committee letter process?

[MecksInVT]

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I have a question about the committee letter process. I am attending a postbac program right now for pre-dent, and my plan was to apply in 2012 for (hopefully) fall 2013. However, in order to do the committee letter process at my school I would need to start now, which wouldn't be a problem if their requirements for the process didn't require me to be done all my classes after this spring semester (I will not be). So my other options are to 1. do the process but not be able to apply till 2014, or 2. apply on my own without it. I have read on multiple school websites that I can either submit a committee letter or just do the ... however many recommendation letters I need...

My question is, how important is the committee letter process? Would I be ok to apply without it?

 

[coolbeans123]

I have a question about the committee letter process. I am attending a postbac program right now for pre-dent, and my plan was to apply in 2012 for (hopefully) fall 2013. However, in order to do the committee letter process at my school I would need to start now, which wouldn't be a problem if their requirements for the process didn't require me to be done all my classes after this spring semester (I will not be). So my other options are to 1. do the process but not be able to apply till 2014, or 2. apply on my own without it. I have read on multiple school websites that I can either submit a committee letter or just do the ... however many recommendation letters I need...

My question is, how important is the committee letter process? Would I be ok to apply without it?

It's not required but it looks nice. I know people who got in that didn't do it and people who did do it. If it would set you back an entire cycle, I would just apply without it. Make sure you have good letters of recommendation though.

 

[timwatley]

Not sure how relevant my answer will be but I had a horrible experience with committee letters. Instead of dealing with the initial people writing your letter, you deal with another set of people that are responsible for translating those letters into one letter. In my case, all of my letters were in by June but the committee letter didn't get submitted until August 11. This was despite very polite reminders. This delay cost me big time. Several of my schools had already handed out all their interviews. Luckily, I somehow received an interview from a school I was pretty interested in, and a backup school. I ended up getting accepted on Dec 1 by the better school so I was lucky again.

I'd say, if possible, avoid the committee letter if you are unsure about it. It can be a big pain in the arse.

 

[ShipShapeTeeth]

My advice to you is to apply for fall 2013 without the committee letter. While nice to have, it's not make or break. Quality individual letters are fine and save the headache of dealing with the committee bureaucracy. As a former post bacc in the middle of my "glide year" right now, I strongly urge minimizing the time between completing pre-reqs and matriculating to professional school. Believe me, killing time is not fun...

 

[Jackson-Ave-Dental]

Some schools say that its recommended/preferred to have one while other schools say that its required to have one but they will make exceptions if your school does not have a health professions committee.

Out of my 6 interviews:
One school required a committee LOR, three preferred it, and two was fine with either.

FYI, my school had a health professions committee but I chose not to get one because I wanted my application mailed out during the first week and if I had waited it would've set me back ~2 months. Ironically it was my school that required the committee LOR but I still received an invite from them.

Nonetheless... I did not receive an acceptance from them though so... that might be something to think about. Although whether it was due to my interview performance or the fact that I'm missing a 'requirement'... I will never know 🙄

 

[MecksInVT]

Do you remember which one's required it?

I know it is a good idea to do the committee letter process, and maybe this is how it is at all schools, but they require me to only use recommendation letters from faculty at the university I am at, and since I completed half my pre-reqs at my previous school I have a few professors that I know would write me really great recommendations (also because my last school the class sizes were about 15-20 as opposed to the 180 that I am in now).

 

[Demps]

Some schools say that its recommended/preferred to have one while other schools say that its required to have one but they will make exceptions if your school does not have a health professions committee.

Out of my 6 interviews:
One school required a committee LOR, three preferred it, and two was fine with either.

FYI, my school had a health professions committee but I chose not to get one because I wanted my application mailed out during the first week and if I had waited it would've set me back ~2 months. Ironically it was my school that required the committee LOR but I still received an invite from them.

Nonetheless... I did not receive an acceptance from them though so... that might be something to think about. Although whether it was due to my interview performance or the fact that I'm missing a 'requirement'... I will never know 🙄

Either way, I'm sure your Committee Letter played almost no role in Stony Brook's acceptance. Any way you look at it, Stony Brook is a hard school to get accepted to.

 

[Demps]

To OP:

I think if you prepare "on time," Committee Letter looks nice.

but give at least 4 weeks for Committee Letter to be updated on AADSAS portal and to be mailed out to the schools. I'm not surprised if someone took 6~8 weeks for theirs to be uploaded. Mine took 5 weeks but I think that is only because I did it in October which was very late in the game. General consensus for my friends and other people who have done it (all applied early enough), it took them at least 6 weeks for the Committee Letter to be uploaded on AADSAS portal and mailed out following Friday.

It may be based on your personal preference though, however.

Like JOoa0ky said, the school I went to required a Committee Letter and this was one of the schools I was more interested in. So I just did it and did the same for all other schools. That was less work on my part.