*~*~*~*Official Letters of Recommendation Questions Thread 2016-2017*~*~*~*

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If I submit an LOR after submitting my secondary app, will it be utilized for the interview decision, or only for the admission decision after I receive/attend an interview? I've seen some schools say that LORs sent after the secondary will only be looked at after the applicant interviews, but some schools don't specify. Thanks!
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gonnif said:
This will vary by school. Because school's deal with thousands of application, the mechanics of how they actually do the processing, called a workflow, wants to do it in the most efficient way possible. This means either not reviewing until all materials are in (primary, secondary, MCAT, LOR) or reviewing at set points regardless if something, such as an LOR. Both methods are designed so there are no re-reviews and the file has to go thru the process twice. Depending on how they assign and update materials to readers, your letter may make it in to the initial review at some places. However, at most schools you cant know or predict how they do this
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Thanks for the help! I just asked a prof for a letter, I foolishly didn't notice that one of the schools I'm applying too had a req of 2 science faculty - it shouldn't take too long to receive it, the prof asked me to write it and that they'd send it for me). My question is, should I wait for this letter to come in and get confirmed by AMCAS so I can add it to all of my schools (my thinking is that I might as well add it to all if I'm gonna get a 4th letter) before submitting those secondaries, or should I submit those secondaries without worrying about the 4th letter, and just wait to submit the secondary for the particular school I actually need the letter for? Also, how on-time/late am I on submitting secondaries? Thank you so much!
 
Hello:

I had a question regarding the letterhead. One of my writers is from a tutoring/creative writing organization that I have been volunteering with for a long time. However, as the writer is unaffiliated with a university, is the official letterhead mandatory?

Thanks
 
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Hello,

I have a question about sending extra letter of recommendations later in the process. I currently will be getting two letters of recommendation from professors and a third from a research physician. I will be starting a public health internship this fall semester, and I was wondering if it would have any effect on my application if I were to get a letter from my internship supervisor, say, at the end of fall semester, to be submitted to schools that still had my application under review. Do schools want or look at extra letters sent later? Or would it only be worth pursuing if I were waitlisted somewhere in the spring?

Thanks!
 
I can't see it as a problem. But keep in mind that MD schools view clinician LORs as fluff.

REALDEAL028 said:
Goro,
I know that you are an adcom at a DO school, but I am wondering if you could see any problem with sending a LOR from a DO to an MD school? He is essentially my mentor (shadowed him over the last 13 months, helped me edit my PS, volunteer in the Cancer Center where he works, etc.) and quoted in his reply email when I requested a LOR from him, "Don't worry, it will be a stellar letter because you have earned it". Now I know that doesn't necessarily mean it will be a truly great letter, but I figure it certainly can't hurt anything. I just didn't know if I should include that when the school only accepts 3 letters and at least 2 have to be science faculty. I also have non-science faculty and a "character" letter from a high school administrator that I have maintained a close relationship with for the past 8 years. Thanks for the help!
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Does anyone know how long it takes amcas to add physically mailed letters? One of my letter writers express mailed their letter over a week ago and it still hasn't showed up on amcas. A previous letter I had done was added in 4 days
 
@gonnif Question Some schools ask for the Names and titles of individuals who are sending letters of evaluation. What do I put if I am using a committee letter??? The name of the individual writers that make up the committee ? Or the name of the people who sent the letters to the committee to make a final letter in the first place

Also How does the AMCAS get my Committee letter ? when I try and request the letter on AMCAS they are asking me to include the primary contact/Author name and information who should this person be? The head of the committee ?
 
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gonnif said:
https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...278-2edb3998a216/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf
See page 59 . You can either list as "Pre Health Committee Letter " or your premed advisor, committee chair, whoever your primary contact is. Just make sure the title of the letter says "Committee Letter" as that is what the medical schools will see
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So that helps with the AMCAS. NYMC is asking me for """"Names and titles of individuals who are sending letters of evaluation"""" do I give the name and title of the people who make up the letter. Or just do the same as what i put in AMCAS which would be Name of the committer chair and the title would be committee chair.... Sorry if I sound dense right now just super late to the game and want to make as few mistakes as possible .
 
oops wrong thread. *ignore*
 
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gonnif said:
You do not enter the verification queue until both your AMCAS application and all your transcripts have been received Only then does AMCAS start working on your application. Having your application in on Day 1 does nothing to increase your speed thru the system unless your transcripts have already arrived. Verification can take 2 to 6 weeks, with 15 working days (3 weeks) average submitted July 1 in the 2015 cycle for verification to be complete. And as a quarter student, you should have you spring grades on the application.

https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/monitoring-your-application/
After you have certified and submitted your application, and AMCAS has received all of your required transcripts, your application will enter the processing queue.
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Thank you for the clarification!
 
gonnif said:
Just to add to the 'Dawgs white paper on the subject


1) For purposes of LOR/LOE, what is science?

Many applicants equate "science" with AMCAS "BCPM". This is not accurate. Science for purposes LOR/LOE is what "normal" science would be at a college or university. This would include Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, certainty. But it would also include Oceanography, Geology, some Psychology or even Computer Science and Materials Sciences. Under this general theme most health and medical science fields could be considered science. What about engineering and math generally? They can actually be framed either way, which usually depends more on the background of the candidate than anything else (ie what professors has the applicant worked with.).

2)How can I judge if a letter writer fits a science or non-science criteria?

Applicants who need to look at this issue must do something that few seem to do: use their judgement. You can look at the degree the letter writer holds, the department to which they are faculty, and the title/position they hold within that department. Perhaps even more telling is the course that you may have taken So Dr. John Smith, PhD, Professor of Behavioral Neurosciences , Department of Psychology teaching a course -- PSYCH 402: Molecular Neurochemistry of Abnormal Psychology, would clearly be a sciences letter even though the professor and the course are from the psychology department. Another example would be Dr. Bob Jones, PhD, Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies teaching a course -- EXPHYS 340: physiological responses in sports training. Again, certainly science work even thought it is an Exercise Science course and department. So use your judgement on these.

In sum, getting a letter from a professor who knows you well and can write a critical evaluation of you is much more important than the strict interpretation science
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What about a LOR from a nursing professor? Would this fall into a category of medical science or be respected as such?
 
Alright, so I finally have a science letter writer willing to write a strong letter for me (one of the schools didn't consider my one of my letters as science).

Since the cycle is already rolling, how much time should I give her to write the letter??
Thanks
 
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So I got an email a couple days from AMCAS ago saying my committee letter (finally) got uploaded. 24 hours later, I received the exact same email for the same letter. It looks like my school uploaded the letter, and then uploaded it again. Perhaps they wanted to make a last minute correction.

Is this ok? Some schools are showing the first date as the day of receipt, some are showing the second, and some are showing two different uploads in the "documents" tab
 
3member said:
Alright, so I finally have a science letter writer willing to write a strong letter for me (one of the schools didn't consider my one of my letters as science).

Since the cycle is already rolling, how much time should I give her to write the letter??
Thanks
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I personally would just ask for it as soon as possible. You can explain what happened and that you are now running a bit behind
 
Has anyone used a service like Admissions Council to review their rec letters? I am planning to ask my PI for a letter, but she has been very hot and cold- I am having a very hard time gauging if it would be a good letter or not, but have worked with her for too long not to include it. Are these services okay to use? Or are they not really allowed/to be avoided?

Thanks!
 
gonnif said:
They are not allowed for medical school.
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Thanks for the reply! I had heard about this from a friend whose pre-med advisor actually mentioned it. It sounded sketchy to me, but I thought maybe it was fine to use if even advisors talk about it. Glad I asked before submitting letters to them.

Is it reasonable to see if a pre-med advisor can look at a letter (without telling me what is in it, of course) for any red flags? Some posts on here have mentioned that as well, and I know that for committee letters, which my school doesn't do, they often leave out negative letters. I'm just not sure what to do at this point, because I work very hard in the lab but my PI still seems to think I am not committed due to taking a few weeks off for the MCAT (even though I did research during every break I had).
 
jwmd said:
Thanks for the reply! I had heard about this from a friend whose pre-med advisor actually mentioned it. It sounded sketchy to me, but I thought maybe it was fine to use if even advisors talk about it. Glad I asked before submitting letters to them.

Is it reasonable to see if a pre-med advisor can look at a letter (without telling me what is in it, of course) for any red flags? Some posts on here have mentioned that as well, and I know that for committee letters, which my school doesn't do, they often leave out negative letters. I'm just not sure what to do at this point, because I work very hard in the lab but my PI still seems to think I am not committed due to taking a few weeks off for the MCAT (even though I did research during every break I had).
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The general consensus seems to be that you should take what any premed advisor says and throw it out the window.
 
gonnif said:
While a premed committee can develop their own policies, letter confidentiality is not one of them. There have been some premed committees will bring up items up flags during an interview and in doing so are in violation of both NAAHP and AAMC guidelines confidentiality.

The risk a premed committee faces in doing so is their own reputation and relevancy, by sending poor candidates to medical schools with good evaluations.

While my personal experience with this is very dated, you may have a PI who will believe that you aren't committed to research by the simply fact you are considering medical school. You should be considering an important career as PhD not an MD. Yes, there are professors like that.
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Thanks for the response! Could you share some advice on what to do then? The rest of my application is as good as I can get it, but I'm very worried that this letter will jeopardize my chances. I will definitely ask for a "strong" letter, but that doesn't mean she won't include some bit about 'weak commitment', etc. right? And I've been going to lab as much as I can, so increasing that any more would almost certainly lower my grade for the semester.
 
I made the mistake of assigning a letter to medical schools before it was submitted to AMCAS. The professor is no longer able to submit the letter. Other than 1) indicating on AMCAS that the letter will no longer be sent and 2) assigning a new letter to meet the requirements, is there any other action I need to take to ensure my application is completed at these medical schools (e.g. call/email the schools and inform them of the change)?
 
I didn't see this answered in last year's thread; hopefully it hasn't already been asked in this one.

Not certain what to do about the non-science LOR; the last non-sci class I took was summer 2015. I want to think the professor (grad student? he's listed as MA, not PhD) would remember me, as I loved the class and chatted with him frequently, and was effectively a teacher's pet in-lecture--BUT, is over 12 months too far away to ask; and seeing as (the department website doesn't say) he has a PhD, do I need to find his mentor/supervisor to co-sign or could I just get some random prof in that department? Or would I be better off getting a job this year and getting a letter from my supervisor instead?
 
I don't know if anyone asked this yet...but if I received a letter from someone and they are having trouble uploading it or just being difficult. Can't I send the hard copy letter myself (one with the stamp and signature) to AMCAS?
 
I had to go back and designate a couple of individual letters for one or two schools, and for some reason one of the letter entries I created didn't have my professor listed as affiliated with my undergrad (even though I swear I indicated this and clicked the school I wanted him affiliated with!) Anyways, will schools who receive this letter from AMCAS letters not associate him as a professor of that undergrad institution? Or I am overthinking things considering his address is my undergrad's address and he most likely is submitting a letter with school letterhead? Thanks for any advice!
 
For schools that are receptive to updates, do I just send a new letter of recommendation through AMCAS and update them sending a PDF or doc that says "I have submitted a new letter of recommendation"?
 
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Cytonic1378 said:
For schools that are receptive to updates, do I just send a new letter of recommendation through AMCAS and update them sending a PDF or doc that says "I have submitted a new letter of recommendation"?
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I called a school about it, and they said just to designate another letter through AMCAS letters.
 
Is a public health/community health professor considered a non-science?
 
Hello, sorry if this question has already been addressed.

I was just wondering how much a LOR from a current medical school board of trustees member (who is also a physician) would help me? Simply, does it carry anymore weight than getting one from a regular physician that I shadowed? There are roughly 12-15 board members at this school.

I am a nontraditional underdog that has gone through a lot of reinvention. I am interested in the particular school.
 
gonnif said:
a shadowing letter typically carries little weight
a letter from a board may carry even less

the risk with board member letter is it can be seen as political and could either help greatly or hurt greatly. If admin dean thinks the board member is interjecting on his turf....

personally unless you have a solid professional or academic relationship with board member that would stand on its own without the school connection then you may want to get it. However if the letter is written mostly just because you can get a letter from him, it risks backlash
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Thanks for the reply. So the situation is that I recently met this person at a premed conference. We chatted for a while and made a really nice connection. At the end he asked for me to exchange information to set up future mentorship/shadowing. I obviously felt a bit excited to have run into him. Checked his resume and what not afterwards and he seems to be quite an influential person in the medical field.

As a non traditional applicant with one humanities degree spent mostly on academic probation and a second one 6 years later at summa cum laude, I need to do whatever I can to get my application looked at.


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Hello, I'm sorry if this question has been addressed; hoping this is the right thread to ask this on as well.

I am applying to SMPs and post-bacc programs for Fall 2017 right now and wanted to use Interfolio to send in my letters. I also plan on applying to DO Programs for 2018. My question is, will I be able to use these same letters for when I apply to medical schools as well via Interfolio? And should I be asking my recommenders for a "general" letter of recommendation to use for multiple programs? Thanks!
 
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I know it must vary by school, but do schools generally read LOR's pre or post interview?
 
First, I apologize for digging up this old thread (didn't see a 2017-2018 thread).

Background: I graduated back in 2009 but have recently taken some upper level science courses while working (Endocrinology, biochemistry I and II... since I had no biochem background). I also been working and volunteering as an EMT/Tech for 4+ years. This leads to several questions/dilemmas.

1) The university that I have been taking classes at does have a committee process but I don't qualify for it (Not an undergrad, not part of some post-bac program, etc). Will this be suspicious/looked-down-on/etc?

2) Is there and advantage in using my school's file service (virtual evals)? From what I understand, they simply collects the letters and forwards them to the AAMC as if those letters were individually sent. Do they retain the letters beyond the application cycle? (This may be a consideration if my application is weak for this cycle).

3) Since I've taken so few classes recently (only 3), my options are limited. I can get a very-good recommendation from one science professor (she has already agreed) and I suspect that I can get one from another science professor (got an A in his class... but besides going to office hours a couple of times, my interactions were limited). The last science professor is a no-go (I'm doing well in his class... just not the type of person you ask for a LOR). Is it a bad plan to get a LOR from both science professors? And when schools only need 1 science LOR... only send the stronger LOR?

4). Now, I don't have any LOR from a non-science professor and understand this will be a weakness in my application. My hopes is that most schools will consider my non-traditional status and consider other LOR (From work and volunteering). And when the application cycle opens up, I will be looking at each school individually. Out of curiosity, how big of a limiting factor will this be for my application?

5). Lastly, I believe I can get strong LORs from various nurses I work with. I suspect most schools would want to see a LOR from someone higher up the food chain (nurse manager, clinical administrator, etc) but I don't have a particularly strong relationship with either. At work, I've received nothing but praise but I suspect having a LOR from someone I work with may hold more weight. Am I correct in this assumption and seek out a LOR from a RN?

Sorry for the wall of text. I appreciate the feedback.
 
I plan on getting a letter from a visiting professor at my university. I did very well in her class and now TA for her. Her contract at the university is short term though. Should I seek another letter? I was planning on using her as a science faculty letter, though she isn't "faculty" per se. Furthermore, I will have only 4 letters (including the visiting professor's), though they will all be strong. Will this be a problem?
 
gonnif said:
it wont be a problem. She can sign it as visiting prof, If she has a permanent position elsewhere, she can sign as that and simply note she was visiting prof . note that a visiting prof typically isnt the same adjunct faculty or instructor
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Follow up question, but I have some friends getting a letter from another professor whose title is "visiting lecturer." She functions as more or less an adjunct. Would this be a problem for them? Or does the recommender's title matter little. They are using this professor as a science letter.
 
If I took a research class for credit could I ask the professor to write a letter of recommendation to fulfill a science letter requirement? If I can't would hitting 6 letters as a part of my committee letter packet be alright?
 
What are your thoughts on assigning letters of rec to schools before submitting? I heard it’s risky to do that now before secondaries because they might have certain requirements and you won't be able to change your assignments after submitting, and to just submit without assigning any just yet. Are there any cons to this? Will it take longer to update or have any timeline issues to be complete?
 
gonnif said:
There is little to no benefit to assign letters prior to school as they will be transmitted within a day after assignment
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Thank you! After it gets transmitted within a day, will my application be updated in the schools' system instantaneously? Or will it take some time?
 
I am applying to medical school, but I was wondering if I could use a letter of recommendation from a foot and ankle surgeon (podiatrist) to submit with my application. The reason I ask is because the foot and ankle surgeon I will be receiving a letter from has offered me a clericalship position in his practice. He is also very well known in the medical community; key note speaker in medical school symposiums in my state, and has close connections with university instructors. I have not come across a post similar to my question so I am assuming that the general consensus is a no, but I wanted to know for sure!
 
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