Hi there,<\/p>\n
I’m a second year student who’s eager to find some useful campus work that can lead to some great recommendation letters for law school. I’m particularly interested in working at the dean’s office or the office of my college’s principal. Is there an opportunity for students to find job placements in the above mentioned places? If so, where would I be able to find more information about this? I’ve done some research but haven’t found anything helpful regarding this inquiry.<\/p>\n
Also, how long should you know a professor before asking them for a really good recommendation letter? A year? 2 years? I know it depends on the student-teacher relationship, which can be built strongly even within the first month of classes, but would a letter be more credible for an ivy league law school if it read that my prof knows me for X many years, as opposed to one semester or only one year (depending on the course)? I’ve heard of some students taking courses with the same professors over the years only to get a great letter from them at the end, but I can’t do the same because all of my required and elective classes so far and in the future are taught by different professors. If I only enrol in the courses with my well-liked professors, I’ll be taking courses that I’ll get random credit for, but not towards any of my designated programs. Is there a specific way to go about finding the right prof now to build a relationship with, or should I just stick to my 4th year profs?<\/p>\n
Thank you so much for your help!!<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
hey there,<\/p>\n
i\u00a0want to commend your eagerness. i\u00a0can dimly remember being that excited and ambitious about things, though it\u2019s a memory that\u2019s fading fast. hopefully that doesn\u2019t happen to you, too. (i mean, it likely will, but that\u2019s not a very nice thing for me to say to a stranger, is it?)<\/p>\n
i\u00a0don\u2019t know that i\u2019ll be much help with the job-finding, other than pointing you in the right general direction, like a crotchety old woman who lives at the fork in the road and directs people down the path through the forest, not down by the sea, but doesn\u2019t bother to tell you about the GIANT WOLVES you\u2019ll have to fight to get through that forest (in this case the wolves are asking past employers for references, or something equally as unpleasant).<\/p>\n
every college has such a radically different way of organizing itself \u2013 with different responsibilities attached to each office, different relationships between different offices, etc. \u2013 that the answer will change depending on the college. for example, when you say \u2018dean,\u2019 do you mean dean of residence? dean of students? at some colleges, both those roles are handled by the same person. at others, they\u2019re split up. the principal\u2019s office also handles a smorgasbord of different responsibilities, and what they are varies at different colleges.<\/p>\n
feel your college out. go to events. get involved and meet people who know how the different offices work. i\u00a0find that observation can go a long way, and sooner or later, you may hear about a job opening up that you can apply to.<\/p>\n
generally speaking, i\u00a0find these administrative university offices tend to hire either full-time staff or work-study students, but again, that\u2019s about as specific as my knowledge gets. one really easy way to figure out who\u2019s hiring is by scrolling through work-study postings on the CLN<\/a>.<\/p>\n as for your references question: this may be annoying to you, but i\u00a0feel like the answer is, don\u2019t think about it too much? if you encounter a professor you really like, and you can find a way to take multiple courses with them by fulfilling degree credits, then do that. if not, don\u2019t. I\u2019ve never taken two courses with the same professor (the stars i.e. my schedule\/course space\/program req\u2019s never aligned that way) and i’ve still asked for multiple professors for reference letters that they\u2019ve happily given.<\/p>\n