Monday 1 October 2012

Letters of Recommendation- From Whom?




Getting the Letters of Recommendation is  crucial for LLM application. However, this is the only part of the application process for which you have to depend on someone else. You cannot ask your referee to write a recommendation letter for you one day before the application deadline. So, choose your referees EARLY and give them plenty of time to write the recommendation letter for you.
In general, you need two to three recommendation letters for each University application. So, think early who these two or three people can be. People who are renowned in their fields, academicians, high court and supreme court judges and other people who ( or whose posts) are well respected in the society can be potential referees. However, the University you are applying to may have certain stipulations as to who can be the referee. Generally, if you are a final year law student, at least two of your references should be from your present University professors, dean, vice chancellor or chairman of the university committee you are member of. The reference should be a personal or work reference or another academic reference. Work reference may be from a Supreme Court or High Court judge or partner of the law firm you interned under. Personal reference can literally mean anyone including your friends, though you may not like to add their reference. Letters from warden of your hostel is an excellent example of personal reference.
It is important to mention here that it is advisable that at least one of the references is by a professor who taught you the subject in which you seek to specialize in your Masters. So, if you want to specialize in Criminal Law, a reference from the criminal law teacher of your law school holds high importance.
Once you decide on who should be your referee, approach him/her. There might be cases where the concerned person refuses to write a reference letter for you. In that case, you need to ask someone else to be your referee. To make sure that you have enough time for that, ask your referees early.
Also, once the referees draft the recommendation letter, there lies the issue of uploading the references online. Most universities now prefer that references should be uploaded online directly by referees. (You can ask your referee to send a hard copy to the University you are applying to or can take help of LSAC. However, sending hard copy is time taking and a costly affair. Besides, there letter might be lost on its way.) The problem that one faces is that many professors, specially the renowned ones, are not comfortable in using the computer and the internet. So, they might take long to upload the recommendation letter. So, even if your recommendation letter is ready and has to be merely uploaded by the professor, give him enough time to do so. DO NOT go on the last day. Further, it is preferable that referee uploads a scanned copy of a signed recommendation letter , instead of typing directly in referee’s form.
Please note that while in some application forms (like University College London’s application), a request for uploading the reference can be sent only after you have submitted the application form, in most cases , especially Universities why use services of embark, you can fill out request for reference form before you submit your application. In fact, referee can submit recommendation letter before you submit the form. This expedites the process and you and your referee can simultaneously complete the respective forms.
Please note, the reference letter need not be from the President of India or Chief Justice of India. It can be ordinary people who know you well. Content of letter is very important. It is better to get a detailed hearty reference from law professor than a generalized letter from a bigshot person. I myself have used used references from law professors.