LORs - Asking for them, and then following up

All right, LORs. I know this goes a little ways back in the admission process, but worrying about them doesn't (or shouldn't) stop once you have your ambitious little paws on them.

I'm lucky in that I went to a small, private, liberal arts university, where the student to faculty ratio was low and the interaction with faculty was high. I was able to cultivate personal relationships with my professors and advisors easily throughout my time at Denison, and even though I'm terrible about keeping in touch via email, etc., I've stayed in contact with the important people at least peripherally.

However, there tends to be a high rate of faculty turnover at Denison, so I went through three advisors in four years in my major. When I was gathering my LORs, I knew it was going to be hard to get letters from people with consistent contact with me. And since I had graduated a few years earlier (well, one year before I began asking, but I took a semester off my senior year), I thought it might be difficult for people to remember how I was in the classroom.

A word to the wise: even if you're planning on taking a year or more off, start getting a list of professors that you'd like to get LORs from NOW. Unless you've been out of undergrad for a significant period of time (I'm talking 6+ years), you're going to need at LEAST one faculty recommendation. Make a target list of profs that you've had classes with more than once, your faculty advisor(s) in your major(s), and your research advisor, if applicable. Approach them in the spring of your junior year if you'll be applying to go to law school directly after graduation, or the fall/early spring of your senior year if you're going to take some time off.

If you've taken some time off, as I did, it is appropriate to have one (possibly two) recommendations from employers, depending on the field that you're working in. If you're selling khaki's at GAP, no ad comm is going to care what your front end manager thinks of you -- they're not necessarily being wowed by your analytical skillz when you're folding those cute boyfriend cardis. However, if you're working in a corporate or legal setting, I would recommend asking your supervisor (or former supervisor) for a LOR.

I collected more LORs than necessary, so I could tailor/mix-n-match the LORs to the school I was applying to. My recommenders included:

• My very groovy communications advisor, Dr. Erika Pryor (check out her website here!). Not only was she my advisor for the longest period of time (2 years), but I took a class or two with her AND we wrote up a research proposal together.
• An English prof (not my major or minor) that I loved, loved, LOVED at school. I loved her so much that I took three or four classes in her dept. just so I could learn from her.
• The Associate Dean of Students. I worked in his office for three years.
• The Director of the non-profit where I worked for 9 months.
• One of the attorneys in the practice group that I supported at the firm I worked in for over a year.
• My uncle's attorney, the owner/managing partner of the other big firm (mid-law) here in my hometown. He's an alumnus of Santa Clara, so that letter was really only for that school.

Sometimes, you just need to email them once and within a week or so you have a letter waiting for you. That's nice. But it rarely happens.

A lot of times you have to send your recommenders one or two gentle reminders, and then they'll get you a letter. But sometimes you have to seriously stalk your profs/bosses to get that LOR. It's not because they don't want to write you one, don't worry. But people who work are busy, and people who work in these fields are ESPECIALLY busy. They have a million balls up in the air, so you need to make sure that your ball doesn't get dropped.

What worked for me (in more than one instance) was sending my recommenders and introductory email telling them the basic guidelines of the letter (about a page or two in length, mentioning my classroom/analytical skills, etc.) as well as the deadline that I needed it by. I always set this deadline at least two weeks earlier than I actually planned on getting my applications out by. Then I calendared follow-ups for myself for every two weeks, and then the month of my "deadline" every week. So I would be typing along and I'd get a little pop up reminder and shoot off the email. Very effective.

Yes, sometimes it can feel like nagging to you, since odds are you're stressing out about it. But really, more than likely they've forgotten, so it won't seem as naggy.

Once you've collected your LORs from your reccomenders, the fun doesn't end there.

Call me old-fashioned, but I believe it's just plain rude to ask someone for a favor and not adequately thank them for taking the time and putting forth the effort to help you out. I'm a firm believer in the "thank you card" at the minimum (I don't think people send "thank you" cards nearly as often as they should). For taking the time to draft a thoughtful and interesting LOR, though, I personally sent my recommenders more than a card...I sent them a box of Dewar's Chews, the sweet delight that my hometown is famous for. It was the least I could do...a good LOR can be the difference between an admit and a ding, if you're on the line!

So then you go on your merry way, right? Nope! At least, not in my book. Look, you obviously have a pretty good personal relationship with the people that you're asking to write you a glowing recommendation letter. They obviously care enough and are interested enough to write a thoughtful and concise letter. You should be gracious enough to send them an update about your cycle once you've made a decision!

So take the time to write a quick handwritten note to your recommenders (on nice stationery, please!). Just let them know that their letter really helped in your cycle, and that you ultimately ended up deciding to go to XYZ school, for XYZ reason. Show them that you're excited for this new chapter in your life, and then give them your email address so that they can keep in touch with you! It will really make all the difference -- it shows that you're a conscientious, gracious person, and will bring a sense of closure to the process.