Question re committee letters/LORs

[bumblebee611]

Hi everyone-

Relatively new/lurking 42 year old nontrad here, planning to apply for entrance in 2016. I'm wondering what folks think are the advantages, if any, of having a committee letter from your undergraduate institution. Even though I've been out for 20 years, my undergrad is relatively open to providing me a committee letter -- should I work to get that committee letter, or as a seriously older nontrad, is it more important to get my actual LORs read by the admissions committee? Or is it better to look like I'm not THAT far out of undergrad and get the committee letter? I am only able to apply to two schools (one MD, one DO) because of moving/marriage/kids constraints and I believe they are both okay without a committee letter.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any thoughts and help!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I'll just say welcome! and let people with a bit more experience with this weigh in.

 

[Snakes]

I'm 40 and similarly non-trad. I will be applying without a committee letter. I did an informal post-bacc on my own. For the really non-trad, I don't think the committee letter is that big of a deal.

 

[bumblebee611]

I'm 40 and similarly non-trad. I will be applying without a committee letter. I did an informal post-bacc on my own. For the really non-trad, I don't think the committee letter is that big of a deal.

Snakes, nice to see you here -- I'm also an attorney and a mother, though I stopped practicing law in August to study, volunteer, etc. I definitely feel like it's probably okay with out the committee letter, but I'm wondering if I would gain from it or if it would hurt me, you know? I guess I feel fairly confident that my employer LORs will be strong and probably a lot more interesting/captivating than the average letter a prof writes for an undergrad who managed an A in some giant lecture class--I don't know if my letters will get MORE attention with the committee letter, or if it's better to let the LORs speak for themselves, unmediated by the committee letter, as it were.

 

[Goro]

Get LORs from people who know you NOW, and thus are more objective judges of your ability to be a good doctor, and a good student.

Hi everyone-

Relatively new/lurking 42 year old nontrad here, planning to apply for entrance in 2016. I'm wondering what folks think are the advantages, if any, of having a committee letter from your undergraduate institution. Even though I've been out for 20 years, my undergrad is relatively open to providing me a committee letter -- should I work to get that committee letter, or as a seriously older nontrad, is it more important to get my actual LORs read by the admissions committee? Or is it better to look like I'm not THAT far out of undergrad and get the committee letter? I am only able to apply to two schools (one MD, one DO) because of moving/marriage/kids constraints and I believe they are both okay without a committee letter.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any thoughts and help!

 

[bumblebee611]

Get LORs from people who know you NOW, and thus are more objective judges of your ability to be a good doctor, and a good student.

Thank you, Goro, for the advice. I should clarify, though--the undergrad committee letter would be based on the letters written by the folks who know me now.

 

[Cawolf]

I don't think a letter from your school 20 years back will be that useful to apply with.

Though if you know them now, it seems like more of a unique situation - as they won't be evaluating you based on your undergrad work.

 

[Goro]

In that case, it's six to one; half a dozen to the other. Your call.

Thank you, Goro, for the advice. I should clarify, though--the undergrad committee letter would be based on the letters written by the folks who know me now.

 

[Snakes]

I'm wondering what folks think are the advantages, if any, of having a committee letter from your undergraduate institution. Even though I've been out for 20 years, my undergrad is relatively open to providing me a committee letter -- should I work to get that committee letter, or as a seriously older nontrad, is it more important to get my actual LORs read by the admissions committee? Or is it better to look like I'm not THAT far out of undergrad and get the committee letter?

I tend to think I am way far out of undergrad and not much is going to hide that. I think it's a big plus in some ways. I could see if maybe I was within 10 years of undergrad and could pass for a 22 year old, but it's just not gonna happen at this point When I first read your post I thought you were going back to your old alma mater to get a committee letter from your professors from 20 years ago. I would definitely strongly recommend against that. If you've done a post bacc semi-recently and your committee letter will be based on recommendations by your current professors, that's good. In my case a committee letter wasn't an option anyway because of my informal post bacc (that institution doesn't do committee letters at all) and the amount of time since I was at my alma mater. Since you are looking at limited options for where you are looking to attend, I would suggest calling both of those schools and asking which they prefer. Some schools want only a committee letter if your school offers one and basically infer that if you don't provide one from a school that they know does them, they will wonder why.

Snakes, nice to see you here -- I'm also an attorney and a mother, though I stopped practicing law in August to study, volunteer, etc. I definitely feel like it's probably okay with out the committee letter, but I'm wondering if I would gain from it or if it would hurt me, you know? I guess I feel fairly confident that my employer LORs will be strong and probably a lot more interesting/captivating than the average letter a prof writes for an undergrad who managed an A in some giant lecture class--I don't know if my letters will get MORE attention with the committee letter, or if it's better to let the LORs speak for themselves, unmediated by the committee letter, as it were.

And hello to you too, by the way. Sounds like we have a lot in common. I'll also be applying next year for entrance in 2016. Let's keep an eye on each other. For me personally, I feel like my LOR's are so varied (I've got the standard couple from my science professors, plus a big one from my master's professor, plus another big one from my former employer, plus another one or two if necessary), I'm pretty sure I would bypass the committee letter if a committee letter were an option for me. But if I were you I would definitely call your schools and see what their reaction is given your specific non-trad situation. If not doing a committee letter is considered a big minus, I would reconsider.

 

[kraskadva]

Welcome to SDN

My .02
I'm only 8 years out of UG, but my school was also willing to do a committee letter for me. I chose to forgo that in favor of a committee letter from my post-bacc school, but included a letter from an UG professor who knew me best during that time and that I had kept up with over the years.
While many schools prefer the committee letter, they are also understanding of the different non-trad situation. And more recent evidence of your academic abilities is more relevant to how you'll do in med school. You haven't said if you're doing any post-bacc work, but if you are those would be the best recommendations to have. Being (positively) memorable from 20 years ago is a good thing, but isn't necessarily indicative of your current knowledge/abilities.
So, in summary, if you're doing post-bacc work, try to get letters (or a committee letter) from there, in addition to letters from UG. If you're not, employer's letters can sometimes stand in lieu of academic letters for non-trads.
Best of luck!

 

[bumblebee611]

Thanks, everyone, for the advice, esp. Goro ... I am leaning away from it as long as the schools don't have a problem with not having the committee letter. A couple of my recommenders are really good writers and I am hopeful that they will have nice things to say about me and that their words can shine more brightly when they're not filtered through the committee letter.