PCOM Letters of Rec.

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PurpleHaze

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I was looking in the Osteopathic Medical College Informaton Book and it states that both PCOM and PCOM-ATL require a letter of eval from the premedical advisor, the premedical committee or the dean of the college granting the undergraduate degree. Does anyone know if there is a way around this? My school does not have a pre-med committee and my pre-medical advisor is not the most supportive of those of us who do not have 3.5 GPAs and stellar records overall. She can be down right rude. She's written letters for people stating that she does not feel that they would be good candidates for med school and things of that nature. I'd almost rather not have a letter from her than to have one that stated that. Is there anything else I can do to get around this??

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ayznshorti said:
I was looking in the Osteopathic Medical College Informaton Book and it states that both PCOM and PCOM-ATL require a letter of eval from the premedical advisor, the premedical committee or the dean of the college granting the undergraduate degree. Does anyone know if there is a way around this? My school does not have a pre-med committee and my pre-medical advisor is not the most supportive of those of us who do not have 3.5 GPAs and stellar records overall. She can be down right rude. She's written letters for people stating that she does not feel that they would be good candidates for med school and things of that nature. I'd almost rather not have a letter from her than to have one that stated that. Is there anything else I can do to get around this??

From what I hear, no. You have to get the premed advisor to do it, or get the dean of the college you graduated from write you one. I'm non-traditional, so I tried to get one from my dean (college of liberal arts), but they just forwarded my inquiries to the pre-med advisor, who i know very little about... I'm wondering how much that will hurt my application. its a real pain in the @&#!
 
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exlawgrrl said:
Honestly, I'm not applying to pcom because of this. The requirement is arduous and very non-trad friendly, and not worth it, imo.


Just try and get a letter from the Dean. The worst he can say is no. Don't say anything about a pre-med advisor, that is what I would do.
 
a letter of eval from the premedical advisor, the premedical committee or the dean of the college granting the undergraduate degree. Does anyone know if there is a way around this?

Unfortunately, there is no way around this. I had to get a letter from the Dean of Students stating I was a student in good standing, etc. My school did not have a premed committee and I was not able to get a letter from the dean of the college granting my degree.

A word of advice: it must be hand signed by the Dean him/herself. PCOM returned my letter and said that it was signed by someone else in the Dean's office on his behalf (this is the only way they send letters through the Dean's office, so I had to work hard to have the Dean sign it himself).

PCOM LOR requirement is quite a hassle actually. Good luck.
 
<sigh> Nothing can ever be simple can it? I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one having trouble with this requirement. Thanks so much for all of yall's input.
 
Reading my letter from PCOM it says "a letter from the Dean or your academic advisor". I think I will email or call PCOM since if a letter from my biochemistry academic advisor will not suffice the whole applictation might be waste of time.
 
I sent a letter from my chem major advisor and my "pre-med" advisor. They were fine with those.
 
I attend UC Berkeley and we do not have a pre-med committee or a pre-med advisor. I just called the admissions office right now and the woman on the phone told me its ok to just send any letter (I have 3 from professors) through our career center mailing service (she specifically asked which university i attended). she emphasized that it had to be sent through our letter service and not from the professor directly. so it seems that for berkeley students, non-dean letters suffice.

i suggest you guys call the office youselves to find out what letters are acceptable, as it may differ for each undergrad institution. i hope the lady knows what she is talking about.
 
I did a search on PCOM LOR...Yikes!
 
stoleyerscrubz said:
Reading my letter from PCOM it says "a letter from the Dean or your academic advisor". I think I will email or call PCOM since if a letter from my biochemistry academic advisor will not suffice the whole applictation might be waste of time.

did u ever call them? what did they say?
 
is it me but they change the letter recs requirement b/c when i submitted my app I swear it didn't say that on the accomas site, but I ended up getting my advisor to write me a rec. after a couple of meetings, i would try the dean
 
Hun? That's kind of weird... I applied to both PCOM and PCOM - Atl and I have an interview at PCOM - Atl a week from today and I don't have a pre-med commitee letter or a letter from my pre-med advisor or dean of my college. I just had to get three letters from proffs and get them sent to the college of A&S pre-professional services and they send them to the schools with a cover letter that says they are sent by UT on behalf of XXXX student. So the only thing I can think is if the cover letter counted as the "pre-medical commitee letter or pre-med advisor letter", but it doesn't say anything about their opinion of my suitability to study medicine, it's a generic letter that goes on with everyones letters who apply. So I had three prof letters, two MD letters (plus on of my proff letters is an MD) and a DO letter. I didn't get speacial permission from PCOM to not have any of those requirements. Maybe they just missed it with my app, or somthing they got counted for it.
 
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making phone calls on tuedsday.

markboonya said:
did u ever call them? what did they say?
 
newbie04 said:
Unfortunately, there is no way around this. I had to get a letter from the Dean of Students stating I was a student in good standing, etc. My school did not have a premed committee and I was not able to get a letter from the dean of the college granting my degree.

A word of advice: it must be hand signed by the Dean him/herself. PCOM returned my letter and said that it was signed by someone else in the Dean's office on his behalf (this is the only way they send letters through the Dean's office, so I had to work hard to have the Dean sign it himself).

PCOM LOR requirement is quite a hassle actually. Good luck.

newbie04

I am in the same boat. I called to make sure I am complete and they said I was missing this letter from the dean. I have been out 10+ years and they say it does not matter. What exactly does this letter need to include besides GPA, degree, the fact I graduated and that I am in good academic standing. I missed the need for this letter in the PCOM info. NYCOM, VCOM , and UMDNJ don't require this do they?

Thanks
 
ayznshorti said:
I was looking in the Osteopathic Medical College Informaton Book and it states that both PCOM and PCOM-ATL require a letter of eval from the premedical advisor, the premedical committee or the dean of the college granting the undergraduate degree. Does anyone know if there is a way around this? ??

I have two bachelor's degrees (from the early 1980s) and two master's degrees. I emailed PCOM about being able to submit professor letters from my latest master's program, from which I graduated in 1995. Here's the PCOM reply, where they state they want letters from BOTH my undergraduate institutions (again, where I graduated almost 25 years ago). In another email, they refused to accept letters from my most recent graduate school.

Dear Donald:

The Admissions Committee at PCOM does require letters from Louisiana Tech and William Carey College since they conferred your degree(s).

If you have additional questions,please feel free to contact the Admissions Office.

Sincerely,

Deborah A. Benvenger
Director of Admissions
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
 
what a bunch of red tape. I wonder what the school is like once you matriculate?

trinityalumnus said:
I have two bachelor's degrees (from the early 1980s) and two master's degrees. I emailed PCOM about being able to submit professor letters from my latest master's program, from which I graduated in 1995. Here's the PCOM reply, where they state they want letters from BOTH my undergraduate institutions (again, where I graduated almost 25 years ago). In another email, they refused to accept letters from my most recent graduate school.

Dear Donald:

The Admissions Committee at PCOM does require letters from Louisiana Tech and William Carey College since they conferred your degree(s).

If you have additional questions,please feel free to contact the Admissions Office.

Sincerely,

Deborah A. Benvenger
Director of Admissions
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
 
What exactly does this letter need to include besides GPA, degree, the fact I graduated and that I am in good academic standing.

My letter did not include my GPA--> the Dean's office said the letter is very generic (student in good standing and that I graduated from the university).

Trinity--WOW. I am sorry about your situation. I wish things were easier for you. Good luck.
 
Good info. I still have not called because I was meeting with a DO today and had class. If a generic letter works then it should not be too much of a problem. good luck trinity.


newbie04 said:
My letter did not include my GPA--> the Dean's office said the letter is very generic (student in good standing and that I graduated from the university).

Trinity--WOW. I am sorry about your situation. I wish things were easier for you. Good luck.
 
stoleyerscrubz said:
what a bunch of red tape. I wonder what the school is like once you matriculate?

its worth it. High specialization rate, great reputation in allo and osteopathic circles, simulated patient program, great facilities............ Red tape can also be called standards
 
Thanks. I'm definitely meeting with my dean in a couple of weeks for all of those reasons.


JonnyG said:
its worth it. High specialization rate, great reputation in allo and osteopathic circles, simulated patient program, great facilities............ Red tape can also be called standards
 
Called admisions and was told that I may get an LOR from my dean or academic advisor. It is ok that my acedemic advisor is not a premed advisor but a biochem advisor. if a letter from the premed committee is not possible the Dean letter or acedemic advisor letter will suffice from the college that you graduate from.

It is extremely important that it is stated that the letter writer served as YOUR acedemic advisor or was the dean of your college. Letters sent directly from the college is preferred but I was told interfolio would work as well if that is my only option. I was told it could be brief and state I am in good acedemic standing, who the LOR writer is, official letterhead, dated/signed, and not much more.


Very friendly and helpful.
 
stoleyerscrubz said:
Called admisions and was told that I may get an LOR from my dean or academic advisor. It is ok that my acedemic advisor is not a premed advisor but a biochem advisor. if a letter from the premed committee is not possible the Dean letter or acedemic advisor letter will suffice from the college that you graduate from.

It is extremely important that it is stated that the letter writer served as YOUR acedemic advisor or was the dean of your college. Letters sent directly from the college is preferred but I was told interfolio would work as well if that is my only option. I was told it could be brief and state I am in good acedemic standing, who the LOR writer is, official letterhead, dated/signed, and not much more.


Very friendly and helpful.

did they ask you which undergrad institution u attended? they asked me ( i go to berkeley) and when i told them, they said just make sure the letter is sent through our career center's letter service. nothing about the letter being required from an academic advisor at all, i even asked if it can be from the professors and they said fine! ehhh i should call them again just to make sure. i am getting paranoid.
 
yes. I go to Hunter and they have a premed committee. I told her I went to hunter and was going into explaining how I missed the deadline for a committee letter but she cut me off and explained what was needed at that point. I told her I was not using the premed office

markboonya said:
did they ask you which undergrad institution u attended? they asked me ( i go to berkeley) and when i told them, they said just make sure the letter is sent through our career center's letter service. nothing about the letter being required from an academic advisor at all, i even asked if it can be from the professors and they said fine! ehhh i should call them again just to make sure. i am getting paranoid.
 
Thanks for your help everyone! I met with another Pre-Med advisor at school... the one that just retired and he agreed to write one for me. Thank god!

PCOM and PCOM-ATL secondaries will be going out by Monday... yippee!
 
My experience...
via email, with PCOM...

Me:

I'm applying for 2006 D.O. program at the Philadelphia campus. I was wondering if individual letters of recommendation from professors and employers are acceptable if a letter from an advisor is not available. At my undergraduate institution, there is no pre-med committee and it is not the practice of the pre-med advisors to write composite letters. What they do have is a collection and distribution service for individual letters for students which they send together in a packet to a medical school. Would such letters from science and non-science professors, as well a letter from an employer/physician be considered to fulfill the requirement?

PCOM response:

The packet of letters would be fine. Just be sure they come assembled with a cover sheet from your undergraduate institution.

PCOM Office of Admissions
4170 City Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19131
(215) 871-6700
(215) 871-6719 fax

they're getting what I've got... we'll see if it floats their boat!
:luck:
 
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