How many LOR can be uploaded to ERAS profile ?

[shjaffri]

Is there any limit for LOR in your ERAS profile? We have 4 already, working on our 5th one.

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[Femtochemistry]

4 is the limit I believe

 

[shjaffri]

Thx Just wondering if I upload 5 and then send only 3 while applying to programs is something like this is possible ?

 

[NPR]

I thought there was no restriction to the # of LOR?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

You can upload as many letters as you want to ERAS.

Of the letters you upload, you can only send 4 to any one program.

Someone, somewhere will tell you that there is a "trick" to getting around this limit of 4. You send 4 letters. Once the program has downloaded the letters, you "inactivate" one or more, and then you will be able to send more letters.

This is true. However, it makes you look foolish, and tells me that you can't follow directions. So, it's not really a "trick" and I wouldn't suggest it.

 

[Acherona]

there's this ambiguous statement on eras to the effect that once your LOR's are finalized, they cannot be changed, however, they can be reassigned at any time.

Let's say I assign 4 letters to a program, apply to that program, and then decide I want change one of the letters, or remove one. If the program has already downloaded them, then i understand this would be dumb, but how do you tell if they have downloaded them or not? If they haven't, could you do this?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

there's this ambiguous statement on eras to the effect that once your LOR's are finalized, they cannot be changed, however, they can be reassigned at any time.

Let's say I assign 4 letters to a program, apply to that program, and then decide I want change one of the letters, or remove one. If the program has already downloaded them, then i understand this would be dumb, but how do you tell if they have downloaded them or not? If they haven't, could you do this?

"Finalized" = you've typed in the name / address / title of the LOR writer, and pushed the "finalize" button. Now a spot for it exists in the ERAS system so your Deans Office can scan it and upload it to ERAS. You can assign them to programs at any time -- i.e. before the letter is uploaded, or after. if before, ERAS will download it to programs as soon as it's uploaded by your Dean's office.

You can track which documents have been downloaded by which programs via MyERAS.

If a program has been "assigned" an LOR but not downloaded it -- either because A) the letter was never written / not uploaded to ERAS, or b) The program has not contacted the ERAS postoffice since the letter was uploaded, then you can de-assign it and re-assign a new letter. As the PD, I will never know that anything happened -- I only find out about your letters once they are downloaded to me, not when you assign them.

If I've already downloaded the letter, you can still de-assign it and then send a new one. This then labels the letter on my end as "inactive", but I still get to see it. Personally, I think this is a bad idea and simply suggests that you don't know how to follow directions, so I'd avoid it.

 

[Law2Doc]

"Finalized" = you've typed in the name / address / title of the LOR writer, and pushed the "finalize" button.

Just to avoid confusion (and not to nitpic), I thought I'd note that ERAS does not ask for the address of your letter writer. It asks for the name, department and title.

I have to say I think the limit to 4 LORs is kind of short sighted. When applying to med school there is a requested number of LORs, but no upper limit, and those of us who have had prior careers/degrees and other fairly significant experiences were advised that it was actually quite reasonable to go beyond the 3 letter expectation, which was really created for the straight from college traditional crowd. So it's kind of silly to put a hard limit on letters considering for some people the 4 years of med school is a more substantial part of their life and experience than it is for others. It shortchanges the program directors as well as those students, because you don't get input from folks who know the applicant in multiple phases of his/her career. I'm just saying.

 

[google_singh]

Well, this is interesting

I have a query
I have 4 Lors ( 3 from professors from my home country and 1 from US asst prof) already which i sent in long time back and they are there in ADTS.

Now I did 1 month vounteer work in a private clinic and the doc agreed to give me LOR. Obviously i want to record it in the CAF and CV. Now It would take another few days for the doc to send in and then a few days for ECFMG/ERAS to scan them and so forth.

So what should I do now? attach the 4 existing LOrs and apply on 2nd sept.

Can I replace one of the LOrs after I have sent in my application
Or should I attach 3 and send the 4th one afterwards???

I can also understand that I can assign this 5th letter even now to the programs but what if the program downloads my docs and it is apparently not there bcoz it hasnt been scanned yet?

And should I record it in my CAF and CV ?

I am confused!

 

[Abram Hoffer]

Along the same lines, is an applicant encouraged (or discouraged) from clicking submit on Sept 1st even if their application is incomplete? For example, I have only one LOR scanned in now, and I don't really know when the others will arrive. Thanks!

 

[Law2Doc]

Along the same lines, is an applicant encouraged (or discouraged) from clicking submit on Sept 1st even if their application is incomplete? For example, I have only one LOR scanned in now, and I don't really know when the others will arrive. Thanks!

You can't submit before Sept 2. As for how complete you need to be, that depends on where you are applying, and what they feel they need to see before sending out interview invites, which is variable. A program director I spoke with told he he uploads nothing until mid October and so doesn't know why students are bothering with the 9/2 start date. But according to folks on SDN, a few of the faster moving programs will start inviting folks in September, so you might be able to get an early interview slot if your stuff is mostly in by 9/2.Your deans letter, LORs and transcript stuff all may show up substantially later than 9/2. So I guess the schools that move fast are largely focusing on CV stuff. So there is no right answer -- do you shoot for an early interview slot or will places not be quick to interview you until your app is mostly complete anyhow. I guess it never hurts to keep things moving at the earliest possible date, but whether it makes a difference for you is probably a crapshoot.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Well, this is interesting

I have a query
I have 4 Lors ( 3 from professors from my home country and 1 from US asst prof) already which i sent in long time back and they are there in ADTS.

Now I did 1 month vounteer work in a private clinic and the doc agreed to give me LOR. Obviously i want to record it in the CAF and CV. Now It would take another few days for the doc to send in and then a few days for ECFMG/ERAS to scan them and so forth.

So what should I do now? attach the 4 existing LOrs and apply on 2nd sept.

Can I replace one of the LOrs after I have sent in my application
Or should I attach 3 and send the 4th one afterwards???

I can also understand that I can assign this 5th letter even now to the programs but what if the program downloads my docs and it is apparently not there bcoz it hasnt been scanned yet?

And should I record it in my CAF and CV ?

I am confused!

The extra US letter is much more helpful than your non-US letters, unless your non-US letter is from someone who is "known" / famous in their field.

Therefore, I'd submit 3 letters now, and save one slot for when the last US letter is available. If for some reason that letter is not available by Nov 15th or Dec 1st, then submit your last non-US letter.

You can submit all four letters now, then "withdraw" one letter and add the extra US letter, but I suggest you don't do that -- it's not needed, looks like you can't follow directions.

I think you are a bit confused about your "CAF". Your letters are not part of your CAF or CV -- once you apply to programs (and your CAF is sent), you then assign LOR's to programs. This would theoretically allow you to send different LOR's to different programs, which is not needed in your case. As I mentioned above, you can assign 3 letters now, and save one for later.

 

[google_singh]

Yeah thanks aprogDirector, I think that's a very wise piece of advice.

 

[deuist]

I'm still confused as to what "finalize" means. Is it Is it that I'm simply telling my dean's office to scan the letters and upload them to ERAS? Or does it mean that I agree that these letters are the only letters that I will be sending out programs and that once I hit finalize, I can no longer submit any new letters?

 

[google_singh]

I think you are a bit confused about your "CAF". Your letters are not part of your CAF or CV -- once you apply to programs (and your CAF is sent), you then assign LOR's to programs. This would theoretically allow you to send different LOR's to different programs, which is not needed in your case. As I mentioned above, you can assign 3 letters now, and save one for later.

Yeah I understand that CAF/CV thing is different from designation of LoRs to programs. Actually i wanted to include my voluteer exp in the CAF/CV but without the LoRs at the right time , there wont be documentary evidence. So yeah! How much does a mail take to travel from west coast to east coast(aprox)???God I dont think the Lor will be in place b4 sept 15.

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm still confused as to what "finalize" means. Is it Is it that I'm simply telling my dean's office to scan the letters and upload them to ERAS? Or does it mean that I agree that these letters are the only letters that I will be sending out programs and that once I hit finalize, I can no longer submit any new letters?

Best I can tell, it just means your dean's letter can go ahead and upload these. ERAS really should have selected a term different than "finalize" since it really isn't all that "final" -- the letter isn't even there yet, there are ways to add new entries to replace old ones, and you still can designate it to programs and so on. It definitely doesn't mean you can no longer submit new letters because the program itself tells you once you finalize, if you want to correct things you can add a new entry, and there seems to be no prohibition to adding more LORs later.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I'm still confused as to what "finalize" means. Is it Is it that I'm simply telling my dean's office to scan the letters and upload them to ERAS? Or does it mean that I agree that these letters are the only letters that I will be sending out programs and that once I hit finalize, I can no longer submit any new letters?

Finalize simply means that there is a spot for your Dean's office to upload the letter. You can't change the name/title after you have finalized it. You can always add new letters, and you can not submit a letter (to any programs)that has been finalized and uploaded to eras. So, "finalizing" is not a big deal. It's an extra step -- last year there was no finalize option, and you had to actually assign a letter to a program before your dean's office could upload it. Now, you can simply "finalize" your letter, which allows the Deans office to upload it without it being assigned to any programs.

Yeah I understand that CAF/CV thing is different from designation of LoRs to programs. Actually i wanted to include my voluteer exp in the CAF/CV but without the LoRs at the right time , there wont be documentary evidence. So yeah! How much does a mail take to travel from west coast to east coast(aprox)???God I dont think the Lor will be in place b4 sept 15.

Usual US mail is 2-3 days. If you're in a rush, give your letter writer a pre-paid, preaddressed FedEx envelope. This will get it to you in 1 day, and (more importantly) will allow you to track it -- you'll know exactly when (and if) it was sent.

 

[google_singh]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[JRO89]

Does anyone know if you can upload letters of recommendations yourself on ERAS? or does the author have to upload???

 

[choc_mint]

Does anyone know if you can upload letters of recommendations yourself on ERAS? or does the author have to upload???

You can upload it yourself if it is a non waived LOR.

If you waived it, then the letter writer needs to make an account in the LOR Portal and upload it him/herself.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Closing - 7 year old thread bumped to cross post the same question.