Committee Letter Dilemma

[jesie]

Hey everybody,

So my LoR status is as follows for applying MDPhD
1 x Committee Letter (Made up of 3 science teachers and my honors thesis mentor in the sociology department)
2 x Research PI
The committee letter at my institution is a composite of four different teacher evaluations, one of whom was the mentor to my honors thesis. Because he is in the committee packet, should I also ask him to submit a separate letter in regards to my research capabilities or did I make a mistake by making it so his letter is in the packet instead of being a standalone research letter? I know a couple of medical schools want letters from every single PI you've worked with if it's possible (which seems completely insane). I have worked with five PIs, it'll be six after this summer, but I haven't spoken much with two of them since I stopped working with them about a year and a half ago, so it doesn't feel like it would be appropriate to ask for a LoR at this point.

Thoughts?
Do you think only having two research letters is going to be a disadvantage?
(They are solid letters, one from my main research mentor at home university and the other is from the chair of admissions from one of BCM's grad schools, another one of my PIs)

I appreciate any advice or input you may have!

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[carpediem22]

It depends if you are applying to schools that specifically require letters from all PIs (e.g. Harvard). If yes, and if you have listed all 6 of those research experiences in your application, having only 2 letters may look odd. A year and a half ago wasn't that far in the past, I think you could still ask for a letter. Having only 2 letters is fine for schools that don't explicitly ask for letters from all PIs.

 

[jesie]

It depends if you are applying to schools that specifically require letters from all PIs (e.g. Harvard). If yes, and if you have listed all 6 of those research experiences in your application, having only 2 letters may look odd. A year and a half ago wasn't that far in the past, I think you could still ask for a letter. Having only 2 letters is fine for schools that don't explicitly ask for letters from all PIs.

My biggest question is whether or not I should ask my mentor who wrote an evaluation for my committee letter to also write me a research recommendation.
Thanks for the response!

 

[jesie]

It depends if you are applying to schools that specifically require letters from all PIs (e.g. Harvard). If yes, and if you have listed all 6 of those research experiences in your application, having only 2 letters may look odd. A year and a half ago wasn't that far in the past, I think you could still ask for a letter. Having only 2 letters is fine for schools that don't explicitly ask for letters from all PIs.

Wow, stupid question on my part! I totally forgot the full letter from each evaluator is included in the committee packet (in my head, I was replacing the committee cover letter with the rest of the document. Weird mistake).
You gave me the answer I needed. Thank you!