Do med schools care if an evaluator is "prominent" or not?

[studentdoctor08]

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When you ask for letters of evaluation, would it be fine to ask a faculty member of your school who knows you really well, but maybe isn't that "big" of a person or would it be better to ask someone like the Dean or head of a department? How much weight do schools place on how prominent your evaluator is?

Also, would it be bad if all my evaluators are through the biology department at my school? I've heard that it's good to have variety in your letters (ex: a biology and physics professor for the science recommendations instead of just 2 biology), but I'm not sure how much weight schools place on this factor as well

 

[sector9]

When you ask for letters of evaluation, would it be fine to ask a faculty member of your school who knows you really well, but maybe isn't that "big" of a person or would it be better to ask someone like the Dean or head of a department? How much weight do schools place on how prominent your evaluator is?

Also, would it be bad if all my evaluators are through the biology department at my school? I've heard that it's good to have variety in your letters (ex: a biology and physics professor for the science recommendations instead of just 2 biology), but I'm not sure how much weight schools place on this factor as well

Don't worry at all about how prominent your evaluator is.

And I would worry more about how well the professor knows you than "diversifying" your letter writers beyond the guidelines med schools already have laid out for you.

 

[EnergyDrink]

You want someone close that can write a good letter. Anyone you've done considerable work for as well. Those are better than a letter from a well-recognized person who doesn't know you.

However if you have a well-recognized person who does know you well, go for that.

I had an adcom administrator ask me who my letters were from, when I gave him person A he was a bit unresponsive, when I mentioned person B he said "Good, she's well-known". So it does play at least some role.

 

[chronicidal]

My opinion.
You should choose letter writers with the following criteria, in order of importance:
1) How well s/he knows how good you are.
2) How many others s/he can compare you against (studentdoctor08 is in the top 5% of the 1000 students I have ever taught cellular biology; of the 30 students I have ever supervised in my lab)
3) How many connections s/he has to people on the medical school admissions committee
4) How famous s/he is
5) How high his/her rank is

 

[Stumpyman]

Prominence in itself doesn't matter nearly as much as the quality of the letter.

As long the writer isn't a 1st year grad student or something, it should be OK.

 

[ljpm8224]

My opinion.
You should choose letter writers with the following criteria, in order of importance:
1) How well s/he knows how good you are.
2) How many others s/he can compare you against (studentdoctor08 is in the top 5% of the 1000 students I have ever taught cellular biology; of the 30 students I have ever supervised in my lab)
3) How many connections s/he has to people on the medical school admissions committee
4) How famous s/he is
5) How high his/her rank is

^^ agree with this, however I'd also add in between #1 and #2- how articulate they are and how much they care about you/how much effort they will put into writing a really compelling letter! ie- had an anatomy prof that I TA'd for who just really went above and beyond writing this incredible recco for me vs. a more "meh" generic typical (still good/nice, but lacked wow factor) one that I got from bio department chair/prominent textbook author. Sooo... I'd say try to pick someone who's really got your back and going to write something unique & stupendous vs the same old same old they always read.

 

[IlDestriero]

Unless your getting a LOR from a Nobel laureate, most committee members won't know who they are. This is far more important for residency selection. Everyone knows who the big name people are in their own field. If you can bag a good LOR from one of the big dogs people take notice.

 

[Ilovewater]

Also, would it be bad if all my evaluators are through the biology department at my school? I've heard that it's good to have variety in your letters (ex: a biology and physics professor for the science recommendations instead of just 2 biology), but I'm not sure how much weight schools place on this factor as well

Check the LOR requirements at the schools you are applying to. Most will require 2 science letters (bio, chem, physics, math?) and 1 non-science letter. The requirement will vary slightly with each school, but if you get 1 of each, you're covered for most schools.

As for the status of writer, I'm not too sure if it plays a big role. For instance, if your writer is a microbiologist, he/she may be well known only in the world of microbiology and related fields but not in other fields. So if the person who reviews your app file knows nothing about micro, he/she may not recognize the "big name" at all. Unless your writer won the Nobel Prize or something similar, that's a different story.

Ask people who know you well because they'll be able to articulate on why you're a great candidate for med school. It's better than asking someone well-known whom you barely know because the best they can write is a generic letter.