my program director from my work.  i emailed both of them, and talked a little bit with my professor this week.  i too want to get my *&^% in early.

personally, i would go ahead and contact them now.  sure, they will still be able to do them for you in time if you ask in late august, but i think they would rather have more time to write the recommendations rather than being propositioned face-to-face later in the process.

just my2centavos..

casino

[Munkeysgrrl]

how far in advance are you guys asking for recs?

i want to get apps in as early as september for some schools, so i feel i should be asking right now. but i'm also hoping to be in palo alto 8/20 so i could ask my prof to his face and sit down and talk about it. is 30 days inadequate? if i ask him now by phone, shall i still offer to discuss it face-to-face in august?

i guess the turnaround time still sucks-- stanford prof send letter to lsac and lsac sends letter rigt back to stanford 

Ask ASAP.  Looking at your grades I am sure they would have positive things to say without you having to visit and talk to them in person.  I gave one professor 2 months and he went on sabbatical to the UK and gave it to me late.  I couldn't apply until the middle of december.  It was horrid.  Good Luck!

[mukhia]

What about the ass kissing - is that really a must?  Can't I just say you were lucky to have me in your class, now write me a letter!  Seriously though, I don't know why I am so nervous to ask for these things.

[jacy85]

I asked for one rec last march, right after I had a class with the professor.  One professor I contacted and met with this past March, and his rec wasn't in and done until a couple of weeks ago (i think his mother was ill, in addition to exams and graduation in May), and I asked an attorney I work for about 2-3 weeks ago, and he's been hit with a couple of big cases and went out of town for a couple weeks for depositions and whatnot.  He told me yesterday he was sorry about the delay, and will start writing it next week.

The only one that would have been within a month of asking was the one I got last year.  Although, perhaps if I had been closer to deadlines/application time, they would have been more timely about it.

Overall, I'm very glad I got that done early, since stressign about when my recommendations would be in is not my idea of a good time. 

[dgatl]

the method I used last year was the second week of fall semester I asked my recommenders if they would recommend me, and when they said yes, I scheduled an appointment with them.  at the appointment, i brought in a generic PS, my activities and professional resumes, and a cover letter highlighting certain aspects of my education and profile and indicated on the cover letter in bold print that I expected the letter by October 1.  Two weeks later I sent them a thank-you note (sort of a reminder to write the damn letter), then a week later I dropped in and asked if they had any additional questions to ask me.  I knew for a fact that they hadn't written the letters yet, but I scheduled a time to come pick them up the following week.  The day before the appointment, I called, and they both had the letters done.  I came with the LSAC form, had them enclose it and sign their names across the envelope seal, then personally took the letters to the post office so I could track and confirm the letters.  As great as your recommenders may be, they need to be constantly reminded, and the thank you note is a touch that the old people of the world seem to love.

i'm not telling anyone that my way is best, but my way helped me to not stress out over if the recommendations had been sent in or not.

[nekko]

I say ask now. Asking them face-to-face is overrated. I think you definitely want to talk with them once you get there but ask them now, get the ball rolling and hopefully set up some sort of meeting with them for when you're up there to talk about the letter.

[nonobvious]

A month is definitely cutting it too short.  Better to ask now, and either arrange a phone conversation, or include a brief rationale of why you are going to LS, etc in the packet you send them.  You can also say that you would like to schedule a meeting with them face-to-face when you get back on campus, but you just wanted to give them a heads up in advance so they would have enough lead time to think about it.

The amount of leadtime you can get away with also depends on the personality/ working-style of the recommender. If they are compulsive and efficient, then you can get away with less leadtime... but if they tend to be more scattered and disorganized, well... I know someone who approached a prof in september but didn't receive the rec till December... the prof was very enthusiastic, but also very scattered. So remember to watch out for that!

[lexylit]

thanks for the tips, guys. I'll call this week and explain that I'm hoping he can write one, and also that i'll be in town at the end of the month-- if he hasnt done it by then we can discuss it, and if he has i can just take him out for thank-you lunch.

the reason i want to handle this one right is it's not your typical rec-- the course was in literary translation, so we were sitting around talking about spanish/italian/german/french poetry, so i want the chance to explain why my enjoying/excelling in a class like that suggests the kind of mind that will do well in LS, b/c it's not especially obvious =P i could just follow the call up with a letter/email explaining what the connections are in my mind.

[dgatl]

you have a really strong GPA and LSAT, so a good LOR will make your app that much stronger.  good luck to you!