don't have right LORs, apply to more schools?

[wxl31]

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G'morning! I need some advice.

I applied to 26 schools and now after receiving about 2/3 of the secondaries, I have been disqualified from about 4-5 of those schools for not having the "right" kind of rec letters. I have one science prof who taught me, a research mentor (who is a prof but didn't teach me) from a summer research program, and a humanities prof who taught me.

So, I can apply to schools who ask for two science faculty but not school who ask for two science faculty WHO TAUGHT ME i.e. nymc. Hope that makes sense.

Do you guys think I should add some more schools?

33p, 3.7overall, 3.65bcpm,great ec's, academic lors ok, ec lors fantastic, cali resident. thx!

 

[leechy]

I'm curious - did you get formally disqualified from those 4-5 schools, or did you apply and then realize you didn't have the right letters? I was under the impression that schools might look over minor deviances from their LOR requirements if they like the rest of your app.

In any case, yes, I'd advise applying to a few more schools.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I was in your one science LOR situation and I found that roughly 40% of schools specifically ask for two science LORs. So I bit the bullet and emailed some old professors that I've never even talked to and eventually got another science LOR to use for those schools. Perhaps you should try the same, you don't want to reject yourself by not being able to apply.

 

[wxl31]

I'm curious - did you get formally disqualified from those 4-5 schools, or did you apply and then realize you didn't have the right letters? I was under the impression that schools might look over minor deviances from their LOR requirements if they like the rest of your app.

In any case, yes, I'd advise applying to a few more schools.

I wrote to some of the schools and YES, I did get formally disqualifed. NYMC told me to not bother. Good thing since their fee is so high. Other schools like Loyola told me to submit a note stating what happened. Other places I called and got a verbal ok, but I worry....one thing I've learned since leaving college is to get everything in writing!

i applied to vandy, osu, NU, baylor, einstein, loyola, pritzker, drexel, rochester, penn state, ohsu, and the UCs. Can someone recommend other schools w/o the prof who taught you requirement? Thanks =)

 

[wxl31]

I was in your one science LOR situation and I found that roughly 40% of schools specifically ask for two science LORs. So I bit the bullet and emailed some old professors that I've never even talked to and eventually got another science LOR to use for those schools. Perhaps you should try the same, you don't want to reject yourself by not being able to apply.

believe me, i've tried...

i'll continue trying i guess.

 

[leechy]

believe me, i've tried...

i'll continue trying i guess.

Hmmm, come to think of it, I'm in a sketchy LOR situation myself. I have two science letters, and a third borderline science letter (not really a hard science but could pass for it if absolutely necessary), but neither of my two science letters are from full-fledged professors - though they did teach me.

Not to complain, but the LOR req can be annoying. I'm not sure how much adcoms realize that we didn't all go to small liberal arts colleges where class sizes are always under 30.

Well good luck to you wxl31. If I run across any other schools with liberal LOR reqs I'll let you know.

 

[jlee9531]

sadly, most people dont think about their LORs carefully when it should be one of the first things to think about around a year before you apply to med school. that way you have ample time to get all the correct ones and also give the professors ample time to write you one. This info is for future applicants.

In your case, you need to do what Pinkertinkle did and just keep on trying to find a prof. Or maybe a TA that you got to know and have him or her help you out in contacting a prof.

 

[queeneleanor77]

I wrote to some of the schools and YES, I did get formally disqualifed. NYMC told me to not bother. Good thing since their fee is so high. Other schools like Loyola told me to submit a note stating what happened. Other places I called and got a verbal ok, but I worry....one thing I've learned since leaving college is to get everything in writing!

i applied to vandy, osu, NU, baylor, einstein, loyola, pritzker, drexel, rochester, penn state, ohsu, and the UCs. Can someone recommend other schools w/o the prof who taught you requirement? Thanks =)

If you don't mind me asking, which other schools, besides NYMC, formally disqualified you? I have sketchy LORs too. 2 science letters, but no non-science letter and no chance of getting one. I am planning on calling some of the schools tomorrow (UM, MSSM, USF, Jefferson) to see what they say. I'll let you know...

 

[ambrosia]

I wrote to some of the schools and YES, I did get formally disqualifed. NYMC told me to not bother. Good thing since their fee is so high. Other schools like Loyola told me to submit a note stating what happened. Other places I called and got a verbal ok, but I worry....one thing I've learned since leaving college is to get everything in writing!

i applied to vandy, osu, NU, baylor, einstein, loyola, pritzker, drexel, rochester, penn state, ohsu, and the UCs. Can someone recommend other schools w/o the prof who taught you requirement? Thanks =)

I'm in the exact same situation as you and it sucks...I have 3 letters - 1 from a science prof who taught me in chemistry, one from a anthropology prof i had, and one from the guy I do research for....he's a pHD and everything, I've just never gotten credit for doing work for him. it's soo frustrating. Anyways, if you're thinking about adding schools, I applied to UMICH, Wayne State, NYU, JOhns Hopkins and Mayo, all of which also had more lenient LOR requiremtnts. Unfortunately, like you, I also applied to NYMC and Loyola, and don't think I'm even gonna bother with those secondaries.....

By the way, I'm also thinking I'm gonna add some more schools because of this, were vandy, baylor, drexel, rochester and penn state ok with your letters?

 

[ambrosia]

Bump....if anyone knows of schools that require only one letter to be from a science faculty member who has taught you, please list them here, I would really appreciate it!
Thanks 🙂

 

[leechy]

Earlier this year I made myself a spreadsheet listing LOR reqs of schools I was interested in... Here's what I found for one science LOR:

Dartmouth, Harvard (no req specifications), UMichigan, UPenn...

Someone mentioned JHU as having lax LOR reqs, but last time I checked them out, they wanted 2 sci faculty letters... correct me if I'm wrong here. 🙂

 

[leechy]

If you don't mind me asking, which other schools, besides NYMC, formally disqualified you? I have sketchy LORs too. 2 science letters, but no non-science letter and no chance of getting one. I am planning on calling some of the schools tomorrow (UM, MSSM, USF, Jefferson) to see what they say. I'll let you know...

(from my spreadsheet) Cornell and UVa are content with receiving only 2 sci letters.

 

[queeneleanor77]

I called Jefferson and MSSM this morning. Jefferson wants four letters, one each from bio, chem, physics and humanitites. WHAT?!? How ridiculous. Anyways, they said that I could substitute other letters for their required letters, I just have to write them and tell them whose letter I'm substituting for which requirement.

MSSM wants one science and one non-science, but they said I could still apply as long as I send a letter to the committe stating why I don't have the required letters.

Also, NYU wants one science and one non-science - I haven't received a secondary yet so I didn't want to push the issue, so I just asked casually if two science letters would be okay, and the girl said it would be fine. That's not official, of course - I don't even know who I was speaking to.

I still have to email USF (they don't want phone calls) who wants 2 science, 1 non-science AND 2 character letters.

I also didn't ask UM because I haven't received a secondary yet but they want 3 letters from faculty, which I don't have. I'll keep you guys updated on what they say.

 

[dulcinea]

University of Kansas isn't specific on their recs. I agree, its silly to make you get a letter from someone who doesn't even know you as well, just to fill a requirement. Wash U requires two science faculty but I don't know if they actually had to teach you. You might want to check on that. Good luck!

 

[sfbear]

Any chance we can make this into a "schools without totally strict LOR reqs" thread?
I'm running into the same problem - I've been out three years (which means I just miss the "if you graduated before 2001, we'll be lenient" cut) and had to take NYMC of my list, and some others look like they're going to have to go, too. How about four categories?

2 science professors LORs
USC

2 science LORs

completely flexible

not flexible (i.e. 3+ letters from profs only)
NYMC
EVMS
UVermont

I'm sorry I don't have more right now - my spreadsheet's at home. I'll add on later . . .

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I compiled quite a few,
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Minimum 3, two from teachers
Duke University School of Medicine
Harvard Medical School Two from science, one humanities
Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ. BCP, humanities, if possible
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine two letters of recommendation from senior faculty in science departments.
Keck Sch. Of Med.University of Southern California current letters of recommendation from two science faculty members
Mount Sinai School of Medicine one from a science faculty and one from a non-science faculty member.
New York Medical College Three undergraduate professors, at least two science
New York University two letters from individual faculty members
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicin Three faculty, two science
Stanford University School of Medicine Not two science, select recommenders that know your work well
Temple University School of Medicine Compilation from letter service, at least two sci
Tufts University School of Medicine A "package" of letters
University of California San Diego Two science
University of California San Francisco No science professor requirement
University of California, Davis School of Medicine No two science
University of California, Irvine- College/Medicine Two letters (at least one from a science professor) be submitted
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Two letters from faculty, at least one science
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Three academic letters
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den No specific requirements
Washington University School of Medicine At least one science, three professors
Weill Medical College of Cornell University two science letters from professors who can provide a detailed evaluation
Yale University School of Medicine individual letters from three teachers, two of whom should be in science fields.

 

[leechy]

Thanks for the info.

I have a question: when schools mean faculty, does that mean they have to be tenured profs? Are teaching assistants OK? Non-tenured profs?

JHU's "senior faculty" phrase concerns me... my recommenders are not senior faculty.

 

[ambrosia]

pinkertinkle...thanks so much for all the info! I think I'm going to add a few of those schools that won't mind that I only have one letter from a science faculty member who has taught me!

leechy - I was wondering the same thing on the Hopkins app, I don't know what they mean by senior faculty members. I just used the same recs I've been using everywhere else, all three are pHDs, I figured that was most important. Generally I think I'd try to avoid using recs from grad student assistans if at all possible, because I think having the rec from someone with a pHD carried a lot of weight.

 

[wends]

dido on the thanks for pinkertinkle...and thanks for the 411 on mount sinai and jefferson.....hopefully i can find another LOR for jefferson, but mssm seem pretty resonable

 

[nina512]

Glad to see I'm not the only one stressing about these LORs. But it doesn't hurt to email the admissions offices to check how strict they are.

And if worst comes to worst, give a detailed explaination about your LOR situation in the space provided for "any additional information you'd like adcoms to know?" That's what Jefferson told me, so I think it's a good idea for other schools that have a similar question.

 

[pratik7]

I have a composite committee letter from my undergrad that has a total of 6 LORs with 3 of them being science professors. Do you think this will fill the requirement or do they want the entire letters?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

You're very welcome everyone, I just posted what I already had.

I have a composite committee letter from my undergrad that has a total of 6 LORs with 3 of them being science professors. Do you think this will fill the requirement or do they want the entire letters?

Pratik, usually if you have a committee letter you do not need to follow the guidelines for letters. The websites usually say "letter from committee or two separate letters from science faculty, etc..."

You're all set.

 

[Fed Meat]

I hear you, man. I drove for 4 hours to visit with one of my science professors to seek a letter of recommendation in mid-June (probably around June 17). He still hasn't submitted it, and I'm starting to get really p*$$ed.

I need that letter, and he keeps dragging his feet.

Just try and get another letter from someone. I really don't believe that letters of rec count for that much, anyway.

 

[sfbear]

What do you guys think is the best approach if you want to apply to a school but don't have the right LORs? I have two science professors that wrote me letters (one I took a class from, the other I know through work), but I can't get a humanities letter or another science letter from a professor who taught me. I graduated three years ago from cal (big and tough to get to know professors) but my mom was fighting cancer when i was in school, so office hours weren't exactly top priority. I have a couple great letters from work (biotech research) and another great one from an MD, but they don't exactly fit the "professor" profile. I'm worried that the admissions people won't care about the situation and will tell me not to bother (that's what NYMC did) and was wondering if sending a letter of explanation with my app would be a better approach - or just a waste of money. Thoughts?

 

[wxl31]

What do you guys think is the best approach if you want to apply to a school but don't have the right LORs? I have two science professors that wrote me letters (one I took a class from, the other I know through work), but I can't get a humanities letter or another science letter from a professor who taught me. I graduated three years ago from cal (big and tough to get to know professors) but my mom was fighting cancer when i was in school, so office hours weren't exactly top priority. I have a couple great letters from work (biotech research) and another great one from an MD, but they don't exactly fit the "professor" profile. I'm worried that the admissions people won't care about the situation and will tell me not to bother (that's what NYMC did) and was wondering if sending a letter of explanation with my app would be a better approach - or just a waste of money. Thoughts?

I hope your mom is ok now.

I graduated from cal as well 2 years ago and I know how hard it can be to mingle with profs. So this is what I'm doing...I'm sent in apps to schools that only specify 'faculty' and not 'professor who taught you.' For some schools, I called them and they said it was ok, but I would suggest you get it in writing. USC said it was ok, but I'm not turning in an app til I get an email response. I called Loyola and they said to submit a letter explaining the situation. My fear is after I submit my app a bunch of schools will email me and tell me that I dont have the required types of letters. That's why I'm so adamant about getting it in writing first.

I also contacted a ton of profs via email. Only one replied. Doesn't it just seem silly that so long as one of them writes X was in my class. X got a grade of blah. and they sign it, it's ok, but your other fantastic letters are moot.

Schools that don't grant exceptions drive me bananas. Good luck. Let's hope we both dont waste a ton of money.

 

[sfbear]

Thanks for the response. That definitely makes sense to get it in writing, and it's nice to know that some of the schools are more forgiving. I'll try the email route and see how that goes. I figure that any school that is unforgiving is probably some place I don't want to be anyways.

Good luck with everything!

 

[neuronerd]

I called Jefferson and MSSM this morning. Jefferson wants four letters, one each from bio, chem, physics and humanitites. WHAT?!? How ridiculous. Anyways, they said that I could substitute other letters for their required letters, I just have to write them and tell them whose letter I'm substituting for which requirement.

I emailed Jefferson and told them that I cannot provide them with a physics or chem LOR but I have letters of professors that I feel know me intimately and this is what they wrote:

Dear Applicant

I am pleased to report that the letters you wish to supply in lieu of the required letters are
acceptable for application to Jefferson Medical College.

Thank you for your interest.

The email was from Donna Pinkney.

 

[wxl31]

Dear wxl31,



Since you did the summer research under a science faculty, I can accept it as your other science recommendation. I will indicate in your file that you will be sending in the recommendations you listed below so that I will complete your application.



Sincerely,

Kathy Slattery

Creighton University School of Medicine

Office of Admissions

 

[elephunt]

Wake Forest only asks for one science and one non-science letter if your school doesn't have a committee.

Good luck!