Content in LOR from undergrad?

[TheLadyVanishes]

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How common is it for nontraditional students to get a letter of recommendation from college when we're 5-10 years out?

My personal statement focuses on what I've learned and how I've changed since graduating from college and working/volunteering. Indeed, my most valuable pre-med experience has happened after college and some of my LORs reflect that. Based on my college record alone, I would not - and should not - have been accepted to medical school.

That being said, I was still a dedicated and strong student in undergrad and at least one of my professors agrees with me. I have a high undergrad GPA and a few ECs of significant duration, I'm proud of what I accomplished and I'm reluctant to write it off completely. I would like to have one letter that addresses those 4+ years of my life.

What angle should the LOR writer take? I may have been a good student and a hard worker, but lacked the pre-med drive and dazzle. That would make for a dull and potentially disastrous LOR. However, if this is supposed to be about me in undergrad, would it be inappropriate for this person to address any of the things that have happened afterwards?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Belle Melodie]

I would not - and should not - have been accepted to medical school.

This is confusing-- what do you mean by "have been accepted to medical school" do you mean "should not be accepted to medical school"? Your original statement implies that you were already accepted.

Im not too sure about what exactly the LOR's should say given that i am not applying yet and havent looked into that. But I am guessing that if im in school and i ask someone to write a LOR is should be about me as a person and student. How would any of your teachers know what "great" PRE MED student you are. IMO, I would suppose that they'd write a general letter of you and your academics.

Also, how would this person know what has happened after college? Have you kept in touch with and have you had private conversations with this person?

Are you worried that this person may write negative things ( in lieu of what has "happened afterwards" or do you WANT this person to write about it??

What do you mean by what has "happened afterwards"? Are you speaking of your volunteer work?

This post is a bit confusing to me.

 

[Captain Sisko]

This is confusing-- what do you mean by "have been accepted to medical school" do you mean "should not be accepted to medical school"? Your original statement implies that you were already accepted.

Im not too sure about what exactly the LOR's should say given that i am not applying yet and havent looked into that. But I am guessing that if im in school and i ask someone to write a LOR is should be about me as a person and student. How would any of your teachers know what "great" PRE MED student you are. IMO, I would suppose that they'd write a general letter of you and your academics.

Also, how would this person know what has happened after college? Have you kept in touch with and have you had private conversations with this person?

Are you worried that this person may write negative things ( in lieu of what has "happened afterwards" or do you WANT this person to write about it??

What do you mean by what has "happened afterwards"? Are you speaking of your volunteer work?

This post is a bit confusing to me.

You should work on your verbal reasoning skills. Op was perfectly clear to me.

 

[TheLadyVanishes]

This is confusing-- what do you mean by "have been accepted to medical school" do you mean "should not be accepted to medical school"? Your original statement implies that you were already accepted.

Im not too sure about what exactly the LOR's should say given that i am not applying yet and havent looked into that. But I am guessing that if im in school and i ask someone to write a LOR is should be about me as a person and student. How would any of your teachers know what "great" PRE MED student you are. IMO, I would suppose that they'd write a general letter of you and your academics.

Also, how would this person know what has happened after college? Have you kept in touch with and have you had private conversations with this person?

Are you worried that this person may write negative things ( in lieu of what has "happened afterwards" or do you WANT this person to write about it??

What do you mean by what has "happened afterwards"? Are you speaking of your volunteer work?

This post is a bit confusing to me.

My undergrad record alone is not medical school material. As an undergrad, I had a high GPA, a few bland ECs, no shadowing, no medical volunteering, an uncertain outlook on life, no URM status or other special circumstances in life - what kind of chance would that person have at getting into medical school? Slim to none, IMO. I read the WAMC forums and there are people who have known they want to be doctors from day one, who check all the boxes, who study hard for the MCAT, volunteer 100s of hours and have an array of interesting and diverse ECs, who STILL encounter difficulties in their path to medical school.

I haven't applied yet but I *hope* that my work experience and ECs after graduation will make me medical school material.

As for professors addressing ECs, another LOR writer was interested in my resume and personal statement, although he is primarily writing an LOR based on academics.

Yes, I have somewhat kept in touch with this person after graduation. This post was mainly to ask how these "former professor" letters work for those of us who are 5-10 years out of college and what content they usually address.

 

[anguisette]

My undergrad record alone is not medical school material. As an undergrad, I had a high GPA, a few bland ECs, no shadowing, no medical volunteering, an uncertain outlook on life, no URM status or other special circumstances in life - what kind of chance would that person have at getting into medical school? Slim to none, IMO. I read the WAMC forums and there are people who have known they want to be doctors from day one, who check all the boxes, who study hard for the MCAT, volunteer 100s of hours and have an array of interesting and diverse ECs, who STILL encounter difficulties in their path to medical school.

I haven't applied yet but I *hope* that my work experience and ECs after graduation will make me medical school material.

As for professors addressing ECs, another LOR writer was interested in my resume and personal statement, although he is primarily writing an LOR based on academics.

Yes, I have somewhat kept in touch with this person after graduation. This post was mainly to ask how these "former professor" letters work for those of us who are 5-10 years out of college and what content they usually address.

I think the general idea is that you want strong LORs from different aspects of your life. That way, the stuff that you write about in your AMCAS can be somewhat corroborated by others. If you have LORs from your recent ECs and your employer, I think it's fine to have your undergrad prof write a LOR based solely on your academics.

Having said that, I also kept in touch with my professors post-graduation. I gave them copies of my transcripts, resume, and personal statement so that they understood my motivation and knew the details of what I had been up to since graduation. I also added in my resume my volunteering activities and hobbies (I didn't have any LORs from my volunteering so I was hoping they would mention things that make me seem a bit more well-rounded). Although I didn't read my professors' LORs, two of them wrote me 4-page letters, and I can't imagine that all four pages only spoke of academics. Hope that helps.

 

[RegisBioMedMS]

If at all possible, make time to see your LOR writer in person to catch up. Bring along copies of any research or larger projects you may have done in their class, if you can find them. Make it a personal, positive visit and it will help your writer to make it a personal, positive letter. One letter from long ago is fine, but make sure you also have some more current input from an academic source. It will be hard for ad coms to predict your current academic abilities without some more recent grades and letters.

 

[TheLadyVanishes]

Thread bump.

Is it a huge red flag to NOT include a letter from undergrad? This was 4+ years of my life and accounts for the majority of my GPA, which is respectable. The more I think about it, the more I feel that I'm grasping at straws, because I really wasn't an outstanding student as an undergrad. I just showed up to lab, turned in my homework and studied to do well on tests. That would make for a pretty bland letter.

Also, I didn't take a formal postbacc but simply took required or useful classes where and when I could squeeze them into my schedule. I would not have a postbacc committee letter because of this but would request from individual professors.

Personal statement still focuses on differences between me as undergrad and me as nontraditional pre-med student, due to the many things that happened in between.

Thanks.