Committee Letter Question?

[Solar Bear]

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I am a bit confused on how the committee letter works:

If you submit one of these do you not need any other outside separate recommendation letters from professors/doctors?

I saw some people said that you give your rec letter from a professor/doctor to the committee but others said this is not what happens?

Is it true that this letter can backfire and they could write you a poor letter and the applicant has no idea?

If I dont have great extracurriculars besides recent volunteering is this something the committee will hold against me? (Also, any tips on how to strengthen this part of my application would be appreciated)

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Ismet]

If you submit one of these do you not need any other outside separate recommendation letters from professors/doctors?
Correct. Unless you're applying to DO schools, as they tend to want to see an LOR from a DO physician to show that you've done your research and not just doing it as a backup to MD.

I saw some people said that you give your rec letter from a professor/doctor to the committee but others said this is not what happens?
Depends on how your committee works. For mine (and for most committee letters I have read), we had to submit letters of recommendation to the committee, who then met to go over the letters and your application and PS and wrote a composite letter. Then the composite letter AND all of the individual letters were sent to schools as a complete packet. Like I said, most committee letters I've seen have come like this. But check with your school to see how they do it.

Is it true that this letter can backfire and they could write you a poor letter and the applicant has no idea?
Yes. Hasn't happened that often in my experience but it has definitely happened.

If I dont have great extracurriculars besides recent volunteering is this something the committee will hold against me? (Also, any tips on how to strengthen this part of my application would be appreciated)
Probably. Applicants with good grades and good scores are dime a dozen. You need to show that you're not a pre-med robot. You need to show that you know what you're getting yourself into (shadow doctors). You need to show a commitment to altruism (a couple months of volunteering and nothing else does not show altruism). You should show leadership. Research experience will always help an application.

Most committee letters I've seen break things down by section and rate the applicant on different areas, i.e. academics, extracurricular involvement, interpersonal skills, research, etc. If you're lacking in one or more areas, that's not good.

 

[Solar Bear]

Thanks a lot for your response!

I have ~20 hours of shadowing. Is that enough would it be beneficial to get many more?

Although I believe that I have a commitment to altruism what are some methods to show this? Anything besides more volunteering?

Also do you have any recommendations for getting into research?


Thanks for your time

 

[MaxPlancker]

Many schools will allow you to submit the committee letter plus additional letters. I'd highly recommend sending in a few additional letters from different facets of your life such as volunteering, a coach you play a sport for, etc. These probably highlight you outside of academics which is very nice to have.

20 hours seems a bit low but it's not about the #s. You need to get enough exposure to be aware of what you're getting yourself into.

There are plenty of threads that you can Google that cover getting into research etc.

 

[steeno]

Thanks a lot for your response!

I have ~20 hours of shadowing. Is that enough would it be beneficial to get many more?

Although I believe that I have a commitment to altruism what are some methods to show this? Anything besides more volunteering?

Also do you have any recommendations for getting into research?


Thanks for your time

When I applied, I contacted schools that listed requirements of "committee letter + MD/DO letter" if it was okay that the MD/DO letter be included with my committee letter. Most of them said it's acceptable as long as the committee letter is structured the way Ismet mentioned above. If not, make sure you send the MD/DO letter in separately.

As for shadowing, regardless of the number of hours you've shadowed, make sure you can convey how the shadowing experiences were meaningful for you. Shadowing more is always beneficial, and for me, it was a huge reminder and motivator to keep studying hard for classes/MCAT when things got stressful.