Reapplying with committee letter

[angryBird23]

I'm reapplying this cycle (I applied 2021-2022 with no IIs), and I was told by a school that my previous commitee letter reflected a poor service orientation. I improved my app (a year of Americorps, maternal health research) but I'm worried because my committee letter for this cycle is essentially the old letter with an update explaining how I have improved as an applicant. Will this be a red flag for schools, especially ones that I am a first time applicant at? I think my application is ok otherwise (ORM, 3.94, 514 to 519 retake, and women's health narrative), but I'm scared that the committee letter will ruin my chances.

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[StressfulMD]

Can the school add a cover letter of some sort, reflecting your newfound strength in service, to the committee letter? Or can they totally restructure the old letter from 2 years ago?

I think, going forward, you can either tell your university's committee your concerns about their comments portraying you in a bad light (and make sure that their edited letter reflects your new strengths and NO weaknesses).... or just forget the committee letter altogether to be honest. Sure, you'll have to explain why you don't have one to some schools, but I'd argue that's a better position to be in than having the letter but with the negative commentary.

Of course, I'll defer to the adcoms on here but this is what I would do with my school's committee in your position

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I think you deserve to know what the cover letter will address in its update, given that you received explicit feedback from an admissions professional/team who reviewed your application.

FERPA waivers mean you cannot view the letter but it does not mean you cannot receive specific feedback on what the letter contains, especially if there is information that needs to be updated. (Let me know if this is not proper interpretation.) You allow your academic information and record to be discussed to the programs with the waiver.

Advisors should be working with applicants within the limits of privacy to present you properly and fairly. They can use their rubrics for evaluation which should be shared with advisees.

I will point out advisors generally put accurate updates in their memos/addenda to institutional evaluations, highlighting areas of improvement since the initial review. I don't think you need to worry but it doesn't hurt you to check.

 

[angryBird23]

Can the school add a cover letter of some sort, reflecting your newfound strength in service, to the committee letter? Or can they totally restructure the old letter from 2 years ago?

I think, going forward, you can either tell your university's committee your concerns about their comments portraying you in a bad light (and make sure that their edited letter reflects your new strengths and NO weaknesses).... or just forget the committee letter altogether to be honest. Sure, you'll have to explain why you don't have one to some schools, but I'd argue that's a better position to be in than having the letter but with the negative commentary.

Of course, I'll defer to the adcoms on here but this is what I would do with my school's committee in your position

They told me they cannot totally restructure the letter, just that they will add another section talking about how I have improved as a reapplicant. In my reapplicant review meeting, it seemed like they were happy with my reflections from the past two years and will be talking about my improve dservice orientation. It's just that the old stuff will still be there, unfortunately.

It seems like most MD schools value the committee letter, so I'm scared to not have it!

 

[angryBird23]

I think you deserve to know what the cover letter will address in its update, given that you received explicit feedback from an admissions professional/team who reviewed your application.

FERPA waivers mean you cannot view the letter but it does not mean you cannot receive specific feedback on what the letter contains, especially if there is information that needs to be updated. (Let me know if this is not proper interpretation.) You allow your academic information and record to be discussed to the programs with the waiver.

Advisors should be working with applicants within the limits of privacy to present you properly and fairly. They can use their rubrics for evaluation which should be shared with advisees.

I will point out advisors generally put accurate updates in their memos/addenda to institutional evaluations, highlighting areas of improvement since the initial review. I don't think you need to worry but it doesn't hurt you to check.

I was told that the new section of the committee letter has metrics for things like service orientation, clinical experience, etc. and that it will reflect my new activities since reapplication. In my reapplicant review meeting, I got the impression that they thought my app had significantly improved, but it can't hurt to double check. Do you think it's better not have the committee letter at all?