LOR & Evals

[clarissa]

This may be a silly question and may have already been asked. buuut I need help.
So there is a letter of rec and then the evaluations... should there be an evaluation with each letter of rec? 
can you have the same person write them both.. and how many of each should there be? I know it varies with each college.  can i have someone write a letter without doing an eval?

[Anne]

This may be a silly question and may have already been asked. buuut I need help.
So there is a letter of rec and then the evaluations... should there be an evaluation with each letter of rec?  
can you have the same person write them both.. and how many of each should there be? I know it varies with each college.  can i have someone write a letter without doing an eval?

Lots of questions!

► So there is a letter of rec and then the evaluations... should there be an evaluation with each letter of rec?

No, you do not need to submit an evaluation with each LOR. Most schools will only require or accept one or the other (and some accept both, but you only need either an LOR or an eval, not both).

► Can you have the same person write them both?

Sure, the same person can write an eval and an LOR for you, but you don't need to send both to the same schools. You only need to send an eval OR an LOR to each school (and it will depend on what each school accepts/requires).

► How many of each should there be?

As you rightly pointed out, it varies with each school. Check this list put out by LSAC: http://www.lsac.org/jd/apply/services-required-by-ls.asp - it tells you what schools accept/require and how many of each they need. Make sure to double-check with each school's application instructions, so that you can get it straight from the horse's mouth.

► Can I have someone write a letter without doing an eval?

Yes. As I mentioned above, one is not a prerequisite for another, nor do they both need to be completed for each school.

Hope that helps!

[clarissa]

ok.. so if I only need one.. do you think one is particularly better than the other? do most people just stick with the letter?

[Anne]

ok.. so if I only need one.. do you think one is particularly better than the other? do most people just stick with the letter?

Personally, I think the eval is better, since it actually guides the recommender in answering questions and talking about attributes that law schools care about. The downside of the eval is that if the evaluator only completes the ratings or writes one-sentence answers to the questions, it probably won't be very helpful. If you do choose to have the person complete the eval, make sure you stress the importance of writing lengthy, thorough responses to all the questions.

Not to say that LORs aren't good too, but since it's more of a blank canvas, I think it's easier to miss the mark with them than with an eval, particularly if the recommender can't think of anything to say.