Do LORs from engineering professors count towards your science professor letters?

[bears1992]

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I've got two LOR's from engineering professors (one is the dean) but I am wondering if this satisfies the (2) science professor LORs? I know I can get two LOR's from science professors in my post bacc but I imagine they would be more generic. Also, my Uni does have a pre-health committee but I did my DIY post bacc at a local state school. Will it hurt my app if I do not have a pre-health committee letter?

Also, can I use my employer or research grant advisory LOR as my non-science? It's been at least 5 years since I've had a non-science class.

 

[psu228]

I've got two LOR's from engineering professors (one is the dean) but I am wondering if this satisfies the (2) science professor LORs? I know I can get two LOR's from science professors in my post bacc but I imagine they would be more generic. Also, my Uni does have a pre-health committee but I did my DIY post bacc at a local state school. Will it hurt my app if I do not have a pre-health committee letter?

Also, can I use my employer or research grant advisory LOR as my non-science? It's been at least 5 years since I've had a non-science class.

Hmm this is an interesting question.. I know PCOM, which has more stringent LOR reqs than a lot of other DO schools, says this:

Three faculty letters of recommendation: Two of those three letters must be from BASIC SCIENCE professors (undergraduate, post-baccalaureate or graduate programs). Please note that the faculty letters must be from a professor that issued a grade in a course that appears on the applicant's institutional transcript. The course number and title must be noted in the letter.

I take basic science to mean the core pre reqs, bio, gen chem, and the like. Again, PCOM is more strict with this than other schools I've looked at, so you could potentially be good at most places with the engineering prof LORs. But truthfully even if they accepted them, med schools would still value a letter from a prof that taught you in a class that had a direct relation to med school curriculum or the pre reqs. So it would be best if you got a "basic science" LOR or two, but if you can't I think what you have will suffice.

Pretty sure but not 100% that, again, MOST schools will be totally fine with you using your employer or grant research guy as a non science LOR.

It won't hurt you that you don't have the committee letter. I didn't have my pre reqs done when I graduated, either. My school told me that I needed all pre reqs from their college of science in order to get a letter from them. So hows that possible if your a non trad with a DIY post bacc? It's not and med schools know that. You should be fine in that regard, too.

 

[bears1992]

Hmm this is an interesting question.. I know PCOM, which has more stringent LOR reqs than a lot of other DO schools, says this:

Three faculty letters of recommendation: Two of those three letters must be from BASIC SCIENCE professors (undergraduate, post-baccalaureate or graduate programs). Please note that the faculty letters must be from a professor that issued a grade in a course that appears on the applicant's institutional transcript. The course number and title must be noted in the letter.

I take basic science to mean the core pre reqs, bio, gen chem, and the like. Again, PCOM is more strict with this than other schools I've looked at, so you could potentially be good at most places with the engineering prof LORs. But truthfully even if they accepted them, med schools would still value a letter from a prof that taught you in a class that had a direct relation to med school curriculum or the pre reqs. So it would be best if you got a "basic science" LOR or two, but if you can't I think what you have will suffice.

Pretty sure but not 100% that, again, MOST schools will be totally fine with you using your employer or grant research guy as a non science LOR.

It won't hurt you that you don't have the committee letter. I didn't have my pre reqs done when I graduated, either. My school told me that I needed all pre reqs from their college of science in order to get a letter from them. So hows that possible if your a non trad with a DIY post bacc? It's not and med schools know that. You should be fine in that regard, too.

So would my best bet be to get LORs from two basic science professors from my post bacc and only send them to the schools that won't take engineering professor LORs? I did well in all my post bacc classes but I am not sure on how well of a letter I would get as I only had one class with all but one of those professors. I had a great relationship with alot of my engineering professors so I'm sure those letters would be much better.

As for a non-science professor, I don't know what I would do if it was absolutely required. I haven't had a non-science class in 5+ years.

 

[psu228]

So would my best bet be to get LORs from two basic science professors from my post bacc and only send them to the schools that won't take engineering professor LORs? I did well in all my post bacc classes but I am not sure on how well of a letter I would get as I only had one class with all but one of those professors. I had a great relationship with alot of my engineering professors so I'm sure those letters would be much better.

As for a non-science professor, I don't know what I would do if it was absolutely required. I haven't had a non-science class in 5+ years.

If I were you I would keep all the letters you currently have and try to add a basic sciences LOR to be safe. Good luck!

 

[djtallahassee]

Sorry to resurrect this, but did people have any luck with the engineering letters? Chemical engineer and I had my first grief with a school about it recently. This may honestly stop me from applying DO.

 

[bears1992]

Sorry to resurrect this, but did people have any luck with the engineering letters? Chemical engineer and I had my first grief with a school about it recently. This may honestly stop me from applying DO.

Wow, that sucks. I'd think chemical engineering could easily pass as a science letter. Would you mind letting me know which DO schools rejected your engineering letters? Also, were both of your science letters from an engineering professor?

 

[Coltuna]

Wow, that sucks. I'd think chemical engineering could easily pass as a science letter. Would you mind letting me know which DO schools rejected your engineering letters? Also, were both of your science letters from an engineering professor?

I'm in a little different situation (Medical Laboratory Science major), but I called BCOM, and they said they would accept a letter from my MLS faculty member despite their website saying letter from a professor who has taught in the PREREQUISITE classes. However, some school sites say that the classes they taught must be under a Bio, Chem, or Physics designation. You can't get another letter from a basic science professor?

 

[djtallahassee]

It's a lot harder when your non-trad 5 yrs out of college and your university basic science were all >200 people. I would highly question the quality of those. Who knows

Edit. It seems like the DO schools are more stringent on these "basic science" requirements than MD. I May switch focus here soon

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[Coltuna]

It's a lot harder when your non-trad 5 yrs out of college and your university basic science were all >200 people. I would highly question the quality of those. Who knows

Edit. It seems like the DO schools are more stringent on these "basic science" requirements than MD. I May switch focus here soon

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Oh definitely. This is one reason I'm actually glad I went to CC for most of my basic sciences. I think my largest class was 70 students and even that class had 10-15 student seminars haha.