Can I submit committee letter to some schools and individual letters to others?

[futuredocn]

The committee at my school does a horrendous job sending out letters on time, or letters that are the correct requirement for medical schools. There have been several occasions where students' letters were submitted really late, or only a single page letter was submitted on behalf of students. Also considering that I only once spoke to the premed advisor during freshman year, I highly doubt they will say something about me that would reflect on my qualities and growth. I noticed on MSAR that some schools highly recommend committee letters while others don't care. I am left wondering if I should go with the committee letter route for the schools that recommend committee letters, and using portfolio to send out individual letters (no committee letters) from my professors to schools that don't recommend or require committee letters. I really don't see the point of the committee letter from my school considering all the associated risk Is this something I can do, or do I have to choose one?

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[Goro]

Can I submit committee letter to some schools and individual letters to others?​

Yes.

 

[KnightDoc]

You can absolutely do whatever you want. YOU control exactly what goes to each school with respect to these letters. Just be aware that regardless of what schools say, they will all take whatever you give them, as long as it meets their minimum requirements, but that committee letters are considered the gold standard, since they compare you to other applicants from your UG.

As a result, all schools prefer them when they are available, and some will assume the worst if your school is known to do them and you don't submit one. Of course, any adcom that is halfway competent will be able to tell at a glance how you stack up to other applicants from your school, with or without a committee letter.

If you are a strong candidate who, for whatever reason, doesn't think the committee letter will be helpful, I'd consider skipping it everywhere. You should also realize that the committees do not go out of their way to hurt the applicants from their schools, and you shouldn't judge based on a freshman year interaction with an advisor.

The committees gather information from many sources, including professors and you, and then put together a package that compares you to your class. If you are in the top half of your class and you have a few professors who will say nice things about you, trust me, you want the letter. If not, you're right, it's not going to help you and you should proceed without one, even if the school says it strongly prefers one.

 

[Styrene]

Yes, you could send different letters entirely to each school if you wanted.