2008 Applicants: Anyone not use committee letter??

[Theta1]

I just received information regarding committee letters and interviews from my advisor, and the due date to send all of the material(LOR, personal statement, fees, etc.) in order to qualify for committee interviews is early April. I will not be able to get all of my LOR's by that time because I just started shadowing and will be meeting with my professors in the summer.

I don't want this to be a big drawback for my application. My only option is to send my LOR individually/electronically directly through AADAS.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[litldime]

i don't necessarily think it would be a drawback. It is recommended but if you cannot, then you can't. why can't you meet with your profs right now? why do you have to wait til the summer? at my school, the committee review slots fill up rather quickly so by them placing a deadline and scaring me into thinking i wouldn't get a slot, it made me get my lors faster and finish my p.s. as well. if not for them, i would not have applied as early as i did

 

[meowx3]

i didn't use a committee letter; the pre-health advisors said my GPA wasn't high enough (which was true, i suppose, but annoying). i knew other people who were able to circumvent the GPA requirement and still get the pre-health committee letter thing, but i felt like my LOR would be strong enough that it wouldn't matter: i got one from a professor who had taught two of my classes and a lab and knew me pretty well, and another from a guy who i did research under. . .at Baylor, which is where i wanted to go. no one at my interview asked about my letters at all.

anyhow, i guess my point is: i think it's fine to not have a committee letter, provided that your LOR will be strong. otherwise i'd do whatever it took to get the committee letter.

 

[Chuda2008]

I did not use a committee letter and so far I have been accepted to two schools.

I think the biggest advantage for committee letters is that a) they can make you look as good as possible and b) the deadlines force you to have your stuff together early. Looking back I wish that I had used a committee letter because it would have made me get my application in earlier and thus maybe I would have gotten into more schools. I ended up getting my application in Nov 1, which is really late.

Also, I think that if you go talk to the premed advisors they will usually cut you a little slack on deadlines if you show that you are working on getting everything together ASAP.

 

[CaliGirl15]

My school did not have a committee to write letters so I didn't use one. I have been accepted to one school so far. I don't think you have to use one, just recommended from some schools, but I'm not sure if your school has the option if you have to use it, because as I said my school didn't have one so it wasn't even an option for me.

 

[jdoc04]

I did not use one either. Make sure you get good LORs if your not going to have the pre-health committee compose the composite letter. What I mean by good LORs is have profs and a dentist that knows you well write them. This will give the letter some traction/substance and look like the same old pre-written letter. "I think Billy Bob will make a great dentist, blah, blah, blah........"

 

[GatorDDS]

i did not use a committee letter, my school is just too big for all the pre-health professionals to be asking for one. I do not think it is a drawback at all, just get good LOR from prof's that know you well.

 

[SuperDuper]

Just remember that some schools, like BU, requires the committee letter if your school has the committee. You should check with schools you are planning on applying to.

 

[blankguy]

I didn't use a committee letter. The school where I did my postbacc has a committee but I didn't want to go through the hassle of going through the committee. Despite this I landed an acceptance from Buffalo and interviews at BU and Tufts.

 

[idreamofteeth]

My school didn't offer a committee letter so I didn't use one. It sounds like more of a headache than just sending them in. I don't think they're necessary, seeing as how I got accepted into 3 schools without committee letters. I think its more of the content that is important, like the others said make sure you have professors that know you and can write good things about you.

 

[SuperDuper]

I didn't use a committee letter. The school where I did my postbacc has a committee but I didn't want to go through the hassle of going through the committee. Despite this I landed an acceptance from Buffalo and interviews at BU and Tufts.

Hmm.
I guess BU just really liked your application then
When I talked to them before this cycle started (I was debating between the committe letter and individual letters), BU admission officer told me that I had to use the committee letter because my school offers it.

 

[musl85]

add me to the list. I had no committee letter either. It was not a problem at any of the schools i have applied to. I dont think it really matters.

 

[blankguy]

Hmm.
I guess BU just really liked your application then
When I talked to them before this cycle started (I was debating between the committe letter and individual letters), BU admission officer told me that I had to use the committee letter because my school offers it.

It's a bit of PR on their part. If you ask them they will say committee is a must but you never know what goes on once they sit down and review applications. They will make it sound like it is etched in stone.

 

[bluejellybelly]

I didn't use a committee letter, just asked a few professors for some seperate letters.

 

[Composite A2]

My school does not have committee letters, to this day I am not sure I even really know what it is. I done know however, during my application process, that schools like them.

 

[whydentistry]

my school has a committee but i had no desire to interview with them bc the people on the committee were beyond evil and were known to give out many many bad letters unless they knew you previously and liked you so i just got professors to send letters and it hasn't been a problem

 

[gym.addict]

my school has a committee but i had no desire to interview with them bc the people on the committee were beyond evil and were known to give out many many bad letters unless they knew you previously and liked you so i just got professors to send letters and it hasn't been a problem

I didn't use a committee letter for exactly the same reason. I just went and asked my professors. Turned out well in the end