Recommendations

Letters of recommendation helps the Admissions Committee appraise your character, maturity, motivation, and scholarly ability. The most useful recommendations are from those who can offer sound judgments about your qualifications for the study and practice of law. Applicants often believe that their prospects for admission are greater if they solicit letters of recommendation from judges or well-known public figures. But if these recommenders have only a passing knowledge of you, their recommendations are of little value.

You may submit your letter of recommendation by enclosing it with your application, or you may submit it directly to the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) at 661 Penn Street, P.O. Box 8508, Newtown, PA 18940-8508

The Law School Admission Council will serve as a clearinghouse if you choose to send your recommendation there. For information on how to submit letters of recommendation through Law Services, refer to their LSAT/LSDAS Registration and Information Book.

If you choose to include your recommendation with your application, your recommender should insert the letter of recommendation in an envelope, seal it, sign the envelope across the sealed flap to ensure confidentiality, and return the envelope to the applicant. You should send the unopened recommendation envelopes with the application to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, Northwestern University School of Law, 357 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611-0064. Recommenders may submit the recommendation directly to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.

You are welcome to submit more than one letter of recommendation. However, although multiple letters of recommendation are welcome, application review is initiated once the first letter is received.