Are two science recommendations necessary if you have a committee letter?

[mollyguacomole]

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Okay, so this is my situation. I have one very strong letter of recommendation from a science professor who I also do research with, one from a non-science professor who also knows me very well, and one from a doctor I interned with for a QI project one summer. I don't have a second science recommendation.

I am about to undergo committee review. My pre-med advisor emphasized that the committee letter is just a cover letter for my whole application, but I know they evaluate me on how 'recommended' I am, and are asking for my personal statement, ECs, coursework profile, etc, so I am pretty sure it is comprehensive. As part of the review process, they ask for up to two science recs and up to two non-science recs.

I am a humanities major, so I don't have a whole lot of science professors I can ask. I go to a small school, so about a third of my science professors that I have had are actually on the committee, so I am not allowed to ask those professors, limiting my options further. I recently asked one science professor who I know likes me (we chat occasionally) and I did very well in his class. However, he basically told me that he would write it, but that since he hasn't taught me in a lab setting, he can only speak to my class performance, and asked if I'm okay with that.

I am not sure what to do, because every letter that gets sent to the committee also gets sent verbatim to medical schools, so it is not like I can only have his letter sent to the schools that require two science recommenders.

Do I need to have this second science recommendation, if I have the committee letter?

Thank you!

 

[theseeker4]

Okay, so this is my situation. I have one very strong letter of recommendation from a science professor who I also do research with, one from a non-science professor who also knows me very well, and one from a doctor I interned with for a QI project one summer. I don't have a second science recommendation.

I am about to undergo committee review. My pre-med advisor emphasized that the committee letter is just a cover letter for my whole application, but I know they evaluate me on how 'recommended' I am, and are asking for my personal statement, ECs, coursework profile, etc, so I am pretty sure it is comprehensive. As part of the review process, they ask for up to two science recs and up to two non-science recs.

I am a humanities major, so I don't have a whole lot of science professors I can ask. I go to a small school, so about a third of my science professors that I have had are actually on the committee, so I am not allowed to ask those professors, limiting my options further. I recently asked one science professor who I know likes me (we chat occasionally) and I did very well in his class. However, he basically told me that he would write it, but that since he hasn't taught me in a lab setting, he can only speak to my class performance, and asked if I'm okay with that.

I am not sure what to do, because every letter that gets sent to the committee also gets sent verbatim to medical schools, so it is not like I can only have his letter sent to the schools that require two science recommenders.

Do I need to have this second science recommendation, if I have the committee letter?

Thank you!

Most med schools as for either a committee letter, or a set of LORs (often two science and one non-science). If your committee doesn't require two science LORs, you don't need to send two to the med school unless they explicitly say you do. If you are at all unsure of what a particular med school wants, check their information online, or call the admissions office.

 

[jeghaber]

Essentially all schools will accept a committee letter packet, regardless of the breakdown of the individual letters. If your school offers a committee letter service, take advantage of it and don't bother with gathering individual letters beyond what your committee requires.

You've mentioned that your school's committee requires two science LORs, so unless your school waives that requirement for you, you'll need to get two science LORs. Speak to them, however, to see whether they'd make an exception based on the fact that several committee members are familiar with your science background. Our school's committee had also required two science LORs as part of the committee letter process, but I provided them with 3 pseudo-science LORs (Professor of Engineering, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and a Dean of Biomedical Sciences who led, but didn't teach, a biology seminar) with 1 non-science LOR and they didn't raise any objections, so your school may also be flexible.

 

[mollyguacomole]

Essentially all schools will accept a committee letter packet, regardless of the breakdown of the individual letters. If your school offers a committee letter service, take advantage of it and don't bother with gathering individual letters beyond what your committee requires.

You've mentioned that your school's committee requires two science LORs, so unless your school waives that requirement for you, you'll need to get two science LORs. Speak to them, however, to see whether they'd make an exception based on the fact that several committee members are familiar with your science background. Our school's committee had also required two science LORs as part of the committee letter process, but I provided them with 3 pseudo-science LORs (Professor of Engineering, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and a Dean of Biomedical Sciences who led, but didn't teach, a biology seminar) with 1 non-science LOR and they didn't raise any objections, so your school may also be flexible.

My school's HPAC committee actually changed it this year to UP to two science letters, so I don't technically need to have two, though I do think it is sort of recommended.

Thank you both for the response! I think this means I will essentially tell this second science professor thank you, but no thank you!