Choice of LORs

[Saifa]

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I'm working on assembling LORs to apply in the 2018 cycle. Potential writers in bold are ones that I am nearly certain I am going to source a letter from.

-physics professor: had them for two semesters of calc.-based physics with As; will have completed two semesters of research (no publication, one presentation); know them quite well as classes were <10 students

-chemistry professor: will have had them for three semesters, two being organic; will have completed well-over 1000 hours of research, often one-on-one, including summers with at least one publication + presentations

-biology professor/faculty adviser: know them quite well through advising and functioning as vice president of the tri-Beta chapter they advise, chapter was instated under my tenure; selected me as a teaching assistant for molecular biology; they have closely followed my path to medical school and taken great pains to help along the way

-adviser from nursing school: (I attended a semester of hospital-based nursing school before deciding to "pre-med" again) I've maintained contact with them since leaving the school and they have expressed interest in writing a letter for me; played a big part in encouraging me to pursue medicine; can remark on the quality of direct patient experience I've had and the attitude I demonstrated toward patient care

-local physician: completed much shadowing with them; know their family well and will have tutored an A&P class that their spouse (also a physician) teaches at my campus for nearly three years

-communication arts professor: so far my only option for a humanities letter-writer; had them for speech over a year ago and function as a somewhat-involved member of the campus honors club that they run; might be able to make a better impression with the time I have left, though they do still know me personally and probably wouldn't mind writing a letter it may not be as strong

 

[kraskadva]

Did you have a question?

 

[Saifa]

Did you have a question?

I'm sorry-- I guess I am hunting for validation in my choice of writers and also trying to figure out how to best-consolidate the list as I know sending too many can be detrimental.

 

[BKNbkn]

Excuse me, sir/ma'am, do you have a moment to talk about Committee Letters?

 

[Saifa]

Excuse me, sir/ma'am, do you have a moment to talk about Committee Letters?

Glad you mentioned, I attend a branch campus without such a committee and was never referred to one. I only even knew about this variable after reading this forum.

 

[gizmoo]

If you think they would all be happy to write you a letter, then I would go with all of them. Then you can decide which letters to send to specific schools based on what each school is looking for.

 

[kraskadva]

If you think they would all be happy to write you a letter, then I would go with all of them. Then you can decide which letters to send to specific schools based on what each school is looking for.

+1

Glad you mentioned, I attend a branch campus without such a committee and was never referred to one. I only even knew about this variable after reading this forum.

Have you asked around? It may be an option that's poorly publicized. Can't hurt to double check. Can hurt to not double check.
If definitely not available, then go with the suggestion above. If it is available, then use it - otherwise you have to explain why you didn't.

 

[Saifa]

+1


Have you asked around? It may be an option that's poorly publicized. Can't hurt to double check. Can hurt to not double check.
If definitely not available, then go with the suggestion above. If it is available, then use it - otherwise you have to explain why you didn't.

That makes sense. It just seems silly to me to source a letter from some committee member across the state that I have never met, but it seems to be a pretty big deal for some reason.

 

[kraskadva]

That makes sense. It just seems silly to me to source a letter from some committee member across the state that I have never met, but it seems to be a pretty big deal for some reason.

See hoops, start jumping. It is what it is.

 

[gamieg]

I recommend you start making a spreadsheet of schools you're interested in and research their lor requirements. owing that you won't be able to submit a committee letter, each school may have specific requirements.

some schools require two letters from science professors and one from humanities and one clinical exposure/research/other. others take fewer or more. MSAR is also potentially a good source, but I recommend always double checking with the schools.

it may also be a good idea to research what the schools are focused on. some schools who focus more on research would prefer a research letter, others may prefer shadowing or community service etc.

choosing lors is often a personal judgment call based on the rest of your application and your story. but like a previous poster mentioned, obtain as many letters as possible and then figure out which ones fit better to send to which schools. I recommend signing up for a lettering service like interfolio. AMCAS lets you submit up to 10 letters and then designate which one(s) to send to schools as well.