LOR Question

[Mr. Thirsty]

So I understand that most schools require 2 science letters and 1 nonscience letter. My question is what counts as a nonscience letter? So far I have two TA positions with professors that I have had as teachers before in a biology and nutrition course, so right there are 2 good science letters; however I really have no nonscience classes left to take (I have 2 semesters left of all physics and upper level nutrition courses.)

The only nonscience teachers I have had were in my freshman and sophomore year - before I knew I wanted to become a dentist, hence I didn't try to build a relationship with them. When they say "science letters" are they talking about just BCP sciences (like microbio, biology, biochemistry, chem, physics) or do they include other courses that are considered sciences too, but not targeted towards a medical field (such as my upper level nutrition courses which involve a large amount of biochemistry actually). Would they ignore someones application if they had 3 good science letters, 1 nonmajor and 2 major. For example a combo such as -
1 Biology Professor Letter
2 Nutritional Science Professor Letters

That's equivalent to 2 letters from my major (nutrition), 1 from non-major (biology) but all 3 are from science.

Let me know what you think...

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[Kahr]

Major vs non-major won't make a difference. Whether they consider nutrition a science letter or not is something you'd want to double check with schools, but I'm guessing it would count (only based on the fact that I had a letter from a Respiratory Therapy professor count as a science letter, which is obviously a non-BCP science).

Very few schools require 3 science letters, so you definitely wouldn't have problems with what you mentioned as your 3 letters. What are non-science letters? Again, this is often specified by schools, it could be a health-care professional, like a dentist or physician, it could also be an employer or a professor of another discipline, such as from the humanities, etc.

I'll repost the example I used in another thread:

Columbia: Three CONFIDENTIAL letters of recommendation from science professors or one composite letter from a pre-health committee. Additional letters of recommendation from employers or non-science professors will be accepted, but will not satisfy the requirement. Official letters of recommendation are only sent directly to the AADSAS application service.

UOP: Three letters of evaluation. If your undergraduate institution has a pre-health advisory committee, a committee evaluation is recommended. Otherwise you must submit two letters of evaluation from science instructors and an additional letter from a health care professional or employer.

OHSU: OHSU requires two letters of evaluation from basic science faculty and one from a dental professional, or one pre-professional committee letter. If your pre-professional committee letter does not include an evaluation from a dentist, we ask that you send a supplemental letter of evaluation from a dentist under separate cover.

 

[Mr. Thirsty]

I think I am confusing nonscience letters with the idea that they still have to be professors, just not a science one. It seems like this varies between schools more than I thought so I will make sure to sum up what I need with my schools of interest. Thanks for the reply.

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