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

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Is a LOR from an ER DO who is in charge of my scribe program which I work for and who I scribe occasionally on shifts enough for the "Letter from DO requirement". Or does it have to be specifically a general practice DO.
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toxicwombat said:
Again, depends on the school. Google "school name + letters of recommendation" or just wait for your secondary invitation. Or check the CIB.

Example: DMU requests two science letters and one DO/MD letter.
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Again, thank you. :thumbup:
 
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imbackasd said:
Is a LOR from an ER DO who is in charge of my scribe program which I work for and who I scribe occasionally on shifts enough for the "Letter from DO requirement". Or does it have to be specifically a general practice DO.
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Scribe = paid shadow-er.

You're fine. :)
 
ColeSmalls said:
typically if it's recently deleted its still just chilling in there, unless he emptied his recycle bin but lets be honest how many people take the time to do that? Esp not doctors who don't have a lot of time to begin with. Id ask him, it doesnt hurt to ask. If that doesnt pan out try and get amcas to forward it to interfolio
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Yeah, I asked him and he said no. No idea whats going on there. He said that he didn't know that I would still need it after the initial submission. Anyways, he felt really bad so he's writing me another one, I just hope it's as good as the first!

For anyone who wants to know, AMCAS will not send letters to ANYONE unless it is a medical school. The lady was very rude and simply said NO.

But thanks for the suggestions everyone!
 
missdoctor8 said:
Yeah, I asked him and he said no. No idea whats going on there. He said that he didn't know that I would still need it after the initial submission. Anyways, he felt really bad so he's writing me another one, I just hope it's as good as the first!

For anyone who wants to know, AMCAS will not send letters to ANYONE unless it is a medical school. The lady was very rude and simply said NO.

But thanks for the suggestions everyone!
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Not getting what you want doesn't make her rude.
 
toxicwombat said:
Again, depends on the school. Google "school name + letters of recommendation" or just wait for your secondary invitation. Or check the CIB.

Example: DMU requests two science letters and one DO/MD letter.
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And DMU says specifically to NOT send more than the requested amount.
 
Temperature101 said:
How will they know that you did not shadow that DO if he/she gives you a LOR?...Just put it in your app and nobody will question you about it.
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Because you didn't list them as someone you shadowed.
 
eh medpr, i can vouch that amcas can be rude...when my friend i was applying and I was over at his house, the lady on the other end of the phone was really, really short with him and seemed like she wanted to make him feel stupid for asking questions.
 
You have to understand that these people are probably just 9-5 clerk type individuals who have to answer a barrage of questions from neurotic pre-meds every (working) second of every (working) day for the next few months. If you had to work like that for months out of the year, I'm sure you'd be cranky too.
 
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ColeSmalls said:
eh medpr, i can vouch that amcas can be rude...when my friend i was applying and I was over at his house, the lady on the other end of the phone was really, really short with him and seemed like she wanted to make him feel stupid for asking questions.
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It seemed like the person was saying that the AMCAS lady was rude because she said no. Not that she said no and also was rude. I spoke with AMCAS a few times and they were very helpful and friendly. Obviously experiences will vary though.

DrWily said:
You have to understand that these people are probably just 9-5 clerk type individuals who have to answer a barrage of questions from neurotic pre-meds every (working) second of every (working) day for the next few months. If you had to work like that for months out of the year, I'm sure you'd be cranky too.
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Especially now that people are waiting 4-6 weeks just for verification.
 
I am planning on applying in a year and a half, and was looking on my university's pre-med site, and I feel like they are going to give me some serious sh&t. I was thinking about finishing out at the university that I attended, and opted not to because of better financial aid and being at home, but I know a few of the faculty at the other university, and idk, this is making me wanto finish out my last nine months at that institution. The university I am at now wants to have you apply a year before you intend to apply, lol. They want you to submit your application to them a year before you intend to apply so that they can review it for "weak points." Isn't it more practical to get it from the committee at your post-bacc institution, because the whole point of furthering your study is to improve your application with respect to your academics?

EDIT: why so much bs? I know why but ahh this bureaucratic and political crap is a joke and impeding.





Thanks :(
 
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DrWily said:
You have to understand that these people are probably just 9-5 clerk type individuals who have to answer a barrage of questions from neurotic pre-meds every (working) second of every (working) day for the next few months. If you had to work like that for months out of the year, I'm sure you'd be cranky too.
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haha...i wish you could of seen what I did for a living.... I was a manger of a produce department in a poor neigborhood. You try telling a pissed old lady on welfare that a bag of potatos is five dollars due to farming issues. i would of gladly dealt with neurotic premeds at that time in my life...lol. i just love people in general, everyone gets annoyed sometimes though no big deal
 
Just to clarify, the lady was not rude because she said no but because of her attitude. I have delt with AAMC people before and they have always been very helpful. However with this conversation, it almost felt as if she was trying to get the call over with. I can understand that especially during this time in the season the job gets rough (and I did call later in the day) but I think being friendly over the phone is a must. No harsh feelings tho
 
Background: I need, or at least strongly desire, a DO letter since I am applying to Osteopathic as well as Allopathic schools.

In pursuit of that end, I cold called and wrote emails endlessly, and finally did find a DO willing to have me along for a day. The doctor herself brought up the topic of a letter near the end of the day, unsolicited, and offered to write one if I were interested. I replied of course I was, and that it would be a huge help.

Apart from a touch of cultural difference - physician is Chinese and I'm not - everything including interactions with patients (each of whom she introduced me to and included me with in interactions), other physicians (similarly she took great pains to introduce me to 20+ during the course of the day), went very well.

A week or so ago I got her letter, forwarded with a note indicating that she had sent a copy to Interfolio. The letter strikes me as positive overall, but highly impersonaI - and yes, I understand the limitations of getting a letter after a single day of shadowing.

Any help from a admissions comittee member, etc. in reading these tea leaves would be incredibly appreciated, and I'm happy to forward the letter in its entirety to anyone qualified and willing to help me understand how this letter will play in my overall application.
 
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Hello all,

So my "committee letter" consists of only TWO advisers and they both sent in their own letter to Interfolio separately. We do not have a legit committee full of many members because we are a small school. They did however sign their title as a "committee Member". Am I going to get shot down for this? I have hear of people having problems and schools not accepting committee letters if they are questionable. Has anyone had this problem? I would really appreciate your help :oops:
 
BabyDoc86 said:
And DMU says specifically to NOT send more than the requested amount.
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I was just verified and have not received DO secondaries yet. My school advisor requested a list of my DO schools so that they can send my LORs. My school automatically sends the committee letter with all LORs attached. There are more than three letters attached to my committee letter. I am applying to DMU. Will this be a problem?
 
lovespink said:
I was just verified and have not received DO secondaries yet. My school advisor requested a list of my DO schools so that they can send my LORs. My school automatically sends the committee letter with all LORs attached. There are more than three letters attached to my committee letter. I am applying to DMU. Will this be a problem?
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No problem. Many people sent more than 3 letters. Plus they understand that a lot of schools just send out a packet.
 
abolt18 said:
No problem. Many people sent more than 3 letters. Plus they understand that a lot of schools just send out a packet.
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Thank you so much. I really appreciate your quick response :)
 
ColeSmalls said:
haha...i wish you could of seen what I did for a living.... I was a manger of a produce department in a poor neigborhood. You try telling a pissed old lady on welfare that a bag of potatos is five dollars due to farming issues. i would of gladly dealt with neurotic premeds at that time in my life...lol. i just love people in general, everyone gets annoyed sometimes though no big deal
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I imagine you get the people that end up "sampling" half a bag of grapes too :laugh:
 
Hey guys,

Can we send our letters to schools before even our primary is processed? I submitted mid september, and it is still being processed. i'm afraid that the letters may get lost in mailing or something since the schools have no primary app to reference. I just want to shorten the mailing time for letters so they are ready to go when the schools get the primary.

Thanks
 
Dr Dazzle said:
Hey guys,

Can we send our letters to schools before even our primary is processed? I submitted mid september, and it is still being processed. i'm afraid that the letters may get lost in mailing or something since the schools have no primary app to reference. I just want to shorten the mailing time for letters so they are ready to go when the schools get the primary.

Thanks
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The schools will download them from your AMCAS. If you send them now they dont have a file to put them in and the lors will probably get trashed.

Also kudos for using this thread despite it not being on the first page anymore.

Edit: oh this isnt preallo.

Still no, wait until they send you secondaries. Send LORs when you submit the secondary.
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it takes my undergrad 10 days to send them out once I order them to. I am expecting to be verified in 4 weeks and want the letters to get to schools as soon as they receive the primary or before. Sending right now seems okay to me. I just want some confirmation if somebody has done this before and if it worked out and they didn't have any major problems.

Also, how many letters should be sent? I have like 10 personal and science + non science, but don't want to dilute the good ones. Any advice? My undergrad just creates a file of all the faculty letters and sends those along with the personal letters. Perhaps I should be more selective? But then again, I want the schools to see me from all angles too.
 
Many schools require a non-science professor LOR. I seriously havent taken a prereq like that in 3 years or so. Any way around this? I can submit ones from professional mentors, employers etc... Prob should just contact the school?
 
novafan3000 said:
Many schools require a non-science professor LOR. I seriously havent taken a prereq like that in 3 years or so. Any way around this? I can submit ones from professional mentors, employers etc... Prob should just contact the school?
Click to expand...

Up until a week ago I had a very valid excuse for not having arts letter, so some schools told me they will take a letter from medically related employer where I worked for over 2 years. But my excuse is likely unique and I called each school. One of them said employer's letter will do, but should I get a letter from art prof, I should add it to my packet anyway.
 
Woland said:
Up until a week ago I had a very valid excuse for not having arts letter, so some schools told me they will take a letter from medically related employer where I worked for over 2 years. But my excuse is likely unique and I called each school. One of them said employer's letter will do, but should I get a letter from art prof, I should add it to my packet anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response I will definitely do this. Probably a dumb question but are LOR only sent to the schools once a secondary is received? I thought they were part of the primary app received from AACOMAS?
 
Dr Dazzle said:
it takes my undergrad 10 days to send them out once I order them to. I am expecting to be verified in 4 weeks and want the letters to get to schools as soon as they receive the primary or before. Sending right now seems okay to me. I just want some confirmation if somebody has done this before and if it worked out and they didn't have any major problems.

Also, how many letters should be sent? I have like 10 personal and science + non science, but don't want to dilute the good ones. Any advice? My undergrad just creates a file of all the faculty letters and sends those along with the personal letters. Perhaps I should be more selective? But then again, I want the schools to see me from all angles too.
Click to expand...

Some schools have a limit. Others ask for specific letters. You should just wait until you get the secondary so you can read the instructions.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile
 
This may be a really stupid question but what counts as science LORs?

Like I took some biomedical engineering classes that were heavily Bio/Chem/Phys related... if I get the professors' recommendations from those classes do those count as "science"??
 
So Im a Canadian applicant and my classes have about 400 students so I never really got to know any of my profs except 1 and he is willing to write me a LOR BUTTT he no longer works at the university and the letter head he is using is of some company he is now working at and not the university head... is this going to be a problem??
 
Just a quick question, I am getting a letter from a physician who doesn't have the electronic signature. He said we can print a copy and sign, scan and upload it on interfolio. I was wondering if that will be fine or not.
 
Dr Dazzle said:
it takes my undergrad 10 days to send them out once I order them to. I am expecting to be verified in 4 weeks and want the letters to get to schools as soon as they receive the primary or before. Sending right now seems okay to me. I just want some confirmation if somebody has done this before and if it worked out and they didn't have any major problems.

Also, how many letters should be sent? I have like 10 personal and science + non science, but don't want to dilute the good ones. Any advice? My undergrad just creates a file of all the faculty letters and sends those along with the personal letters. Perhaps I should be more selective? But then again, I want the schools to see me from all angles too.
Click to expand...

My general advice to you is to use no more than six, and still check with each school on limits. Personally, I have five (one DO, two sci, one psych, and a brief letter explaining that I'm not eligible for committee interviews because I already graduated) and since my undergrad made a VirtualEvals profile on my behalf, every letter went out to every school I applied to.
 
The physician I shadowed does not have electronic signature. I suggested that he signs on a blank piece of paper and can scan it and insert into my letter. I was wondering if that is a legit way or will it get me in trouble later?
 
I've been shadowing a DO once a week for the past two months. Really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot; it has me really looking into more osteopathic schools, as I have a different (better) understanding of the totality of the DO work.

In any case... when my time shadowing this physician is over, is it wise to ask for an LOR at that point? Or should I wait until I'm doing my applications. It's unlikely that I'll apply in this cycle, and instead will probably shoot for admission into the Fall 2015 class.

A few DO schools I'm looking out require a letter from a DO, while others suggest it, so it's something that I'd like to have when the time comes.
 
I waited a few months, but I don't see why you couldn't ask at the end or shortly afterward. Better to get it sooner than later.
 
I asked for a letter right away (partly because I was applying a few months later). This will give your letter writer plenty of time to get it done while having a very recent memory of your time shadowing.

The only reason I would wait is if you plan on shadowing again in the near future- the longer they know you, the better the letter, usually.
 
Its up to you. Since you're not applying this cycle, ask the doctor shortly after you're done shadowing so she can best evaluate you and it'll be more personal.

I didn't even have to ask my doctor. The doctor I shadowed was super busy and after my third visit, she asked me if I needed one and I happily said yes. We talked for a bit that day about me and my interest in medicine and she gave me a letter about a month later.
 
I was wondering if I need to find another LOR from a science professor. I know some require 2 science, but I would like to know which require 2 and which don't. Currently, I have 1 science, 1 non-science, 1 research, and 1 D.O.
 
The DO that I called basically offered to write me the letter after 1 meeting. Apparently, where I live (bay area), shadowing is pretty difficult to pull off as almost no one lets you do it. Although, I've only spoken with the local DO's (of which there are probably 140-150 within a 40 mile radius of where I live), no MDs yet.

Personally, I'd ask for it when you finish so s/he can write the strongest letter possible. Letters are usually better if you ask for them right afterwards because you're fresh in the doctor's memory.

I should also mention that some people are really, really slow about writing letters. My PI, in particular, took a very long time writing his.
 
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Dear sdn,

I think I have 6 very strong LORs. Yes, I know it is a bit excessive and I will indeed end up taking out at least 2 of them. But my question is if I do send all 6 to schools, will they still look at all of them? The school sites don't specifically say if there's a maximum number which is why I was interested in what you guys thought. Thanks!!

EDIT: I guess what I'm saying is that I realize there would be no advantages, but what about disadvantages?
 
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I have a non-science professor in mind I want to ask for a LOR. However, I haven't contacted him since I graduated 1.5 yrs ago because I moved home and started traveling. Should I even pursue this professor after all this time even if we got a long quite well while taking three classes with him? A personal reference letter is a given, of course. It would be a shame if I couldn't because he was awesome.
 
If he'd recognize you, I'd say go for it. I'll be asking a professor I had in 2002 for a letter of recommendation (yes, 11 years later). But, we are facebook friends. She lives in Denmark now. She knows my academic level and personality well and can write me a strong letter. If you feel the same way about your professor, definitely pursue it.

infinitidoug said:
I have a non-science professor in mind I want to ask for a LOR. However, I haven't contacted him since I graduated 1.5 yrs ago because I moved home and started traveling. Should I even pursue this professor after all this time even if we got a long quite well while taking three classes with him? A personal reference letter is a given, of course. It would be a shame if I couldn't because he was awesome.
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Obviously you should get the best LOR's possible, and this means choosing someone that has known you well. If this old acquaintance is guaranteed to write you an awesome letter then I say go for it.
 
I guess I really need to spruce up the LOR request letter to remind him just in case. I think he knows me pretty well. Sometimes when we discuss things, it goes far beyond school-related things. We are both Chinese and during the Lunar New Year, we spent half an hour giving suggestions to one another about nearby places to have dinner with friends and family lol
 
Yeah - the earlier the better with LOR's from physicians. They will likely be crazy busy and you may have to call their office multiple times to remind them about writing the letter. You also want them to remember you in detail, so if you decide to wait a few months they may not be able to give you as good of a letter.
 
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