Committee Letter Requirements Trump Med School Letter Requirements?

[kevin.malone]

Hi,

I was reading the Official LOR thread and it says that usually, having a committee letter will trump all other med schools' letter requirements.

My committee letter only requires me to get 1 science letter, 1 non-science, and 2 other misc. According to my pre med advisor, s/he will accept a PI's letter as the "science" letter, which conflicts with other schools' requirements that a science letter should come from a professor that has formally taught you in a science course.

So my question is, will going through my committee letter packet route where I provide 1 PI letter, 1 non-science, and 2 others be OK for med schools, specifically TX med schools?

Thanks!

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[panda16]

However in my experience most schools had an either/or guideline stating that X LOR requirements or a committee letter would be valid.

This. I guess that the schools often defer to the judgement/process of the pre-med committees at these schools in terms of accepting their letter packets even if the requirements may be different.

 

[pageantry]

Yeah, I'm a little worried. I collected extra letters from professors because my advisor said that one of my early letters was pretty bland. I figured they'd exclude the meh letter. Today I learned that they sent out the committee letter and it was so big they couldn't fit it in the space provided.

So even though I only have two actual letters checked to go out to the schools, apparently my committee letter is HUGE. I hope the good stuff doesn't get lost or ignored due to being incredibly annoying...

 

[gyngyn]

A committee letter fulfills and does not exceed individually stated expectations or limitations for MD schools.
Do not send additional letters unless there is a unique requirement that is specific to a particular school.

 

[pageantry]

A committee letter fulfills and does not exceed individually stated expectations or limitations for MD schools.
Do not send additional letters unless there is a unique requirement that is specific to a particular school.

My advisor asked me to create a separate AMCAS letter request form for an additional letter that she wanted to make sure was sent, despite the space limitations. So that's my additional, annoying letter.

Thank you for clarifying re: committee letters. I feel queasy. Maybe I should have put my foot down.

 

[gyngyn]

My advisor asked me to create a separate AMCAS letter request form for an additional letter that she wanted to make sure was sent, despite the space limitations. So that's my additional, annoying letter.

Thank you for clarifying re: committee letters. I feel queasy. Maybe I should have put my foot down.

It will probably be ok.

 

[carpediem22]

@gyngyn For the number of letters, would you say 2 science, 1 non-science, 1 research and 1 EC is sufficient? Or would adding one more (very strong) EC letter help?

I am applying MD/PhD mostly, but have a few MD schools and am less concrete on what to send to those schools. MD/PhD of course has a million research letters.

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn For the number of letters, would you say 2 science, 1 non-science, 1 research and 1 EC is sufficient? Or would adding one more (very strong) EC letter help?

I am applying MD/PhD mostly, but have a few MD schools and am less concrete on what to send to those schools. MD/PhD of course has a million research letters.

For MD/PhD, PI letters are expected (in addition to all the usual ones).
Even for MD, a person with significant work in particular lab will be expected to have a PI letter.
Do not exceed stated limits and do not add gratuitous ones, though.

 

[kevin.malone]

@gyngyn so even if a school needs 2 science and 1 non-science, my committee letter consisting of 1 science, 1 non-science, 1 misc. will suffice right?

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn so even if a school needs 2 science and 1 non-science, my committee letter consisting of 1 science, 1 non-science, 1 misc. will suffice right?

Any committee letter at all will be sufficient.
Letter requirements are for those who must independently choose their letters.

 

[RedPhys]

Committee letter indeed trumps the rest
Certainly worked for me (my committee packet consisted of a committee letter, one letter from my PI [who is in an applied science field, i.e. not BCPM], and one from a foreign language professor)

 

[genericpremedstudent]

from my understanding, if your undergrad offers a committee letter and you don't utilize it, med schools see that as a red flag. confirm/deny?

 

[heebeejeebies]

Yes, unless you were ineligible. It's a red flag if you're eligible and opt not to get one.

Where would I clarify this?

Canada doesn't have these fancy shmancy committees, they just leave us out for the wolves to fend for ourselves, it hurts.

 

[skooper]

from my understanding, if your undergrad offers a committee letter and you don't utilize it, med schools see that as a red flag. confirm/deny?

Yes, unless you were ineligible. It's a red flag if you're eligible and opt not to get one.

Yes but this only applies to a select few schools that many med schools know use a committee letter, typically because they see a lot of applicants from that school. Would they know if the random local campus of a nondescript state school has a committee? Nope, and then it wouldn't matter.

 

[skooper]

Where would I clarify this?

You don't. see my post above

 

[heebeejeebies]

You don't. see my post above

Welp, I guess it may be schools specific, according to BU:

"If no such institutional letter is available, the applicant should explain this on the BUSM supplemental application and substitute a minimum of three individual letters"