LOR confusion!

[Driller23]

Hi Guys,

I am a student at UBC (Canada of course)...a huge school, with all first year chem, bio, phys classes having over 250 students. And I am currently a 5th year student. just about to graduate. Therefore, my bio, phys, chem profs from 1st, 2nd, and even 3 rd year dont remember or even know of my existence. Therefore there is no way i can ask them for LORs.

However, on the upside, I have done lab internships (research) and do know profs (all in biomedical sciences like Microbiology and Surgery), and they know me very well too...and hopefully think highly of me. BUT THEY WERE NEVER MY INSTRUCTORS FOR ANY OF THE CLASSES I TOOK.

So when Dental schools say they need LORs from SCIENCE professors, would letters from the professors whom I worked for suffice???? Or should they have formally taught me in a class?? Does anyone know the answer to this for sure?

If LORs from these professors wont cut it, then I am pretty much screwed...help..

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[Envision]

Hi Guys,

I am a student at UBC (Canada of course)...a huge school, with all first year chem, bio, phys classes having over 250 students. And I am currently a 5th year student. just about to graduate. Therefore, my bio, phys, chem profs from 1st, 2nd, and even 3 rd year dont remember or even know of my existence. Therefore there is no way i can ask them for LORs.

However, on the upside, I have done lab internships (research) and do know profs (all in biomedical sciences like Microbiology and Surgery), and they know me very well too...and hopefully think highly of me. BUT THEY WERE NEVER MY INSTRUCTORS FOR ANY OF THE CLASSES I TOOK.

So when Dental schools say they need LORs from SCIENCE professors, would letters from the professors whom I worked for suffice???? Or should they have formally taught me in a class?? Does anyone know the answer to this for sure?

If LORs from these professors wont cut it, then I am pretty much screwed...help..

Im pretty sure they want LOR from a professor who you took a science course in. They also want LOR from people outside of academics such as research, internships etc. however, im pretty sure you cant replace your science LOR with work related LORs. Also, your class sizes arent abnormally big. in fact, i would say there about average among public institutions. I would say your safe bet is to try to get a professor you have done well in to write you a LOR. Even if they don't remember you, so long as you did well in their class, they might consider giving you an informal interview to get to know you. thats my 2cent.

 

[Driller23]

hmmm....alright, thanks.

Does anyone else have any input on this?

Has anyone here ever contacted a prof they had 2-3 years ago and have them write an impersonal LOR just cuz you did well in their class?

 

[Sephisabin]

hmmm....alright, thanks.

Does anyone else have any input on this?

Has anyone here ever contacted a prof they had 2-3 years ago and have them write an impersonal LOR just cuz you did well in their class?

I don't know about your school, but my school actually has a program where they will give you like $50 to take the professor out to lunch and talk with him or her so the professor can write a better recommendation. If not, you can always take him or her out for coffee and just spend like an hour talking... I did that with one of my professors.

 

[tinman831]

Many applicants take the basic science courses during their freshman and sophomore years so some time has passed since they have last talked to their professors. Your professors understand the situation and I'm sure they're still willing to help you. What you should do is give them any information that might help them write a more personal letter for you. Schedule a time when you and the professor can meet and discuss your desire to pursue dentistry. Give him/her your resume, personal statement, and anything else that you think is relevant.

 

[whiskeysour]

OP,

I don't think it matters if it is from someone that taught you, or someone that you did research with, or someone you worked for....as long as they are a science professor.

In my opinion, having a letter that says "John got an A in my class, blah blah blah" is not as good as a letter from someone saying you went above and beyond (i.e. research, ta, etc.), and truely know you well enough to write a letter.

The schools can see how well you did in your classes by looking at your transcripts; they can't see how involved your research, teaching, shadowing was by looking just at your resume.

Maybe I'm a little bias because this is the route I'm going in getting letters, so I don't know if dental schools will have a problem with this. I'm getting a letter from a professor I took calculus with who knows me well, a professor I did research with, and a professor that was in charge of undergrad chem TA's. In addition, I will get one from a dentist when he/she knows me well enough to write one.

Good luck,
WS

 

[PDizzle]

I can share my experience(nightmare) with LOR's with UCSF:

When I needed letters of req, it was 8 years since I took the classes! I even forgot the teacher's names, let alone them remembering mine! So I took a semester of science classes to boost my GPA and get my letters. I couldn't get any hardcore science classes like anatomy, pysio or micro because of my senority, which was none! Well, the classes I did take were not excepted by UCSF so I needed 2 letters and had 5 days to do it.

I looked up my teachers names in the school admin guide, contacted them and aranged a meeting. This is the part where you sell yourself just like you will in your dental interview. Explain to them the situation. Most teachers have advanced degrees and they needed LOR's too.

Just be sure to get letters from science teachers, just like they request. It's not worth holding up your app because you did something different. I'm not even too sure how important LOR's really are in the decision process anyway. If I had to rank stuff it would go like:

GPA/DAT
Interview
Dental experience/Shadowing
Extracurricular/Volunteer
Personnal Statement
LOR

 

[Driller23]

I can share my experience(nightmare) with LOR's with UCSF:

When I needed letters of req, it was 8 years since I took the classes! I even forgot the teacher's names, let alone them remembering mine! So I took a semester of science classes to boost my GPA and get my letters. I couldn't get any hardcore science classes like anatomy, pysio or micro because of my senority, which was none! Well, the classes I did take were not excepted by UCSF so I needed 2 letters and had 5 days to do it.

I looked up my teachers names in the school admin guide, contacted them and aranged a meeting. This is the part where you sell yourself just like you will in your dental interview. Explain to them the situation. Most teachers have advanced degrees and they needed LOR's too.

Just be sure to get letters from science teachers, just like they request. It's not worth holding up your app because you did something different. I'm not even too sure how important LOR's really are in the decision process anyway. If I had to rank stuff it would go like:

GPA/DAT
Interview
Dental experience/Shadowing
Extracurricular/Volunteer
Personnal Statement
LOR

PDizzle,

Thanks for your input. But do you have a concrete answer for the following question: Do they science professors who write your LOR have to have taught you? Could they be science professors you have done some research for?

Would AADSAS customer service ppl be able to answer this question? Cuz some schools dont even outline the type of LORs they want..

 

[Smooth Operater]

yeah, I have the same question as Driller. We go to the same university, and every classes I have taken are filled with 100+ ppl.

btw, do science professor LORs have to be from "pre-req" courses? Can it be from upper level science courses? Thanks!

 

[turtmd]

I am kind of new with all this LOR stuff...I'll be applying to Dental School next year and I asked my Chem II teacher for a LOR; this might sound silly...but can we open the LORs? I haven't opened mine yet...

 

[LNinlove]

To tack another question on for the experienced readers...I just finished Chem I and have a pretty decent rapport with my prof. It will be ATLEAST 2007 before I apply and possibly 2008. My question, would it be wrong of me to ask my prof for a LOR knowing that I still have 1-2 years before matriculation? I am an non-traditional student (work 40 hrs, school 10 hrs) and have already taken Bio I and II; so I still have prereqs to take. However, like I said, I really respect this prof and think I could get a good LOR from him.

To kind of build on turtmd's question...if they only give us ONE LOR for multiple schools, are the LORs sent to AADSAS and they distribute copies? If so, how long will AADSAS hold the LORs? Longer than a year?

Finally, how exactly does a person approach a prof for a LOR? Obviously, if I were going to ask for one, I would trust that the prof thought that I was a decent student. Regardless, does one say something like "would you be willing to write an LOR for me....awkward pause....and only say positive things?"

It's just really confusing for us newbies....
Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[PDizzle]

btw, do science professor LORs have to be from "pre-req" courses? Can it be from upper level science courses? Thanks!

It doesn't have to be from a pre-req but to be safe, get them from pre-req classes. One of my original letters was from an upper division Plant Biology course at UC Berkeley, taught by a professor who was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences and it was rejected by UCSF!! Go figure.....

Play it safe, get them from pre-req's.

 

[PDizzle]

I am kind of new with all this LOR stuff...I'll be applying to Dental School next year and I asked my Chem II teacher for a LOR; this might sound silly...but can we open the LORs? I haven't opened mine yet...

First off, the letters need to be sealed, usually with the teachers signature on the back of the letter, over the fold. If you use AADSAS, then you need to print out a cover sheet that goes with the letter. On that sheet you can select if you want access tothe letter or not. I would reccomend you check "no" because the adcoms will consider it a more truthful letter.

The teacher sends it in so you should never even see it.

 

[PDizzle]

My question, would it be wrong of me to ask my prof for a LOR knowing that I still have 1-2 years before matriculation?

You can do this buthe can't actually write it and send it in until you have an active AADSAS account (that is if you want to use AADSAS to handle your LOR's)

To kind of build on turtmd's question...if they only give us ONE LOR for multiple schools, are the LORs sent to AADSAS and they distribute copies? If so, how long will AADSAS hold the LORs? Longer than a year?

Yes, they make copies and send them to all the scgools you apply to. After the cycle is over, everything is deleted, including LOR's. You will need to start from scratch every cycle

Finally, how exactly does a person approach a prof for a LOR? Obviously, if I were going to ask for one, I would trust that the prof thought that I was a decent student. Regardless, does one say something like "would you be willing to write an LOR for me....awkward pause....and only say positive things?"

Yup. You may want to ask if they feel comfortable about writing a strong letter.

 

[LNinlove]

You can do this buthe can't actually write it and send it in until you have an active AADSAS account (that is if you want to use AADSAS to handle your LOR's)




Yes, they make copies and send them to all the scgools you apply to. After the cycle is over, everything is deleted, including LOR's. You will need to start from scratch every cycle






Yup. You may want to ask if they feel comfortable about writing a strong letter.

Awesome PDizzle, thanks a lot for the help. I really enjoy your predents site...do you have any stipulations on who can have an account? Matriculating students only....? Or someone like myself...a couple years out?

thanks again!

 

[PDizzle]

Awesome PDizzle, thanks a lot for the help. I really enjoy your predents site...do you have any stipulations on who can have an account? Matriculating students only....? Or someone like myself...a couple years out?

thanks again!

Very shortly I will address the cycle problem at predents.com. I will make it clear what cycle people are entering data for and viewing. I'm hella busy right now but plan to have it done sometime i9n May (hopefully before the 15th)

I would wait until you actually apply for a cycle before you make an account. Or, you could make an account with your SDN name and just not enter data until you apply. This way you can answer polls, which require a logged in account.


Peace!....