* * 2012-2013 Letter of Recommendation Thread!! * *

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New year, new thread. Post all your LOR questions here. Threads made on their own related to LOR questions will be merged into this thread.

Game on and good luck, folks!!!
 
I know for allopathic schools, the number of LORs range from 3-5 per school, is this the same with osteopathic?

I am in the process of gathering my LORs from research, an osteopathic surgeon, and an allopathic internist. I will have all of them by the end of June. My application will go out the first day possible, however, I will not have an MCAT score yet. My exam is the 21st of June and should probably expect my scores by the end of July. Do all schools (osteopathic specifically, but allopathic as well) expect to have my letters along with my application or may I send them as I receive them? I already have 3 from science professors, but I know that the majority of osteopathic schools expect a LOR from an osteopathic physician. Am I limited to the number of letters for each school or may I send 4-5 since I have professors, research, 2 physicians?

I also know that once the application is sent (AMCAS/AACOMAS) that I may no longer edit anything, but I have heard you can still edit the letters portion (AMCAS). For Interfolio/AACOMAS, I already asked the question^ about sending letters as I receive them since I have not gotten all of them yet, but for AMCAS (I know this is a pre-osteo thread) am I expected to have my letters sent from Interfolio to AMCAS by the time I have my application in? and when they are in is that when I should send my app or can I send my app before and then start sending my letters in and edit that section to designate different letters per school?
 
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Letters of Recommendation


Click for a list of schools which require a DO letter . Generally speaking, adcoms want to know that you know what DO is all about and can prove it by spending time with a DO who can write you a great letter. That's the best scenario. A great LOR from an MD who knows you well will trump any mediocre letter from a DO who you barely spent time with. The one thing that held up my application was waiting for my DO letter, so pound the phone and get started with finding a DO to shadow! Like, right now! (Protip: ask to speak with and be real sweet to the office manager, she's your portal into that place)

You'll submit your LORs with your secondaries, using a service such as Interfolio or VirtualEvals. You need to keep these confidential (i.e. not read them... at all). You can cherry pick a little bit: have all your letter writers send one in to either service. Then send a copy of each one to your advisor who can pick the strongest ones out for you, keeping your waived status intact.


How many LORs is too many? I'd say 5 or 6. I was in the work-force and had the president of the company write a great letter, along with my immediate boss. If you have a committee letter, then that will do. Keep in mind schools have no qualms about ringing up your letter writers to ask questions about you; therefore, the better they know you, the better this will go.
 
ManBroDude said:
Letters of Recommendation


Click for a list of schools which require a DO letter . Generally speaking, adcoms want to know that you know what DO is all about and can prove it by spending time with a DO who can write you a great letter. That's the best scenario. A great LOR from an MD who knows you well will trump any mediocre letter from a DO who you barely spent time with. The one thing that held up my application was waiting for my DO letter, so pound the phone and get started with finding a DO to shadow! Like, right now! (Protip: ask to speak with and be real sweet to the office manager, she's your portal into that place)

You'll submit your LORs with your secondaries, using a service such as Interfolio or VirtualEvals. You need to keep these confidential (i.e. not read them... at all). You can cherry pick a little bit: have all your letter writers send one in to either service. Then send a copy of each one to your advisor who can pick the strongest ones out for you, keeping your waived status intact.


How many LORs is too many? I'd say 5 or 6. I was in the work-force and had the president of the company write a great letter, along with my immediate boss. If you have a committee letter, then that will do. Keep in mind schools have no qualms about ringing up your letter writers to ask questions about you; therefore, the better they know you, the better this will go.
Click to expand...

I know some schools I want to apply require a D.O letter and their is no exception, but seriously would someone get screened out by just one LOR that is M.D? Because some of the schools I want to apply to I can't since obv I only have an M.D letter and you can't substitute in lieu of D.O.
 
maestrohuang said:
I know for allopathic schools, the number of LORs range from 3-5 per school, is this the same with osteopathic?

I am in the process of gathering my LORs from research, an osteopathic surgeon, and an allopathic internist. I will have all of them by the end of June. My application will go out the first day possible, however, I will not have an MCAT score yet. My exam is the 21st of June and should probably expect my scores by the end of July. Do all schools (osteopathic specifically, but allopathic as well) expect to have my letters along with my application or may I send them as I receive them? I already have 3 from science professors, but I know that the majority of osteopathic schools expect a LOR from an osteopathic physician. Am I limited to the number of letters for each school or may I send 4-5 since I have professors, research, 2 physicians?

I also know that once the application is sent (AMCAS/AACOMAS) that I may no longer edit anything, but I have heard you can still edit the letters portion (AMCAS). For Interfolio/AACOMAS, I already asked the question^ about sending letters as I receive them since I have not gotten all of them yet, but for AMCAS (I know this is a pre-osteo thread) am I expected to have my letters sent from Interfolio to AMCAS by the time I have my application in? and when they are in is that when I should send my app or can I send my app before and then start sending my letters in and edit that section to designate different letters per school?
Click to expand...

Bumpin, can someone answer my set of questions?
 
torshi said:
I know some schools I want to apply require a D.O letter and their is no exception, but seriously would someone get screened out by just one LOR that is M.D? Because some of the schools I want to apply to I can't since obv I only have an M.D letter and you can't substitute in lieu of D.O.
Click to expand...

If they say they require a DO letter and you don't have one, you will probably get screened out. DO schools know that they're GPA/MCAT requirements are significantly lower than MD schools, so they are constantly on the lookout for students who have no interest in DO and are applying only because they can't do MD.

I've shadowed three MDs and two DOs. One of the DOs I shadowed does OMM, the other does not. Did I notice a major difference in how the 5 of them approached and handled their patients? Aside from the OMM, not really.

Consider the DO LOR a hoop you have to jump through and if calling to find a DO to shadow is something you aren't willing to do then don't do it, but don't bother applying to schools that claim to require a DO LOR. You'd be wasting your money..
 
You haven't answered the question and posted over it, and that's why I bumped earlier
 
maestrohuang said:
You haven't answered the question and posted over it, and that's why I bumped earlier
Click to expand...

The answers to your questions are already in this thread. Take time to read the things other people post and you will find them.
 
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...but for AMCAS (I know this is a pre-osteo thread) am I expected to have my letters sent from Interfolio to AMCAS by the time I have my application in? and when they are in is that when I should send my app or can I send my app before and then start sending my letters in and edit that section to designate different letters per school?[/QUOTE]
 
lmu-dcom on their website says they accept D.O or M.D letter, but on that spreadsheet it says you can't send an M.D in lieu of a D.O
 
maestrohuang said:
...but for AMCAS (I know this is a pre-osteo thread) am I expected to have my letters sent from Interfolio to AMCAS by the time I have my application in? and when they are in is that when I should send my app or can I send my app before and then start sending my letters in and edit that section to designate different letters per school?
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
Let's hope someone who is considerate will answer it, or at the least, remove our posts. How are you so adolescent? I had a full list of questions for considerate, knowledgeable people. If you didn't enjoy it, don't answer? I will be taking this specific question to the other thread since you have ruined this one
 
maestrohuang said:
Let's hope someone who is considerate will answer it, or at the least, remove our posts. How are you so adolescent? I had a full list of questions for considerate, knowledgeable people. If you didn't enjoy it, don't answer? I will be taking this specific question to the other thread since you have ruined this one
Click to expand...

If you have pre-allo questions, why don't you ask them in the pre-allo forum?
 
Because I assumed it would be alright to ask them all at once since the majority of my questions were pre-osteo. I also assumed that most people apply to both allo and osteo schools anyway.
 
maestrohuang said:
Let's hope someone who is considerate will answer it, or at the least, remove our posts. How are you so adolescent? I had a full list of questions for considerate, knowledgeable people. If you didn't enjoy it, don't answer? I will be taking this specific question to the other thread since you have ruined this one
Click to expand...

AMCAS is different in that you can send all your letters to them and then send your letters out with your primary application. Hope that answers your question
 
Thanks, yeah I got this from the AAMC website:

How do I add a letter after my application has been submitted?
Provided you have not already entered 10 letters, log back into your AMCAS application and select the letters of recommendation tab. There you will have the opportunity to add more letters. To assign the letter to an participating medical school that you've already applied to you must select the medical school tab and then select edit to the school you'd like to the letters to be received at and select the new letter. If you are adding a new school that participates in letters, you will be prompted to select the letters you desire at the end of adding the school.

Please note: Each time you select a new school and add letters, you must resubmit your application.

Would this mean that I have to pay the primary fee again?
 
I am following sector9's guide to asking for LORs, and am making a "LOR Writer Packet" which contains my CV, some facts abouts me, course grades, etc etc.

I am looking for the best guide to writing medical school letters (website, print-out, pdf, interfolio FAQs, etc etc). Has anyone sent their LOR writer a guide, and can perhaps direct me to a website/print that they included or found helpful? The ones I found by googling don't seem to be too great...
 
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maestrohuang said:
Thanks, yeah I got this from the AAMC website:

How do I add a letter after my application has been submitted?
Provided you have not already entered 10 letters, log back into your AMCAS application and select the letters of recommendation tab. There you will have the opportunity to add more letters. To assign the letter to an participating medical school that you've already applied to you must select the medical school tab and then select edit to the school you'd like to the letters to be received at and select the new letter. If you are adding a new school that participates in letters, you will be prompted to select the letters you desire at the end of adding the school.

Please note: Each time you select a new school and add letters, you must resubmit your application.

Would this mean that I have to pay the primary fee again?
Click to expand...

Just create letter forms for everyone you think you might be getting a letter from. If they don't agree to write you one, or if they don't end up sending it, it won't hurt you. I think.

And again, I don't understand why you are asking AMCAS questions in the pre-DO forum.
 
I asked an MD to write me a letter of recommendation today and he wants me to send him a "template" to write the LOR.He wants me to include things I want him to write about for me i guess. He doesn't know me that well so I guess he just wants info that will better help him write a good letter, thats what he said. Is there a template for LOR for DO school?

I have interfolio and yea guess I need to make a resume now. Any oneelse run into this?😱
 
When I applied in 2010 an MD asked me for the same thing. I obliged and sent him a list of things that he might like to talk about, but I didn't send it to any schools.

I didn't have the heart to tell him "Oh, you've never written one before and/or don't know what to say about me? Nevermind, I don't think you will write a good LOR."
 
Generally, the physicians that you shadow may not have the time to invest in writing a quality letter of rec. That doesn't mean that they haven't written a LoR nor does it mean that they don't know what to say about you. What they generally do is have you write the letter and then they go through the letter and make their own edits to further personalize the letter.

And there really isn't a standard template. Your physician pretty much wants you to write the letter and then he/she will edit to his/her liking. Good luck.
 
hea that's what it sounds like, he said he would write me a good letter cause he's done them before, i guess he's just really busy cuz he's the head of the surgery dept. so yea
 
My med advisor told us some may run into this issue, she said basically pretend you are not you, lol weird but basically write it and pretend that you are writing it for someone, who is exactly like you. Don't be humble, she said to show off what is great about yourself, etc. The Dr will edit from there, but at least you can get the point across that you are a compassionate, hard working, dedicated, curious individual.
 
chiddler said:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=4273858&postcount=4

i've had to write two of my letters of rec lol
Click to expand...

Great link. 👍 I'll quote it here- someone might be too lazy to click on the link 🙄

LizzyM said:
Generally a letter will start out with the statement that the writer is pleased to write a letter of recommendation for Your Name Here. Then it goes on to describe how long the writer has known the applicant and the nature of the relationship (supervisor, instructor, division chief, etc).

Next paragraph usually describes what your job has entailed. Have you been promoted? Obtained a leadership or training role? Done something special for morale?

Next paragraph usually describes the attributes that you've demonstrated on the job that will make you a good student or a good doctor.

The next paragraph is optional but this is the place to put any negatives followed, if possible, with something positive that shows that you've grown. (Although Jack had trouble early on ... he quickly learned to ... and gained the respect and the admiration of ....)

The summary paragraph usually says something about your rank among your peers (among the top 5% of ....), the writer's confidence to have you as his physician, some regret that you will not continue on with some other career (laboratory or firefighter, etc) and closes with a general recommendation (I am pleased to recommend (or highly recommend, or most highly recommend) Mr. Jones for admission to medical school). Some writers offer their phone number if the reader has any questions (I've never known anyone to call ... I've made one call -- only because the letter was confusing -- a bad job of cut & paste of a letter written for someone else 😳 ).
Click to expand...
 
It was the answer to my question earlier. You have yet to grow out of that MCAT grind anger. You're always going to be angry, aren't you..
 
When should we be sending LORs to each individual school? I would like them to already be there by the time I submit my secondary, but I do not want to send them too early either.
 
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tide11189 said:
Give them to your adviser.
Click to expand...

I do not have a pre-professional committee and am sending my individual letters through Interfolio so that's why I am trying to figure out when to send them.
 
I thought you submit them when they request them...?
 
interfolio. and earlier the better. this would make ur file complete.
 
Do we use interfolio to request a committee letter from our undergrad school. I'm used to aamc where the school sumbits it to aamc and then you send it with your primary.

Applying to DO this year and not real clear on how it works. Advisor is no help either.
 
I am from Canada and can't get a DO letter. I have tried. If I have a letter from an MD and two science profs will i get into any DO schools?
 
Do you guys know which schools DO NOT have additional forms for your recommenders to fill out? I applied to a few schools last year, and MSU and ATSTILL had additional forms other than a plain letter of recommendation. What other schools have you give the recommender additional forms?
 
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Ask the school you want to attend. They can tell you if they will accept your plan or not.

Most likely you will be fine a most but yes there are some that will screen you out based upon this 🙁
 
I'm going through the same thing. It looks like about 50% say they want one from a "physician", 35% would prefer a D.O., and the rest want one specifically from a D.O.. Figures are probably off but it just tells you that it's not THAT big of a deal to not have a D.O. letter.
 
You do not need to use their forms, from any of the schools that say they have forms, you do not have to use them if you already have letters... they are 'suggestions' not requirements
 
I think you can just send them LORs via interfolio.
 
SBB2016 said:
Some of the schools that 'require' a DO letter (LECOM for sure) will find a way to get you a LOR from a DO at the interview...
Click to expand...

Huh?
 
SBB2016 said:
You do not need to use their forms, from any of the schools that say they have forms, you do not have to use them if you already have letters... they are 'suggestions' not requirements
Click to expand...

MSUCOM sends 2 recommendation forms with their secondary. Those forms are the only LORs they accept, no exceptions. I don't know about policies at other schools but I do know that COM's policy is firm. It's a major inconvenience to many applicants but because they don't conduct interviews, it ensures that they are getting the information that they want. The secondary application in general is quite extensive.
 
If this is true I would like to know the schools that do this as well, as half of my letters of rec. are from teachers that live on the other side of the country...
 
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