Do LORs expire?

[Reno]

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Title says it all. I graduated in 2006 and I believe my earliest letter was in 2004. I originally was going to take a year or two off and then apply but I think a year or two will end up as three or four. Do I need to get recent letters?

 

[fireflygirl]

While LORs don't technically expire, you really should have the most updated ones you can get. 4 years since your earliest letter, or even since graduation, is a long time and you must have done many different things and grown so much. It would be only to your benefit to have people who know you as who you are now write letters about you. And if you have someone that has known you well since you graduated who could attest to who you are now, that would be ideal.

 

[Mobius1985]

At the minimum try to get each letter writer to reprint the letter with a current date when application time comes. Obviously, this isn't always possible as old professors change institutions, retire, etc. Letters from recent professors are nice, but non-trads don't always have that luxury as they may not have had a class for awhile and some schools are rigid about the type of instructors the letters must be from. Just do you best.

 

[LikeClockWork]

You should check with the individual schools you're applying to since they may have different policies. I know at least one of my schools won't consider letters over two years old.

They usually strongly recommend getting letters from someone in a position of authority over you from your time between graduation and application (boss, professor, research mentor, whatever).

 

[175961]

You should check with the individual schools you're applying to since they may have different policies. I know at least one of my schools won't consider letters over two years old.

They usually strongly recommend getting letters from someone in a position of authority over you from your time between graduation and application (boss, professor, research mentor, whatever).

Some school web pages that I've looked at say that they wont take anything more than a year, some two years, some dont even say anything. So checking with the school, as mentioned above, is the probably the best thing to do, better safe than sorry

 

[JackInTheBox]

Some school web pages that I've looked at say that they wont take anything more than a year, some two years, some dont even say anything

Which schools, if you don't mind me asking.

 

[doctosan]

Which schools, if you don't mind me asking.

I am curious about this as well. I have a few LORs that are getting old....I am considering throwing the dice in this round, since I will need new ones anyways by next cycle (2 year old letters, and my interfolio account is going to expire)

 

[occams_razor]

my school says they prefer letters that are not more than 2 years old