committee letter that is late?

[mishjtnyu]

I was told that our committee letters wouldn't go out until early Sept? This seems really unfair and strange to me since you can be complete in July at some schools so it would just be the committee letter slowing everything down? Am i missing something? Can you get interviews etc without the letter (seems impossible) but why would one's committee make them sit on hold 2 extra months?

Any insight would be awesome.......Is this just really common?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[keitaiKT]

Yeah, mine was not ready until a week ago, even though I had to submit all the letters and the application for the committee letter in May. It does seem unfair to be forced into a situation where the secondaries are not complete until later than other applicants. You would think they would want to get them done early so we can have every advantage possible. I mean, the more of their students who get accepted to good medical schools, the better they look, right?

I finally e-mailed the Dean and explained my worries about getting my secondaries completed so late, and he promised to get mine in as soon as possible. But that was only because they had originally promised to be done by the end of July, and still had not been sent as of August 2nd.

 

[mishjtnyu]

They really have a lot of nerve giving us all these deadlines to get stuff in for this letter and then actually not getting the letter done till mid september.........

anyone ever been successful getting their school to send it earlier then when they say they will?

Yeah, mine was not ready until a week ago, even though I had to submit all the letters and the application for the committee letter in May. It does seem unfair to be forced into a situation where the secondaries are not complete until later than other applicants. You would think they would want to get them done early so we can have every advantage possible. I mean, the more of their students who get accepted to good medical schools, the better they look, right?

I finally e-mailed the Dean and explained my worries about getting my secondaries completed so late, and he promised to get mine in as soon as possible. But that was only because they had originally promised to be done by the end of July, and still had not been sent as of August 2nd.

 

[mr. sparkle]

yeah, i remember freaking out about the delayed committe letter from my school, too. when you get down to it, though, it doesn't matter, and i think med schools are aware that undergrad schools pull this kind of nonsense.

 

[MoosePilot]

My school is doing it too. They were so happy I was on the ball and getting stuff done early, but now I'm complete at 19 schools *except* this darn letter! They're delaying me about a month. Thanks, alma mater U!

 

[lazygunner]

My school does the same thing, but sends them all out starting on the same date (August 17th). I'm not sure about everyone else, but they informed all of the applicants that the medical schools are aware of their procedure and accept it without any penalty.

 

[MoosePilot]

My school does the same thing, but sends them all out starting on the same date (August 17th). I'm not sure about everyone else, but they informed all of the applicants that the medical schools are aware of their procedure and accept it without any penalty.

They might inform you of that... but it doesn't mean anything. I know at least one school that has told me that they need the stuff prior to that. Can you imagine the advisors talking to all medical schools in the country? Neither can I.

 

[bubbleyum]

there are so many threads about this same kind of frustration it's not even funny. i can't even use interfolio because my school had never heard of it and will not authorize it, plus all the med schools "require" you to use your premd commitee if you have one, otherwise you look bad.

so what is considered "disadvantaged late?" like, early september late august? or are you still at an advantage over the august mcaters?? hmph.

 

[SailCrazy]

I'm not trying to throw gas onto the fire here, but are any of you actually believing your school's bull**** about "no penalty" or "it doesn't matter"?!?

Bottom line is that getting you app in early means having it in and complete so that you may receive an earlier review/interview/chance at acceptance.

Sure, med schools aren't going to penalize you for late LORs, but you are certainly missing the benefit of and early application.

If I were you I'd try to diplomatically call them on their bull****, when they try to feed you this line. They have to know that they are lying (or at least distorting the truth,) IMO what they're saying is really just a polite way of telling you to f@ck off becasue they'll get to it when they feel like it.

 

[tigress]

Yeah, I'm lucky because I kept bugging my pre-med advisor and telling her that I had everything else in, so she finally got mine out a few weeks ago. But mine was the first one she wrote, so I feel sorry for all of the other people from my school who don't even have letters yet. Actually, mine was written and complete for 3 weeks before it even got sent, because the head advisor was out of town! Anyway, I feel your pain. The whole committee thing sucks.

 

[neurogeek23]

maybe we should start a thread about which undergrad schools are good/bad about this . . . help the new pre-meds pick an undergrad that is pre-med friendly. I went to Tulane and my packet was ready to be sent out the day I got my first secondary application. As someone picking an undergraduate to be pre-med at this might be an important deciding factor. Some of us who are complete are already getting interviews, it doesn't seem fair to have your commitee letter be what is holding you up.

 

[bubbleyum]

there are so many threads about this same kind of frustration it's not even funny. i can't even use interfolio because my school had never heard of it and will not authorize it, plus all the med schools "require" you to use your premd commitee if you have one, otherwise you look bad.

so what is considered "disadvantaged late?" like, early september late august? or are you still at an advantage over the august mcaters?? hmph.

 

[lazygunner]

They might inform you of that... but it doesn't mean anything. I know at least one school that has told me that they need the stuff prior to that. Can you imagine the advisors talking to all medical schools in the country? Neither can I.

I'm pretty sure that the medical schools acknowledge that Cornell does things a certain way...and yes, we have a large premedical department that i am confident has in fact contacted most of the medical schools.

 

[lazygunner]

I'm pretty sure that the medical schools acknowledge that Cornell does things a certain way...and yes, we have a large premedical department that i am confident has in fact contacted most of the medical schools.

...or maybe I'm a naive schmuck who believes what they tell me. Either way, it has given me an excuse not to get all of my secondaries out the second i get them because they wouldn't be complete anyway

 

[SailCrazy]

I think it's funny that there are so many posts in this thread on the same thing. I definitely felt some deja vu when I read this post for word for word for the second time!

there are so many threads about this same kind of frustration it's not even funny. i can't even use interfolio because my school had never heard of it and will not authorize it, plus all the med schools "require" you to use your premd commitee if you have one, otherwise you look bad.

so what is considered "disadvantaged late?" like, early september late august? or are you still at an advantage over the august mcaters?? hmph.

there are so many threads about this same kind of frustration it's not even funny. i can't even use interfolio because my school had never heard of it and will not authorize it, plus all the med schools "require" you to use your premd commitee if you have one, otherwise you look bad.

so what is considered "disadvantaged late?" like, early september late august? or are you still at an advantage over the august mcaters?? hmph.

 

[SailCrazy]

...or maybe I'm a naive schmuck who believes what they tell me. Either way, it has given me an excuse not to get all of my secondaries out the second i get them because they wouldn't be complete anyway

I wouldn't call you naive...

I hear you on the excuse part. Just keep working at them. It sucks when your LORs are done and they keep piling up!

 

[bubbleyum]

whoops, sorry for the doublepost. i think it's because after you submit your reply to the thread, the server hangs up on you showing a blank web page, and then when you hit refresh, it automatically resubmits your reply.

 

[Retinaldehyde]

I asked my pre-med advisor when the committee at my school send the packet of letters and she told me that it might be sent out mid to late June and later. She also told me that it also depended on whether I was one of the first to be interviewed by the committee. AND she said that I shouldn't worry about the letters because med schools don't review them right away....

 

[MoosePilot]

I'm pretty sure that the medical schools acknowledge that Cornell does things a certain way...and yes, we have a large premedical department that i am confident has in fact contacted most of the medical schools.

Well, I had one interview yesterday. They could let me know I'm accepted as early as mid October. If they waited until my LORs were in, I wouldn't have an interview yet. If they give away a spot in class, that's one less spot I can compete for.

I know that being from Cornell protects you from the common sense issues, because they'd probably increase the class size to admit a Cornell graduate :swoon: but I'm from just a little old state school and have to push to be on the front edge at any school with rolling admissions.

 

[Turkeyman]

What I want to know is -- exactly HOW late are we if our committee letters go out in the first or second week of September? I keep reading SDN and I know it's a skewed representation of the medical applicant population, but I still keep seeing tons of people complete at all the schools I probably won't be completed at for another month. How much does this screw us over? :O

 

[MoosePilot]

What I want to know is -- exactly HOW late are we if our committee letters go out in the first or second week of September? I keep reading SDN and I know it's a skewed representation of the medical applicant population, but I still keep seeing tons of people complete at all the schools I probably won't be completed at for another month. How much does this screw us over? :O

Probably a month or a month and a half from the front runner.

 

[mishjtnyu]

At least I am not alone on this one.....Does anyone know how much this will really set us behind to not be complete until mid september....And btw anyone know if any schools will interview without the letters being in (particularly any suny schools)

take care & thanks agian

 

[MoosePilot]

At least I am not alone on this one.....Does anyone know how much this will really set us behind to not be complete until mid september....And btw anyone know if any schools will interview without the letters being in (particularly any suny schools)

take care & thanks agian

Read the post right above yours... it'll put you probably a month and a half behind the absolute front runner.

 

[LJDHC05]

What I want to know is -- exactly HOW late are we if our committee letters go out in the first or second week of September?

I was not complete until mid-October at most schools last year and I still got MD/PhD interviews at 2 schools and waitlisted at both as MD (3.35, 34R, little clinical experience, lots of research, middle-tier small undergrad...not necessarially MD/PhD material). As an MD/PhD being late screws you because you get stuffed behind all the over-achievers who finish early, and you dont get looked at in MD until the very end whenever the combined degree folks finally send your app over to the MD side of things.
I'd say that you're not "screwed over" as an MD applicant until you start getting close to the closing dates because the ADCOM wont see you until the very end when the class is mostly full. At almost every school mid sept is still a month or 3 ahead of the closing dates, puting alot of people behind you in line. However, you're not getting the super early review like the kids who completed their secondaries in late may (hyperbole!). Compared to those kids (who are the VAST MINORITY of the applicant pool that happen to all vocally congregate at SDN) 99% of applicants are late, including the EDP kids.

On a closing note EARLY SEPTEMBER IS STILL VERY EARLY IN THE GAME! Your committee will finish your letter when they finish your letter and you've done all you can to get everything in early. Now go take some pepcid AC for that ulcer and stop worrying so much!

 

[Camillekc]

I totally agree with LJDHC05

So if this makes anyone who can't get their letters in feel better, I know someone who had stats very similar to mine (not spectacular) who was one of the first international students to get into brown this year, and she didn't submit until right before the deadline. A year post-undergrad research, but no spectacular ECs.

So take a deep breath, and back away from SDN. (which I've never been able to do, but seems like good advice nonetheless.)

 

[roboyce]

I wouldn't worry too much...you're going to have me beat. My committee letter/evaluation won't be available until late September/early October, even though I've already sent in 75% of my secondaries. I figure I'm still going to have the August MCATers beat. The reason mine are so late is that I missed the Spring committee interviews because I was overseas. Just to make myself feel a little better, I'm sending out the following letter to accompany my secondary applications.

Dear Dean X,

I wish to inform you that portions of my supplemental application will be delayed due to the unique circumstances of my recent deployment to Iraq. Most undergraduate students at XX College receive a Premedical Advisory Committee (PAC) evaluation in the spring of their junior year. The PAC then gathers all faculty letters of recommendation, transcripts, and other supporting materials, ensuring they are ready for submission that fall. I, however, was not available for interview this spring as I was serving in Baghdad with the 1st Calvary Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am currently scheduled to take part in the evaluation process this September, which should make my letters of recommendation and PAC evaluation available to you by early October. I understand that this timeframe is within the normal application window, but I do not want you to think that I have lost interest in the XXX University School of Medicine or failed to notify the proper faculty members in support of my supplemental application. I have attempted to return as much information as possible in a timely manner so as to express my continued desire to attend your outstanding institution. If you have questions or concerns about the issues addressed in this letter, please feel free to contact me. I appreciate your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

Hope that helps.

 

[LowlyPremed]

I'm in the same situation as most of you. At my school, its NORMAL for them to send out letters in September. Everyone that I've spoken to in previous years told me the same thing. I can't believe that they would intentionally delay sending out my letters. The chair of the committee has been doing this for 30 years. He told me that everyone that deserves to get in will get in regardless of the time they submit their application. I don't buy this but then again, I have no choice at this point.

 

[Thundrstorm]

My advisor (there's no committee, just her) finally got back to me after being MIA for 2 weeks. She'll be finishing my composite letter this week, and then will start sending it out. I can't really complain b/c she didn't get my letters until mid-July, but I'm just getting so antsy. It will be nice to be complete at some schools.

 

[bubbleyum]

well, get a load of this.

at my school, after they take all their time to finally get all your letters collected and sent off to the person writing the commitee letter(which is NOT your advisor. it is one of three professors teaching classes and whatnot on the premed commitee, which means they'll have "other important" matters to attend to. just like the several professors you had to bother and remind for 2 months to get the initial LORs.) after this letter is written, it is then routed around to the 2 other professors on the premed commitee for approval and/or additional comments!! this kind of setup is the most inefficient thing i have ever seen, making clear way for more delays and hangups! why can't we just have the advisor collect all the LORs and then write the cover letter and send off the package??

sooooooooooo frustrating!