Are dean's letters specific for each specialty?

[devildoc2]

OK I want to apply for 2 different specialties.

But this obviously wont work if my dean's letter says "this is an applicant to X"

Do Dean's letters give away which specialty you are applying to? Or do I have to ask the Dean to write up 2 separate letters or what?

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[Amy]

No. The dean's letter is just a summary of good things that have been said about you in your evaluations, and says how good of a candidate you are for residency. It doesn't imply any particular specialty.

 

[lattimer13]

i don't know how they do it at othe schools, but at UArizona we meet with our dean and go over the letter together to see if there's anything missing or something bad that stands out and contradicts what the rest of the letter says. basically it has all your grades, relative rank in class, any honors/awards, extracurriculars, and the subjective feedback from all the clerkship rotations which i had already seen in my narrative evaluations from each. if something stood out in a bad way and he didn't think it was congruent with the rest of the narratives, he would exclude it from the letter.

if you have the opportunity to go over the letter make sure you bring your CV so you can check for any discrepancies in the letter. there were a few in mine regarding grades.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Kind of a morbid question but what does a dean's letter look like for a below average student? It is just sort of full of "x is competent," "hard worker," "willing to learn" etc?

I keep hearing how important the letter is and yet I can't imagine a Dean ever writes "x is worthless" so what does it really tell a PD?

 

[Amy]

Kind of a morbid question but what does a dean's letter look like for a below average student? It is just sort of full of "x is competent," "hard worker," "willing to learn" etc?

I keep hearing how important the letter is and yet I can't imagine a Dean ever writes "x is worthless" so what does it really tell a PD?

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. A dean's letter will never say "this student sucks, the only reason he's graduating is because we want to get rid of him already. He's your problem now." So the letter is pretty worthless overall... I'm sure after reading a few of them, they all sound the same.

 

[kenfused]

A deans letter may simply say that this student is graduating... (at the end of the letter) then say the student's position in the class (bottom quartile). Occasionally you may see a dean's letter where there may be a concern mentioned (communication issues, or something), but they qualify that with they will do well in the right environment.

Deans also do not like bashing their own students, so any comments will be softened up.

So, in general, if the dean's letter isn't glowing, there may be something wrong!