*~*~*~*Official Letters of Recommendation Questions Thread 2011-2012*~*~*~*

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adnap888 said:
I'm sorry if this has already been answered, but I'm new to this. Based on the verification thread, I'm set to be verified probably around July 20. My letters of rec will probably not be done until August 10 because one of my professors is on vacation. Do all schools send me secondaries post-verification but pre-letters (besides the schools who sent me secondaries pre-verification)? Do some schools wait for AMCAS+letters to review before sending secondaries? If so, what schools do that? Is August 10 really late?
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I am not aware of any schools that need your letters before sending you a secondary. If a school does selective secondary invites, it's more likely than not going to be based on information in your primary app.
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Jwalker said:
So just 2 science and 1 non science? A doctor LOR isn't needed?
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You need to check with the schools you are interested in as far as specific requirements. It is not a blanket rule as you imply in your post.

A letter from a doctor is not required for any allopathic school that I am aware of.
 
jch1989 said:
1) I did search through this forum and found that some people asked a similar type question, but no straight-out answer was given. I already submitted my secondaries (I "certified") to some schools but my letters have not been received by AMCAs yet. Is this going to be a problem? I submitted the secondaries because I thought that since most of the schools said they would only be receiving LORs through AMCAS, the letters would be forwarded to the schools and then my app would eventually be marked as complete. Are schools not going to review my app now because of this mistake?

2. Has anyone ever marked a letter as "not being sent" but then still had the LOR author send the letter anyway? Does the letter still become marked as received and sent out to all the schools that you've assigned it to?

3. Is it possible to send schools a combination of a letter packet + 1 individual letter? Or does it have to be either/or (just 1 packet OR a combination of 3 indv letters)?

Thanks for your help!
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1) I don't see anything you've described that is a "mistake." Your file will simply be incomplete until your letters are received by the schools.

2) https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/148168/amcas_2010_faqs-17.15.html Your letter will be forwarded to any schools you have marked to receive it, even if you mark it as no longer being sent.

3) It is certainly possible to do that.
 
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Two questions here that have remained rather ambiguous to me...

(a) While schools like CWR or Northwestern have explicitly stated the max number of LORs they are willing to read, many schools did no specify such as a number. So it's safe to assume that (apart from satisfying their requirements) 6 LORs are ok?

(b) Lots of schools require LORs to come with a signature, but is it ok for the letter writers to submit scanned copies (thus with scanned signature) through the AMCAS Letter Writer Application?

Thanks a lot.
 
howieh said:
Two questions here that have remained rather ambiguous to me...

(a) While schools like CWR or Northwestern have explicitly stated the max number of LORs they are willing to read, many schools did no specify such as a number. So it's safe to assume that (apart from satisfying their requirements) 6 LORs are ok?

(b) Lots of schools require LORs to come with a signature, but is it ok for the letter writers to submit scanned copies (thus with scanned signature) through the AMCAS Letter Writer Application?

Thanks a lot.
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a) Technically yes, but you have to ask yourself what purpose sending in six letters serves.
b) Yes.
 
I have a sort of frustrating situation...

I gave my cover letters for AMCAS to the bio dept office to give to Dr. A and Dr. B. The office gave Dr. B the letter with Dr. A's name on it (and I'm assuming vice versa), so because neither one of them caught it the LOR in my file at all the medical schools I have applied to have the wrong letters with the wrong files. I don't want school discarding my LORs because they came with mismatched cover sheets. What should I do to fix this?
 
what's the consensus of getting a letter of recommendation from a community college professor with a phD from Stanford?
 
my PI asked me to provide him with guidelines to write med school LOR

I mean I can make up my own guideline, but does anyone have any good sources for this?

Also he asked how long should it be, someone posted here 1-2 pages long, is it double or single spaced?


thanks
 
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I got an email this morning from BU saying that one of my letters isn't signed and that I've been put on hold until it is corrected. I sent my three letters through Interfolio, and talked to them on the phone and I can have the letter writer add the electronic signature (no idea why they didn't do that in the first place) and resubmit it.

I only have three letters because I thought they would be pretty strong on their own without adding more just for numbers, so now I am worried that other schools that I'm already complete at won't be like BU and ask for a signature, and instead just give me a silent rejection since I don't have a sufficient number of correct letters. Do other schools care? Do I wait to submit more secondaries until AMCAS transmits the corrected letter? Thanks for anyone's input, I did a search but there was only one response that hasn't been deleted from the past couple years.
 
USCtrojans said:
I got an email this morning from BU saying that one of my letters isn't signed and that I've been put on hold until it is corrected. I sent my three letters through Interfolio, and talked to them on the phone and I can have the letter writer add the electronic signature (no idea why they didn't do that in the first place) and resubmit it.

I only have three letters because I thought they would be pretty strong on their own without adding more just for numbers, so now I am worried that other schools that I'm already complete at won't be like BU and ask for a signature, and instead just give me a silent rejection since I don't have a sufficient number of correct letters. Do other schools care? Do I wait to submit more secondaries until AMCAS transmits the corrected letter? Thanks for anyone's input, I did a search but there was only one response that hasn't been deleted from the past couple years.
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If you didn't have a sufficient number of letters, they would not mark your application as complete. Regardless, just submit your secondaries independent of the status of your letters.
 
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mauberley said:
If you didn't have a sufficient number of letters, they would not mark your application as complete. Regardless, just submit your secondaries independent of the status of your letters.
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Thanks! I've been marked complete at several schools with three letters, including the unsigned one. I'm not sure if it's because it's automated and a human being hasn't looked at the letters yet (most likely) or they have looked at it and don't need a corrected version (unlikely). Any thoughts?
 
mauberley said:
What are your options?
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I can get others, but I feel as his will be the strongest since he knows me the best.

Well he was the professor in my field class, and the professor who overlooked the club I'm a president in..I took several classes with him as well.
 
SexyDoctor said:
I can get others, but I feel as his will be the strongest since he knows me the best.

Well he was the professor in my field class, and the professor who overlooked the club I'm a president in..I took several classes with him as well.
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I don't see a problem choosing him, then.
 
USCtrojans said:
Thanks! I've been marked complete at several schools with three letters, including the unsigned one. I'm not sure if it's because it's automated and a human being hasn't looked at the letters yet (most likely) or they have looked at it and don't need a corrected version (unlikely). Any thoughts?
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Once you submit the corrected letter, every school should receive the new letter or at least have access to it. I don't think you need to do anything else.
 
is it worth mentioning Golden Key in the awards section where i listed minor scholarships, deans list, and awards?

Should Latin Honors be mentioned? summa cum laude at my school is 3.877

thanks
 
misslala said:
is it worth mentioning Golden Key in the awards section where i listed minor scholarships, deans list, and awards?

Should Latin Honors be mentioned? summa cum laude at my school is 3.877

thanks
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You should ask this question on the Work and Activities thread.
 
I'm kinda non traditional, and most schools say that getting schools from graduate professors is generally okay in situations like mine. Once letter is from a professor I have shadowed for a while, who I initially met in a science class in public health. I'm not sure what he will tall about more, my time shadowing him, or how well I did in the class. Actually, that's assuming he even says anything about my course work. Our relationship is much more student-doctor than student-professor. I have 2 questions.

1) Would it be in poor form to kind of ask him if he plans on mentioning my performance in the class? Could I explain that I need him to briefly mention my academic performance? Or would that be offensive, and make me look dumb by telling him what to write?

2) Even if he does not talk about his experience with me in the classroom, since I made it clear in the AMCAS description of the shadowing, will schools count this as being from a science professor? Does the fact that he taught me science make it a science-professor letter at all?

And another completely unrelated question, would a letter from my boss while being a biology TA count as a science letter? I was teaching science after all! I have these weird relationships with my letter writers, where I took a class, then went on to teach or round with them afterwards. So I don't know if their letters will even talk about my performance as a student.

Thanks!!!
 
I also had one more question. This was a bump but I edited instead of posting yet again. I have a letter from a professor who oversaw me as a T.A. This was a first semester bio class, one of the pre-reqs for med school. I took the course, and then since I got an A and the prof liked me, he asked if I would be a T.A. Now, I have no idea what he will write about, and how much of the letter he will devote to me as a student, and me as a T.A. I really got to know him while T.A.ing, and not when I took his course. If this professor writes a letter that is entirely about how I performed as a teacher, is this still considered a science letter? Ive thought about it, and I can't figure out how it would be classified. On one hand, I took the science course, and got an A in it. And I was teaching the material, so that should count for something in showing my ability to learn science. But I'm worried that some might not consider it a typical science letter, cuz the contents of the letter won't be about how I was able to learn science. I'm so confused. This is really making me lose sleep, cuz I came to the realization a few days ago that I might not have 2 science letters, depending on what this professor writes about. And I have absolutely no other options.... Any advice would really help, even if its bad news lol. Id rather know Im in trouble than have to keep wondering about it.
 
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Do you guys think having my physician letter from a d.o. will hurt my application?
 
Jwalker said:
this link broken for anyone else?
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The point of the link was to refer to the same question posted in another thread, with some links to guidelines on how to write a letter of recommendation for an application to med school that were turned up by this Google search:

http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/Verba-recs.html
http://www.hpplc.indiana.edu/medicine/med-apply-lor.shtml
https://career.berkeley.edu/letter/letterguidelines.stm

byuhusker said:
Do you guys think having my physician letter from a d.o. will hurt my application?
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Not necessarily. The question is, what does this letter contribute to your application? How well does this doctor know you and what perspective can this person shine on you as a person and your potential to succeed in med school and as a doctor?
 
I'm using Interfolio, should the letter writer include my AMCAS ID in the letter, or Interfolio will do that?
 
misslala said:
I'm using Interfolio, should the letter writer include my AMCAS ID in the letter, or Interfolio will do that?
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I would say that it's not necessary, but they can if they want. Interfolio will not do that. AMCAS might when they receive the letter from Interfolio, but you would have to ask AMCAS directly about that.

So long as your letter is correctly matched to the letter entry, there should be no issues.
 
Okay I've cleared some stuff up.

How do appended letters work? If you had a Letter ID mismatch and then sent the correct letter, how do adcoms deal with an appended letter? They still see the new letter correct?

Thanks
 
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mauberley said:
I would say that it's not necessary, but they can if they want. Interfolio will not do that. AMCAS might when they receive the letter from Interfolio, but you would have to ask AMCAS directly about that.

So long as your letter is correctly matched to the letter entry, there should be no issues.
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For the letter to match to the letter entry, should I ask my prof to include letter ID number?
will interfolio do that?
 
I am sure this question has been asked but going through 17 pages of comments is tough:

I have 5 letters of recommendation and one of them has still not been submitted to AMCAS. If I submit my secondary to a school I told I would send all 5 letters, will they not consider my app complete until the 5th arrives?
 
garyinthehouse said:
Okay I've cleared some stuff up.

How do appended letters work? If you had a Letter ID mismatch and then sent the correct letter, how do adcoms deal with an appended letter? They still see the new letter correct?

Thanks
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They should see the new letter.
 
misslala said:
For the letter to match to the letter entry, should I ask my prof to include letter ID number?
will interfolio do that?
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When you start the delivery in Interfolio, you will be prompted for the letter entry ID. That is how the letter is matched to the correct AMCAS entry.
 
avicii said:
I am sure this question has been asked but going through 17 pages of comments is tough:

I have 5 letters of recommendation and one of them has still not been submitted to AMCAS. If I submit my secondary to a school I told I would send all 5 letters, will they not consider my app complete until the 5th arrives?
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You will need to ask the school in question. Some schools will consider your app complete once their minimum requirements for letters are met.
 
mauberley said:
I would say yes, but check with AMCAS.
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Alright...after some digging...

I did check with AMCAS. When you append a letter, the new ones are "attached" to the original.

I have two letter entries in AMCAS, one for my undergraduate letter packet (for 5 letters) and one entry for my single graduate school letter.


This is what happened: the graduate letter that was supposed to be in the graduate spot was sent twice to the undergraduate spot (because they used the wrong letter ID). The graduate school resent the letter with the correct ID and now the graduate letter is in its correct spot. My undergrad has not sent their letter packet yet, but when they do, the undergrad letter packet will be appended to the two incorrectly placed Graduate letters.

In total, medschools will get my undergraduate packet (with 5 letters) plus 3 identical graduate school letters! :eek:

Will this be a problem, or will medschools see that there was a technical issue somewhere and pass it by?

Thanks
 
garyinthehouse said:
Alright...after some digging...

I did check with AMCAS. When you append a letter, the new ones are "attached" to the original.

I have two letter entries in AMCAS, one for my undergraduate letter packet (for 5 letters) and one entry for my single graduate school letter.


This is what happened: the graduate letter that was supposed to be in the graduate spot was sent twice to the undergraduate spot (because they used the wrong letter ID). The graduate school resent the letter with the correct ID and now the graduate letter is in its correct spot. My undergrad has not sent their letter packet yet, but when they do, the undergrad letter packet will be appended to the two incorrectly placed Graduate letters.

In total, medschools will get my undergraduate packet (with 5 letters) plus 3 identical graduate school letters! :eek:

Will this be a problem, or will medschools see that there was a technical issue somewhere and pass it by?

Thanks
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I think you'll be fine. You might have had a problem if you didn't want your grad letters to go to certain schools, but that would depend on whether you wanted them to see that letter or not. :)
 
mauberley said:
I think you'll be fine. You might have had a problem if you didn't want your grad letters to go to certain schools, but that would depend on whether you wanted them to see that letter or not. :)
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Haha, I see.

No, I want them to look at the grad letter. I did an SMP and did well, and the letter reflects that. Now, I guess, the letter will reflect the SMP performance times three :rolleyes:
 
Last year, I took a biology class, did great in it, then got offered a T.A. position. I did well as a T.A. I asked my supervisor of the lab to write me a letter, and he gladly agreed. I am pretty sure that the letter will primarily talk about my time spent as a T.A. and not a student. Will this letter count as a science or a non-science? Thanks!
 
I am still waiting on my fourth and last letter of rec for my file to be totally complete, but have filled out several secondaries. Should I submit the secondaries now or wait for my letter so that when my application comes in it is complete and ready for review?

Also, I have been waiting for my last letter for months but it is from my boss who is always very busy. If I really begged for it I could probably get the letter on Monday but it might be less thorough than the letter I would eventually get in a few weeks. Is it worth waiting? Thanks for your help!
 
Last year, I took a biology class, did great in it, then got offered a T.A. position. I did well as a T.A. I asked my supervisor of the lab to write me a letter, and he gladly agreed. I am pretty sure that the letter will primarily talk about my time spent as a T.A. and not a student. But I'm confused because I don't know if schools will consider this professor as a science professor, or a teaching supervisor instead. Will this letter count as a science or a non-science? Thanks!
 
AZFutureDoc said:
Last year, I took a biology class, did great in it, then got offered a T.A. position. I did well as a T.A. I asked my supervisor of the lab to write me a letter, and he gladly agreed. I am pretty sure that the letter will primarily talk about my time spent as a T.A. and not a student. But I'm confused because I don't know if schools will consider this professor as a science professor, or a teaching supervisor instead. Will this letter count as a science or a non-science? Thanks!
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You should inquire directly with the schools you are applying to. My gut says it's not a science letter, but not a non-science letter either, as it's not an academic letter in the sense that it's someone reviewing your potential as a student.
 
mrt438 said:
I am still waiting on my fourth and last letter of rec for my file to be totally complete, but have filled out several secondaries. Should I submit the secondaries now or wait for my letter so that when my application comes in it is complete and ready for review?

Also, I have been waiting for my last letter for months but it is from my boss who is always very busy. If I really begged for it I could probably get the letter on Monday but it might be less thorough than the letter I would eventually get in a few weeks. Is it worth waiting? Thanks for your help!
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If you're confident that your secondaries are in their final form, then submit them already so that your apps go complete when the letter arrives and not when you submit /after/ the letters arrive (i.e. added delay).

For the second question, only you can answer that.
 
mauberley said:
You should inquire directly with the schools you are applying to. My gut says it's not a science letter, but not a non-science letter either, as it's not an academic letter in the sense that it's someone reviewing your potential as a student.
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Thank you for answering. I just don't know what this professor talked about in the letter! And I feel like it would be inappropriate for me to ask what the letter writer talked about. I really dropped the ball on the whole letter of recc thing. I was so overwhelmed by the MCAT and my primary that I seriously put off all my letters. I hope I can get this settled by the time I get verified. I won't be complete at schools till mid august, so Im pretty late in the game.
 
Sorry if this has already been answered, but how long is it taking AMCAS to process letters of recommendations? Their official turnaround time is 15 days, but someone told me it's more like 5. Any ideas?
 
adnap888 said:
Sorry if this has already been answered, but how long is it taking AMCAS to process letters of recommendations? Their official turnaround time is 15 days, but someone told me it's more like 5. Any ideas?
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The time it takes AMCAS specifically to process letters is small. You largest delays will be incurred if your writers are sending in their letters by mail. For example, if you are sending your letters via Interfolio, it takes two days from initiation of delivery to receiving notification of receipt by AMCAS.
 
Apologies if already asked, but how bad is it if I have submitted my secondaries but will have to wait another month for my advisor to write my letter? The earliest I could be complete would be around beginning of September then, correct? Is that pushing it kinda late? I wish I could have gotten him to do it sooner but it didn't work out that way.
 
Guys so my writer won't have my letter until mid august but I plan on submitting my AMCAS Sunday. I'm using Interfolio--if I route my letter to AMCAS will I still be able to log on to add my letters to schools I'm applying to? I know this an incredibly stupid question and has been answered before, just want to double check.
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
Guys so my writer won't have my letter until mid august but I plan on submitting my AMCAS Sunday. I'm using Interfolio--if I route my letter to AMCAS will I still be able to log on to add my letters to schools I'm applying to? I know this an incredibly stupid question and has been answered before, just want to double check.
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Yes, you will be able to.
 
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