Asking for LORs without a personal statement.. bad idea?

[Evergrey]

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I just graduated from college last May, and I've been asking my professors for LORs. I met with 3 of them just before graduation, gave them my transcript and resume, and things went without a hitch. Unfortunately I wasn't able to meet with my 4th LOR writer before graduation, so I waited until she had some free time during the summer and sent her a very polite request via e-mail.

She readily agreed, but she asked for me to send her my personal statement. Then a thought occurred to me -- have I been screwing up by not giving my LOR writers a PS to help explain to adcoms why my interest in medicine is legitimate? Besides the transcript and resume, I had the opportunity to talk with each professor individually for about an hour and explain to them my interest in medicine and why I feel this is a good fit for me. But they definitely won't be able to remember all of the stuff I told them weeks down the line (I asked them 2 months ago and all 3 are working on it or have finished it by now).

I plan to apply until next June, so it made a lot more sense to ask my LOR writers at the end of college, before their memory of me begins to fade, and write my PS in the months preceding my medical school application.

So I guess the point of all this rambling is to ask you other premeds: did you have your PS written before asking for LORs? If not, did you ask your LOR writers to update the LOR after you had written your PS? (is that even possible?) Do you think the LOR writer not having the PS in front of them while writing the LOR will affect the impact of their letter?

P.S. Apologies if this has been asked before. It didn't come up in the Search when I looked, anyway.

 

[johndoe3344]

I sent almost none of my writers my PS unless they asked for it.

Otherwise, a transcript and my resume were usually sufficient.

 

[teenmachinery1]

I definitely had my personal statement in a package I gave to each letter-writer. It adds background and depth and also gives them ammo and justification for their recommendation.

I would definitely suggest giving them your ps.

Along with the ps I gave them, gpa, mcat breakdown, a list of classes taken at medical school including my grade and breakdown of grade, list of other recommenders, and abstracts for previous publications.

The idea is, give them way more information than they need.

 

[johndoe3344]

I definitely think that ^ is the better option, don't get me wrong.

I'm just trying to tell the OP not to freak out and worry about it.

Although, I can't really say for sure. Maybe I'll only get 2 interviews because of sucky LORs and then get 0 accepts omgomgomgomg. =/

 

[scattun]

I just gave my individual LOR writers a resume and a transcript. I hadn't taken the MCAT yet, nor written my PS. I don't think it will matter that much, especially since you talked to them about your motivations. Personally, I really hate it when LOR's dovetail to a personal statement anyway. It all seems to staged. The LOR is suppose to be their evaluation of your abilities and potential, not a reiteration from a third party of your PS claims. As long as nothing contradicts, you should be fine.

 

[JJMrK]

I included it in a packet of information for my letter writers. It's also a useful strategy for slow writers; if you're waiting on a letter you can always stop by their office to "drop off a new draft".

 

[ygree001]

Four of five letter writers asked for and got nothing. The fifth asked for a bunch of stuff, like my resume, gpa, why I want to be a doctor, and I ended up just giving her my resume and amcas application.

 

[ziggydoc]

I gave some of my letter writers my resume and what not, none had my transcript, since I picked individuals that would be speaking about certain aspects of my experiences anyway (i.e science prof regarding science courses, PI regarding research, etc.) None received my PS, (its a bit, well, personal)

 

[metallica81788]

All my 3 letter writers asked for my transcript, resume (which I already had to write for pre-med committee), and a short statement on why I wanted to go into medicine.
I didn't use my PS because it wasn't close to being done yet, but I wrote a long, 5 page, extremely informal thing that pretty much summed up everything that my PS eventually did, but better and friendlier.
I think it's a good idea to have something that shows them who you are, not necessarily a PS. That way you ensure you have good letters, not generics.

 

[halekulani]

i gave each writer a CV, personal statement, and transcript. they're doing this on their own free time, so try to make it as easy for them as possible.

 

[JJMrK]

Four of five letter writers asked for and got nothing. The fifth asked for a bunch of stuff, like my resume, gpa, why I want to be a doctor, and I ended up just giving her my resume and amcas application.

They asked for certain materials and you didn't provide them? Do you really think this produced good letters on your behalf?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

i didn't give any of my letter writers anything, and they didn't ask for it... i only asked profs that knew me VERY well, though.