a LOR from a second cousin Dentist?

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

So i'm finishing up my letters of rec, and I'm beginning re-evaluate whether or not I want to use second cousin's rec letter.

I have over 70 shadowing hours with him, and he knows me best in terms of my personal growth and ambitions, so I thought "he has a different last name and lives in a different state, ill ask him". But i've read that relative's are a bad source of rec letters, and I don't want this to hurt me in this or the next cycle. I've always considered him a family friend, but would the committee somehow piece us together as relatives? Do they ask?

I'm going to call the schools tomorrow,but what are your thoughts?

Lying is out of the question, and If I have to delete my shadowing hours with him I still have around 100 hours... but 170 looks alot better than 100.

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[so815]

So i'm finishing up my letters of rec, and I'm beginning re-evaluate whether or not I want to use second cousin's rec letter.

I have over 70 shadowing hours with him, and he knows me best in terms of my personal growth and ambitions, so I thought "he has a different last name and lives in a different state, ill ask him". But i've read that relative's are a bad source of rec letters, and I don't want this to hurt me in this or the next cycle. I've always considered him a family friend, but would the committee somehow piece us together as relatives? Do they ask?

I'm going to call the schools tomorrow,but what are your thoughts?

Lying is out of the question, and If I have to delete my shadowing hours with him I still have around 100 hours... but 170 looks alot better than 100.

They ask on the application if you have any relatives in dentistry, so if you list him on your application, they would know when they saw his rec letter.

 

[Life of Pablo]

They wouldn't really know unless you listed him under the section that asks about family members in dentistry. If you already have a LOR from a dentist, I wouldn't get one from him just because, as you said, it is frowned upon to receive a letter from a family member.

 

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

They wouldn't really know unless you listed him under the section that asks about family members in dentistry. If you already have a LOR from a dentist, I wouldn't get one from him just because, as you said, it is frowned upon to receive a letter from a family member.

That's the thing though, I always saw him as a family friend rather than relative, so I always planned to use him as a LOR. I didn't even consider adding him as a relative because I figured they were only asking about close relatives like mom, dad, nephew, etc. (Like couldn't anyone find a dentist relative if they were allowed to expand up to second or third cousins? )

I suppose I should look for another dentist I shadowed for a letter. man, this application cycle is so discouraging, AND I ALREADY SO LATE

 

[aggie-master]

I wouldn’t put a second cousin as a relative i. dentistry. I have a few MD second cousins that I don’t know at all. They might be my DNA relative but I don’t consider them family.

 

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

I wouldn’t put a second cousin as a relative i. dentistry. I have a few MD second cousins that I don’t know at all. They might be my DNA relative but I don’t consider them family.

That was my mindset too. I don't know any of my other second cousins, and my second cousin dentist wouldn't be biased towards me because he was never close to my family to begin with. Our relationship was always strictly professional.

 

[cooliyak]

That was my mindset too. I don't know any of my other second cousins, and my second cousin dentist wouldn't be biased towards me because he was never close to my family to begin with. Our relationship was always strictly professional.

I wouldn’t consider my second cousin a relative for the purpose of AADSAS either. And I wouldn’t discount all those shadowing hours either. Most of my shadowing hours came from shadowing my dad and nobody said anything about it.

 

[Bingwen]

No matter what you choose for the letter, definitely don't delete your shadowing hours. There is nothing wrong with shadowing a family member who is a dentist, as long as you have experience outside that office.

 

[Its_Me_G]

Honestly, I would use the letter your second cousin writes if it’s the strongest letter you can get. You said that aside from the 70 hours, you have 100 hours with another dentist. So if the other dentist is unable or unwilling to write you a good letter, then go with what you have and don’t list him as a relative. If you don’t go with your cousins letter, definitely don’t delete the hours

 

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

wow, thanks guys. This is encouraging to see, and I will take your advice given that person over the phone tomorrow doesn't say anything otherwise.