Technically you are "supposed" to go through the Health Professions Advisory Committee if you have one. I'm not sure how my undergrad does it now, but I did both. I had a committe evaluation and separate evaluation letters. My reason for doing this is because if I had just done the committee letter, I am counting on someone (via one interview) to write me a letter to get into to dental school. We had new people take over the committee the year I applied, and they didn't know who I was. If I could do it all over again, I probably wouldn't have gone through the committee at my school. I'm not really sure how that looks to schools... I would imagine if you have a good reason, it would be okay. I just felt that the professors that I had write me letters, knew me much better, and that they could write a good letter. And plus, I interviewed with the person in charge of the pre-dental students on the committee the first week of May. We have to do this... submit a CV and personal statement, and then they ask us questions so they can write a letter. I interviewed in May... and it took this person 3 months to write my letter, and to send my additional letters to schools. And when I would go check to see if it was mailed, they would tell me I shouldn't be worrying because schools don't start interviews until September and don't even look at applications until August. For some schools this is true, but for many (i.e. Texas schools) it is not. It is definitely stressful when you are trying to get things in on time and "apply early". I guess it all depends on how well your committee is run at your school.
