committee letter of rec. questions

[Omni]

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Hi.
So far, I'll be getting letters of rec from two deans and one professor who I've done research with for ~2 years. I'm starting my third year with her now.
However, I've heard from a friend that not using the pre-med committee's letter of recommendation looks bad on you. I'm just wondering why that is.
Can I go through this whole application process without having anything to do with my pre-med committee?
Also, if I do go through them and they write me a letter of rec. what happens to the 3 letters of rec that I currently have (or will get)?

 

[armybound]

The school's committee has a better idea of how you stack against other pre-meds, since they see all of the other pre-meds. They also have access to your grades and such, which your outside sources may not have.

You do not have to use your committee, but you may want to have a decent reason for why you chose not to use them. It's been known to come up in an interview.

You could ask your committee what they do with outside letters. My committee included my outside letters and used their letter as a bit of a "cover letter" or synopsis of the other letters.

 

[10M]

Some med schools require you to submit a committee letter if your school offers one. My school sends the individual letters along with theirs also.

 

[BerlinDude]

Yea, you should use the committee letter. They actually are not that useful or helpful at all. I saw mine, and it basically rehashed stuff that was on my primary - grades, MCAT score, research experience, clinical exposure, etc. However, med schools will assume the worse if you don't have one.

 

[Omni]

Thanks for the replies.
This other question dawned upon me:
My pre-med committee doesn't send the letters and stuff before mid July to late july. I want to send everything of mine before the second week of June, at the latest to get everything out of the way before my summer starts. So what the hell do I do? Should I just send everything without anything from me pre-med committee??

 

[cardinalsrock]

Thanks for the replies.
This other question dawned upon me:
My pre-med committee doesn't send the letters and stuff before mid July to late july. I want to send everything of mine before the second week of June, at the latest to get everything out of the way before my summer starts. So what the hell do I do? Should I just send everything without anything from me pre-med committee??

you'll survive.

best option: send everything in and let your committee get their letter in when they get it in on their own time

absolute worst option: send everything in with the intention of never getting in your pre-med committee letter. red flags will go up left and right like others have already said, and your application will probably be discarded from schools that require letters from your school's pre-med committee if such service is offered

 

[Mattabet]

you'll survive.

best option: send everything in and let your committee get their letter in when they get it in on their own time

absolute worst option: send everything in with the intention of never getting in your pre-med committee letter. red flags will go up left and right like others have already said, and your application will probably be discarded from schools that require letters from your school's pre-med committee if such service is offered

Lol. People should be required to include 'absolute worst option' more often.

"Absolute worst option: Murder the interviewer in cold blood and brag about how you already have your own cadaver."