Committee Letter vs. Individual LORs

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JasenClaisen

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At my school, the premed/predent committee writes a comprehensive cover letter with the individual evaluation letters I submit to them attached verbatim.

On dental school websites, I see that they ask for specific letters from a combo of science/nonscience faculty and employers/dentists. Would my evaluation letters for the committee have to fulfill the individual letter requirements of the schools?

For example, Columbia asks for 3 science faculty but most school only ask for two. Do I need to attach a 3rd science LOR to be able to apply to Columbia?

Thank you for your time.

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I can say that for Columbia, a committee letter is all you need.

In fact, every school I applied to was happy with just a committee letter.

Except Tufts-- I had to send the separate letter from the dentist I'd shadowed, despite that letter having been incorporated into the committee letter...they wanted it separate as well.

So there're two examples. Columbia and Tufts. I'm fairly certain that most school websites will tell you explicitly whether or not a committee letter will suffice. You could start there. Or make a phone call.
 
Thank you for your response SupDanLOL. Did your committee letter require that you submit individual LORs to them? If so, what type of individuals (sci faculty/employer/dentist) did you request letters from?
 
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Thank you for your response SupDanLOL. Did your committee letter require that you submit individual LORs to them? If so, what type of individuals (sci faculty/employer/dentist) did you request letters from?

Well... what does YOUR health committee require?
 
For most dental schools, if your undergrad has a pre-health committee, they prefer that you get a committee letter and that is all you will need. If your undergrad doesn't have a committee, then you should pay attention to their requirements for individual LORs.
 
My committee requires 3 letters and one must be from science faculty. I'm thinking about asking for LOR from 2 sci professors though. Would that be sufficient for a school like Columbia that requires 3 sci LOR without a committee letter?
 
My committee requires 3 letters and one must be from science faculty. I'm thinking about asking for LOR from 2 sci professors though. Would that be sufficient for a school like Columbia that requires 3 sci LOR without a committee letter?

This is what my package was like. I had 2 science and a dentist write my letters and my school also sent a committee letter. I really don't think Columbia's requirements are that strict. I received an interview and acceptance without the additional science letter.

However I think Tufts has a more strict policy that they follow. I am pretty sure my dentist did not specifically state that i had shadowed with him for 30 hours, a requirement in Tufts letter, so I didn't get an interview. :rolleyes:

I would just follow what the majority of schools follow for amounts and don't worry about Columbia.
 
I am pretty sure my dentist did not specifically state that i had shadowed with him for 30 hours, a requirement in Tufts letter, so I didn't get an interview. :rolleyes:

Same thing happened to me last year. This is often something people overlook because it's specific for Tufts.
 
This isn't necessarily true, I interviewed at Tufts without having verification of the shadowing hours (I wasn't aware this was needed either). At the interview they let me know that part of my application was not complete and let me have the dentists I shadowed send them a letter/email after the fact.
 
For most dental schools, if your undergrad has a pre-health committee, they prefer that you get a committee letter and that is all you will need. If your undergrad doesn't have a committee, then you should pay attention to their requirements for individual LORs.

This is the model answer.
Plus in your dentists LOR they should specifically state the amount of hours shadowed. Just in case.
:thumbup:
 
Thank you for your response SupDanLOL. Did your committee letter require that you submit individual LORs to them? If so, what type of individuals (sci faculty/employer/dentist) did you request letters from?

Yes. Individual LOR were required. I had 2 sci professors, 1 dentistry-related employer, 1 PI from my lab, and 1 from a dentist I'd shadowed.

The only thing my committee required was at least 3 letters, one being from sci faculty. Committee letters generally trump all other requirements. It seems as though dental schools quite prefer them.
 
I did individual letters - at the time I didn't even know that my undergrad school had committee letters - just walked into the professors' offices the fall after graduation and walked out with letters.
 
Didn't wanna start a new thread so bumping this old one.

My school gives the option of sending LORs individually or as a composite in the form of a committee letter. Is there an advantage to sending individual LORs over a committee letter or vice versa?
 
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