Updated with results from regional schools: New England, Albany, UConn, Northeastern (more to come)

Several of you have asked me about LSAC’s new online Evaluation Service — what is it, which schools require/request evaluations, etc. Here are some answers and some “I’ll have to get back to you on that”s.

Q. What is the new Evaluation Service?

This new service, which for the time being will work in parallel with the traditional Letter of Recommendation process, seeks to standardize and move online the candidate evaluation process.  It seeks answer from recommender/evaluators of very specific candidate qualities, and allows space for additional comments in response to each question. This well-hidden page on LSAC’s website does a good job of describing what the service looks like.  This PDF shows what the process looks like from the applicant’s, evaluator’s and admission official’s perspectives, complete with screenshots.

Q. How do I know whether the law schools I’m applying to require or accept evaluations?

From your LSAC account, access the LOR section (under Credentials).  On your list of schools, you’ll see, just below each school’s name, a link for “LOR/Evaluation Requirements” — click on the link and you’ll get the number of each that are required, recommended and accepted.  (Note that many schools don’t yet have their Fall 2011 applications up yet — look for them by the first week in September.)  Also by early September, there should be a list available of all schools’ requirements here.

New England Law / Boston: 0 required, 2 recommended, 4 accepted
Albany: We require two recommendations — either letters or evaluations
UConn: We do not require students to submit evaluations however, students have the option of supplementing their application with two evaluations. We continue to require 2 letters of recommendation.
Northeastern: In addition to the 2 letters of recommendation we require, we will accept one evaluation.

Q. How much weight will the schools give to evaluations vs. recommendations?

This is really unclear at this point.  Honestly, I’m not sure many schools know exactly how they’ll make use of this new service yet. In coming weeks, I will be speaking with a number of admission officials in order to get some sense at least from those schools that are most popular for UMass applicants.  I will post the results of my inquiries here on the blog.

New England Law / Boston: More weight to recommendations with evaluations as a supplement.  Will reevaluate next year depending on how helpful we find them.
Albany: Evaluations provide specifics on skills.  Both will be helpful in the overall file review process.  Not sure how many evaluations we’ll get so next year we will have a better sense of their value.
UConn: It is a bit early to tell. I think that it will take some time for the committee to get used to looking at an evaluation vs. a letter of recommendation. I anticipate some will love the process and others will not. I do worry that the evaluation appears onerous and as such will limit the number of faculty members who agree to complete the entire form. If there is buy in from recommenders the evaluations can be quite useful.
Northeastern: We review all files holistically and will review the evaluations as part of our complete file review.

Q. Should my evaluators be different from my recommenders? Should they be academic or non?

New England Law / Boston: I was thinking they would be the same.  At least one should be academic.
Albany: Either.
UConn: For students coming directly from undergraduate studies we highly suggest two faculty recommendations. In theory the evaluation service will provide a more robust picture of an applicant. The most useful evaluations will likely come from faculty members. However, since the evaluation service is optional, this may a good opportunity for students to provide information from a pre-law advisor, internship supervisor or employer.
Northeastern: Yes, preferably [different people]. We will accept either [academic or non].

Q. Will students who submit recommendations but not evaluations be at any sort of disadvantage in the admissions process?

New England Law / Boston: No.
Albany: No disadvantages.
UConn: Evaluations are optional for the 2011 cycle and no one will be disadvantaged by not submitting evaluations.
Northeastern: No, we require two letters of recommendation. If a student wants to submit an optional third item, they can submit an evaluation.