Letters of Recommendation Writers?

[wagonwheel23]

Hi everyone,

I am planning on applying to medical school in the next cycle and have a quick question about letters of recommendation. I would love anyone's input!

I graduated from college in 2010 and from graduate school in 2012 (I left my Biochem PhD program with a masters). Since 2012 I have worked at two companies. The first was a small marketing startup in San Francisco. I was a highly respected employee and drove substantial growth during my tenure. I now work at a health and wellness startup, where I have also had success.

I will be able to get a committee letter from my undergraduate institution, but I'm a bit perplexed as to who to request letters of recommendations from. I will certainly have letters from my undergraduate and graduate research advisers. However, will recommendations from my direct managers (one is director level, the other is VP level) at the companies I worked at be valuable? I have additional professors from my undergraduate and graduate institutions that can speak highly of me, so I have some flexibility with who writes my letters.

Thank you so much for the advice! I appreciate it.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[necro1187]

I was in in this exact situation. I ended up getting recommendations from 2 employers and one professor from school that knew me well. I did not use a committee letter and this was not an issue for almost all the medical schools I applied to. As a non-trad, I would focus on those that know you well and maybe try to get one science professor LOR. I got accepted...

 

[Aloft085]

Hi everyone,

I am planning on applying to medical school in the next cycle and have a quick question about letters of recommendation. I would love anyone's input!

I graduated from college in 2010 and from graduate school in 2012 (I left my Biochem PhD program with a masters). Since 2012 I have worked at two companies. The first was a small marketing startup in San Francisco. I was a highly respected employee and drove substantial growth during my tenure. I now work at a health and wellness startup, where I have also had success.

I will be able to get a committee letter from my undergraduate institution, but I'm a bit perplexed as to who to request letters of recommendations from. I will certainly have letters from my undergraduate and graduate research advisers. However, will recommendations from my direct managers (one is director level, the other is VP level) at the companies I worked at be valuable? I have additional professors from my undergraduate and graduate institutions that can speak highly of me, so I have some flexibility with who writes my letters.

Thank you so much for the advice! I appreciate it.

I was in a similar situation, having graduated way back in 2008 (applying now). I sent in five letters total, one from my boss and one from a coworker. The remainder were professors and physicians. I was actually really stressed out about recommendation letters at first, until I realized that having a few letters from bosses/coworkers was both acceptable and desirable. Hell, I could have sent in a dozen letters from coworkers and supervisors.

A good rule of thumb is to offer to write them a rough draft, since people are busy. Give them suggested topics to write about, a few numbers from your career to cite, and of course letter submission instructions. Make sure they use company letterhead and sign it.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Nothing wrong with using an employer letter. They can reflect on how you work in the real world, not just a classroom. So some profs and bosses are a good mix.