Denied a Committee Letter

[Seven of Nine]

Your app's lateness at this point is the real problem. The committee letter is a secondary problem.

OP, have you also through the +/- consequences of your plans for next year. Let's say you do get an interview, have you thought about schools' policies and how you would arrange the interview while out of the country from jan-june?

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[Food]

False. LizzyM is an adcom at a top 10 med school. She comes on here to give good advice and guidance to people, and has nothing to gain personally. She has better things to do than just mess with people online.

Most people take her advice to heart. If they're smart.

False. Black bears. Fact: Bears eat beets. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.

We all have better things to do than mess with people online. Not messing with people =/= being concerned with how their lives are going. I don't even see why this is an argument.

 

[Food]

I'm going to have to disagree with the pedestal comment about 7 of 9...

Haven't any of you guys watched Star Trek: Voyager?

I've watched a lot of Star Trek. And from my impression of 7 of 9 on Voyager - the voyager crew often thinks of her as being on some sort of weird pedestal...what with her being a Borg and not understanding day-to-day human interaction and all...

Anyway - I agree with anybody saying that TNG was the best series. Absolutely incredible show - taught me more about philosophy than any class could have. I did watch DS9 and Voyager as well.

 

[psipsina]

Does anyone else think that it is ludicrous that not having a pre-med committee letter is a red flag?

"We refuse to acknowledge you as an applicant if you don't get a letter from some random individuals." -sincerely, med-schools

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, because I have not dealt with one yet, but can these people really attest to your qualifications, aside from what is on paper and a quick BS interview? This process...really makes one wonder sometimes.

Part of this process is showing that you're willing to jump through hoops. The hoops only get more numerous as you progress. I'm a 4th year and am concurrently doing a clinical rotation and studying for a shelf (final) in 2 weeks, studying for 2 step exams, coordinating away rotations for upcoming months, putting my residency application (LORs, PS, ERAS etc) and doing research. Jumping through all these hoops shows my commitment to the residency of my choice.

In addition to commitment you have to be able to self motivate and organize to juggle the responsibilities of medical school. Dropping a ball is a red flag. The ball itself might not seem important, but the fact that you dropped it is. Part of this is learning and figuring out where you lost it so it doesn't happen in the future when the tasks you are juggling are more important (like the 20 patients on your service at the end of this road).

 

[298609]

It is very rare to see a negative letter, even when the letters are submitted directly (without screening through a pre-med committee). In some cases, you can tell that the letter writer is unfamiliar with the genre and believes that a negative must be included. Other letter writers damn with faint praise or make it obvious that the student was doing whatever to improve the application and then scooted out of there. There are some writers who are sincere and honest and you get the picture of someone who for example, might be cocky, competitive, and ambitious. Depending on the type of student a school is looking for, that might be a positive but in some cases that might be a clue that an applicant will not be a good fit.

i'm worried the two people writing my committee letter (aka the committee) don't like me a whole lot. i know my individual letters are great, but my concern is that the composite will not be.

is there anythign i can do to prevent a possibly lukewarm composite letter from hurting me?

(probs not)

 

[thedoctor8706]

I've watched a lot of Star Trek. And from my impression of 7 of 9 on Voyager - the voyager crew often thinks of her as being on some sort of weird pedestal...what with her being a Borg and not understanding day-to-day human interaction and all...

Anyway - I agree with anybody saying that TNG was the best series. Absolutely incredible show - taught me more about philosophy than any class could have. I did watch DS9 and Voyager as well.

I loved voyager. Hence my avatar and user name lol. The doctor was one of my favorite characters! Though it's true, TNG was the best overall...

 

[WuMedic]

To the OP. If you don't have a committee letter, then your individual letters better be outstanding. However, due to the fact that you were late taking the MCAT, I think it is advisable that you wait since you have no idea where you stand. Even outstanding letters won't make up for a lukewarm MCAT score.

Does anyone else think that it is ludicrous that not having a pre-med committee letter is a red flag?

"We refuse to acknowledge you as an applicant if you don't get a letter from some random individuals." -sincerely, med-schools

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, because I have not dealt with one yet, but can these people really attest to your qualifications, aside from what is on paper and a quick BS interview? This process...really makes one wonder sometimes.

It depends on your school. Ours has no deadline for letter writing interviews and at least one person on the committee is on of your advisors you have had for at least the past 2 years. They say the letter comes out 2 weeks after your interview so it's in your best interest to get your stuff together early, but they will interview whenever between July 1st and November 1st. In my case, 2 of my advisors were on the committee in addition to the department chair of my program, and 2 random professors (one from my program, one from the medical school). I think the committee can really attest to my qualifications and that the schools know the members and can take what they say to heart.

Also, most schools will not outright reject you, but your individual letters must be very good. Some people who have very good professors who are well known in their fields and who they have gotten to know well and know will be able to say meaningful things about them forgo the committee out of choice. I almost did it myself since one of my letters came from a top professor in his field, one came from the CEO of a very well known medical company, and one came from a top researcher in the field that anyone in that field would recognize his name. I went with the committee just because I felt they could explain my deficiencies better than I could and that the committee would be able to put together a photo album of me highlighting the good and mitigating a few small problems, whereas individual letters would have served mostly as snapshots ignoring the bad.

 

[BrainBuff]

Now we are all perseverating...

 

[Suncrusher]

I've watched a lot of Star Trek. And from my impression of 7 of 9 on Voyager - the voyager crew often thinks of her as being on some sort of weird pedestal...what with her being a Borg and not understanding day-to-day human interaction and all...

Anyway - I agree with anybody saying that TNG was the best series. Absolutely incredible show - taught me more about philosophy than any class could have. I did watch DS9 and Voyager as well.

She IS on a pedastal, because she speaks so formally and is hotttttttttttttttttt

 

[tttttc]

I don't understand why there are pre-med committees at all. I heard that some schools, in order to keep their "success rate", deny committee letters to people with GPA/MCAT they deem "hopeless". If a committee can really determine whether one is suitable for medicine, why the whole application process and interviews?

 

[LizzyM]

I don't understand why there are pre-med committees at all. I heard that some schools, in order to keep their "success rate", deny committee letters to people with GPA/MCAT they deem "hopeless". If a committee can really determine whether one is suitable for medicine, why the whole application process and interviews?

Yeah, I met someone like that a little while ago. Did an MS and then got into medical school without needing his undergrad committee letter.

Committees only determine if someone meets there criteria for a recommendation or a particular flavor of recommendation. It is up to the medical school to determine if an applicant with such a recommendation is a good fit for that med school.

Someone who was not recommended for medical school right out of college can buff the application and become a more desirable candidate.

 

[chman]

Lizzy M

Someone who was not recommended for medical school right out of college can buff the application and become a more desirable candidate.

I will never look at the bolded the same again after reading The House of God.

 

[Vivid03]

Sorry I was just reading this and was wondering what a committee letter from a premed advisor is and why is it so important? I am from Canada and am starting Uni in the fall. We don't have a premed advisor at my school I don't think

 

[LizzyM]

Sorry I was just reading this and was wondering what a committee letter from a premed advisor is and why is it so important? I am from Canada and am starting Uni in the fall. We don't have a premed advisor at my school I don't think

Some schools offer a service through the pre-med advising office (might be called professional school advising or career advising). Letters of recommendation (LORs) from faculty and others can be submitted to this office for safekeeping. Then the applicant interviews with the committee or advisor and may be asked to provide documents such as transcript, personal statement, resume. The pre-med committee then composes a letter and either liberally quotes the letters of recommendation, or appends the letters of recommendation as attachments.

If a school does not offer this service then an applicant can use Interfolio (or a similar service) to collect, store and distribute the LORs.

Your bigger problem is attending a Canadian school for undergrad. That may be fine for Canadian med schools (although competition for admission is very fierce) but US adcom members sometimes find them bland and lukewarm. It isn't that the applicant isn't great, it is just that Canadians tend to be modest and humble and they write about their students in the same way which is different than the way American faculty tend to write about their students. If at all possible, come on down over a summer for a research program & get a letter from your research supervisor (PI, Principal Investigator).