Tips for Choosing Your Recommender - Part 3

Recommender Tip #4: Willing and Able
It's human nature: People are busy at best, lazy at worst, and don't like writing bang-up recommendations except for the few pet students and employees they really want to go to bat for. And that's under the best of circumstances. With the huge upsurge in law school applications in recent years, professors and bosses are bombarded with recommendation requests, and they grant many that they shouldn't. Why? Because they are usually nice people who don't have the heart to say no, even though they don't have the time or the energy or the knowledge to write meaningful letters, letters that will really help your cause with admissions officers. So be smart about how you approach people. You should ask professors to be candid with you:

a.. Do they have time to write a recommendation for you? Tell them you understand that they are deluged with requests and that a well-crafted and effective recommendation letter takes time and effort. Ask them politely to decline if they don't think they can make that commitment right now. This also gives them an easy out if they don't think they can write you a favorable letter.
b.. Do they think they can write a very strong letter on your behalf? If they say no, be gracious and thank them for their honesty. Make clear that you're happy to approach someone else if they have any reservations at all, and explain that you'd still love to hear their constructive feedback for your own benefit. If there is any resistance or push-back or wavering, anything less than an enthusiastic commitment right off the bat, let it go. Thank them and move on.

There will be times when you have taken a number of classes with a professor or worked very closely with a boss who has gotten to know you very well, but you suspect that she is not one of your greatest fans for one reason or another. Maybe she doesn't like your writing style. Maybe he doesn't like your view of Plato, or how you handled the Crisco account. Maybe she's sick of losing her top people to law school. Maybe you'll lose your bonus if he gets wind that you'll be bailing. Whatever the reason, you're better off finding someone else. Closeness and status don't help if a recommender isn't going to say great things about you.