2007-2008 Letter of Recommendation Thread

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They typically want someone who can verify clinical experience with patient contact.
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If you shadow him for about 10 hours, you should be fine. I shadowed a family friend (a radiologist in fact) just like you.
 
Thank you very much for the help guys, I appreciate your help!:)
 
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As long as the physician isn't a family member you can have them write you a recommendation.
 
Hello SDNer’s I hope the acceptances are flowing in for all of you. I have a question regarding letters of recommend. I plan on asking 2 professors and 2 DO’s to write letters for me. Are the letters sent directly to aacomas from these individuals? And if so does aacomas accept a single LOR from the recommender and then copy and distribute it.
Or does the recommender not send the LOR to aacomas and have to send a separate LOR to each school?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
DO dreamin said:
Hello SDNer’s I hope the acceptances are flowing in for all of you. I have a question regarding letters of recommend. I plan on asking 2 professors and 2 DO’s to write letters for me. Are the letters sent directly to aacomas from these individuals? And if so does aacomas accept a single LOR from the recommender and then copy and distribute it.
Or does the recommender not send the LOR to aacomas and have to send a separate LOR to each school?

Thanks in advance for your help!
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AACOMAS does not deal with your LORs. You will need to either provide each physician and professor with the necessary envelopes to send to all your schools, or use a system like interfolio. Also, you might check with your school's career center...mine collects letters from your professors, pre-med advisor and will distribute them to the schools you designate for a fee. Good luck!:luck:
 
You may need more than two professors if you do not have an admissions committee at your school.
 
LOR dilemma update: So I e-mailed DO #1 in one final attempt this morning and she replied! She wrote our letters today and will let my husband go pick it up! I hope it's a good letter! What about DO #2? Tell him not to write it anymore to save him time (he's extremely busy) or just let him write it for me just in case.

Another question I have is, my husband got an e-mail from DMU today that one of his science LORs will only count as an extra LOR. We're not sure why because his science LORs came from an A&P I professor with a Master's Degree and an A&P II professor with a Master's degree. Why would they not count one of them as a science LOR?
 
EEL08 said:
She wrote our letters today and will let my husband go pick it up!
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Don't schools prefer confidential letters? I had all of mine sent confidentially and I haven't read them.
 
gobluegirl said:
Don't schools prefer confidential letters? I had all of mine sent confidentially and I haven't read them.
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I think it's important that you waive access to them but we've had letter writers who wanted us to see the letter before they were sent off. Oh and actually two of my husband's letter writers had him write the letters, they changed things if they felt they need to, had him double check them and then gave them to him to send.
 
EEL08 said:
LOR dilemma update: So I e-mailed DO #1 in one final attempt this morning and she replied! She wrote our letters today and will let my husband go pick it up! I hope it's a good letter! What about DO #2? Tell him not to write it anymore to save him time (he's extremely busy) or just let him write it for me just in case.

Another question I have is, my husband got an e-mail from DMU today that one of his science LORs will only count as an extra LOR. We're not sure why because his science LORs came from an A&P I professor with a Master's Degree and an A&P II professor with a Master's degree. Why would they not count one of them as a science LOR?
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WOW! I was soooo not expecting that! :laugh: I would still get DO#2's LOR. Having another DO LOR on file can't hurt. You can tell him to take his time with it though.

DMU might require one of the science LOR's to be from a PhD (both of mine were). I've heard of other schools with this requirement. Call them to make sure, but I think that's why. :(

This process is so demanding! :eek:

:luck::luck::clap: Yey for DO#1! I'm gald she came through! just think, you were about to "run her over with your car"! Good thing you didn't do that yet. ;)
 
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prionsRbad said:
WOW! I was soooo not expecting that! :laugh: I would still get DO#2's LOR. Having another DO LOR on file can't hurt. You can tell him to take his time with it though.

DMU might require one of the science LOR's to be from a PhD (both of mine were). I've heard of other schools with this requirement. Call them to make sure, but I think that's why. :(

This process is so demanding! :eek:

:luck::luck::clap: Yey for DO#1! I'm gald she came through! just think, you were about to "run her over with your car"! Good thing you didn't do that yet. ;)
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That would stink in regards to one having to be a PhD. Luckily one of my letter writers also had my husband in class and told him that we can ask him for another letter anytime. He's actually one of the ones whose letter was not received by Interfolio so he gave it to us to send ourselves along with extra copies. I told DO #1 I would feel more comfortable sending it myself because of the problems we've had with Interfolio. If we have confirmation they received it it's much harder for them to deny they got it.

I could be wrong but it sounded from the e-mail like #1 would give my husband the letter and we could do with it what we want. I did tell her to sign across the back of the envelope though but I'll definitely take it even if she doesn't want me to actually read it. I'll just have to use my best judgment when it comes to sending it. Generally I like to think the best of people and I can't imagine she would have taken so long to write a crappy letter. Plus she's always been nice in person so I think I will take that leap if I need to. Also, she can verify my clinical experience while #2 can't. That was something else we found out that DMU specified. Well here's to hoping, right?! :)
 
My husband just picked up our letters from DO #1. He said they're really good letters! I've practically been beside myself up until now just waiting and now I'm so ecstatic!! I feel like I will have a better chance of getting an interview now but also a better chance of getting rejected so I'll just have to see how it goes. Woo hoo!! :D :love: :clap:
 
EEL08 said:
My husband just picked up our letters from DO #1. He said they're really good letters! I've practically been beside myself up until now just waiting and now I'm so ecstatic!! I feel like I will have a better chance of getting an interview now but also a better chance of getting rejected so I'll just have to see how it goes. Woo hoo!! :D :love: :clap:
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:luck::love::clap: I'm thinking good thoughts for the both of you! That's so awesome that Do#1 wrote you both strong letters! Congrats on being complete very soon! :D
 
prionsRbad said:
:luck::love::clap: I'm thinking good thoughts for the both of you! That's so awesome that Do#1 wrote you both strong letters! Congrats on being complete very soon! :D
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Thanks for all the encouragement!! My fingers are crossed! :D
 
I am concerned that you did not waive your right to see the letters. I am told that this may raise some eyebrows. Good luck.
 
TexasTriathlete said:
I am concerned that you did not waive your right to see the letters. I am told that this may raise some eyebrows. Good luck.
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I did waive my right to see them. Some letter writers want you to see the letter whether you've signed the waiver or not. Like I said above, two of my husband's letter writers wanted him to write the letters himself and they would double check and sign them. He still waived his right to see them.
 
Right on. Sounds like you're about ready to get this show on the road. Where all are you applying?
 
TexasTriathlete said:
Right on. Sounds like you're about ready to get this show on the road. Where all are you applying?
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LECOM-E
LECOM-B
Nova
CCOM
AZCOM
DCOM
DMU
KCOM
KCUMB

We're probably going to go ahead and add the PCOMs back if we can get the LOR from our respective deans. My husband decided he doesn't want to submit the secondary to UNECOM because it's too far north. :laugh: We also agreed not to submit the secondary to UMDNJ due to several reasons including the cost of the secondary. The first 9 schools all have my secondary I'm just waiting to send them my letters from Interfolio.
 
That looks like my list!!! Good Luck. What happens if you guys get into two different places? jw
 
Jpc984 said:
That looks like my list!!! Good Luck. What happens if you guys get into two different places? jw
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I'll cry. No but seriously, it depends on which schools we were accepted to but more than likely go where he got in and I would reapply the following year. Oh and I would love to have an acceptance list like yours!
 
I was having some serious freaking out problems re: DO LOR. Not only did I get the letter from DO #1 today but DO #2 gave me the letter in class that I just asked him for on Friday. Craziness! BTW, is it a big deal if the LOR writer made an error? She actually had her secretary type it up and put passed experiences instead of past. Technically you could say either one is correct. I just happened to catch it because I'm anal like that.
 
Looks like that bible degree is paying off. You're going to get in everywhere now.
 
That happens more often than you might think. Keep checking.
 
do LORs have to be from DOs? or are LORs from MDs ok?

-mike
 
yungwunn911 said:
do LORs have to be from DOs? or are LORs from MDs ok?

-mike
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Depends on what the school wants, usually it is written on the secondary application. Some schools don't care whether it is from a DO or an MD, because they will say that they want a letter from a "DO or MD" on the secondary application. Some schools however only state "Letter from DO", if your school does that, maybe you should call the school and find out.
 
Hi, I need to get a LOR from a humanities professor. I have filled the humanity requirement. Last semester, I took a Women's Studies class - really enjoyed it....Got an A. I developed a relationship with the Prof. Is that class consider a humanity? Would it fill the criteria?
 
I got into the premed game late so I will not have alot of science coursework done before my committee meets(in about 2 months). Is having a LoR from chem 1 prof and a chem 2 prof going to look bad? I will also have letters from an MD and a DPT.
 
Will LECOM (Bradenton and Erie) accept LORS that were written separately(i.e. not using the LECOM LOR format that was on their secondaries?)

I had my professors write their letters last year, waived my rights to see those letters and I now have their individual letters on file at my undergrad LOR service. I hope LECOM will accept those LORS sent from my undergrad instead of asking me to have them rewrite new LORS on the LECOM forms.

Thanks!
 
They accepted mine.
 
I think MSU is the only school that requires their forms.
 
I was wondering if anyone knows if its okay if the LORs get to the schools before my secondary applications? Because I'm still working on those and my DO is going to be sending those out real soon. I'm thinking it probably doesn't matter since all my primary applications are already in and I would have a file at the school. Also do you think 100 hours of DO shadowing is enough to make up for what I feel might not have been the best LOR from my science teachers? ( I think they gave me a good recc on my academic ability but not necessarily my doctoral quality, but my DO thinks I'm all around great for medical school, so I hope they weigh that into their decision). Anyway thanks for any feedback.
 
I think you are fine... I think the point of science prof recs are to attest to your academic ability. 100 hours is plenty of DO shadowing. GL to you in the process. Have you considered using Interfolio for LORs? This may be an option if you want to send out letters when you want.
 
Which DO schools require two science LORs? Also, how strict are they in requiring two (as opposed to just sending 1 sci, 2 non-sci)?
 
.
 
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Some DO schools (like LECOM-PA) require a letter from a DO to be considered for the admission! What to do if you don't work, volunteer or even know any DO's that can write you the recommendation???:confused:
 
Find one. I have no doubt that ER's in NYC are full of them. You are bound to know someone who can introduce you.
 
Oh, forgot to mention: I also found a second DO to shadow, by reading through the list of physicians on websites for local hospitals. I sent out 5 or 6 letters and heard back immediately from one. This was during the same 2 week period. I could have had 2 letters in 2 weeks if I'd pushed it.
 
NYC Medic said:
Some DO schools (like LECOM-PA) require a letter from a DO to be considered for the admission! What to do if you don't work, volunteer or even know any DO's that can write you the recommendation???:confused:
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well then, i gues you're screwed. J/K:laugh::laugh::laugh:. i'm in the same predicament as you are with not having a D.O. letter. i'm still looking for one even though i have already submitted my applications. whenever i go to my interviews, if i dont have one yet i will just tell them straight up. hoping i get one by then though.your background looks great, tell them that you were too busy keeping NYC safe.lol
 
Normally, when does one one start shadowing a D.O.?
(i.e. is it during Junior year or can it be earlier?)
 
NYC Medic said:
Some DO schools (like LECOM-PA) require a letter from a DO to be considered for the admission! What to do if you don't work, volunteer or even know any DO's that can write you the recommendation???:confused:
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Apply to schools that are happy with a letter from an MD.
 
not to say the ones who have md/do letters won't suffice, especially if the MD can write you a killer letter, a DO letter is great showing that you know what you're getting yourself into, as well as they might be able to help you out at the alma mater. the 2 DO's I shadowed, 1 in a private practice, his best friend from school ended up being a dean at PCOM and the other DO I shadowed at the ER for 9 months, i found out that he used to sit on the board at PCOM, so you never know where you'll stand
 
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