Early LORs??

[medicin]

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Hey all,

So i have a question for you and I was wondering if you guys had similar experiences.

I'm applying for a program (im a sophomore) and I am getting a LOR from a professor of mine who taught me in spring semester of freshman year. Now, this prof and I are very close. We have an awesome rapport, and we go out for lunch and play pool and all that jazz. He was my calc 2 professor.

The LOR i got from him is pretty good, but I was wondering if, for med school, would it matter if i got a LOR from him would it look weak considering it will have been 3 years out since he had taught me??

Also, in this case, is calc 2 seen as a 'science' course?

THanks

 

[medicin]

ooh, one more thing.

Do LORs for medschool from TAs (i.e. grad students not PhD students) carry enough weight? I would hope so, since they are the ones who are likely to know the quality of your work, commitment, etcetera pretty well. in my case i have a TA whos taught me for a full year and with whom im very close.

Thoughts?

 

[CANES2006]

Quick reply: letter from that professor should be included since he probably knows you quite well. It doesn't matter if it's early. If I remember correctly I got a letter from a professor that I had during the first semester of freshmen year when I applied to medical school. Guess it worked because I'm 4 months away from graduating from medical school.
Don't include a letter from a TA. It's frown down upon if a letter is not from a faculty member of your school (generally PhD's). Good luck!

 

[medicin]

Thanks,

do you think I should get this prof to write the letter now or wait until it's needed. I'm not sure - i could get him to write it with a future date, for example. Also, this semseter he moved to an institute in my hometown and is no longer affiliated with my school. Should I get him to write the letters on my university letterhead or does it not matter as long as he states he was my professor once upon a time. His institute will be the letterhead if this is the case....

Thoughts?

 

[CANES2006]

I would get him to write it now on your university's letterhead to avoid confusion. Do it now while your still fresh in his mind. Good luck!

 

[medicin]

when you got your LORs done, did you have them addressed to individual people or "To Whom it May Concern" dealio. so what im asking is who is the salutation and should it be dated from now or for a year and a half down the road..?

Thanks,

 

[medicin]

humpty dumpty bumpty?

 

[CANES2006]

when you got your LORs done, did you have them addressed to individual people or "To Whom it May Concern" dealio. so what im asking is who is the salutation and should it be dated from now or for a year and a half down the road..?

Thanks,

To whom it may concern is fine. Date it accurately (the date it was written).

 

[Zymogen]

ooh, one more thing.

Do LORs for medschool from TAs (i.e. grad students not PhD students) carry enough weight? I would hope so, since they are the ones who are likely to know the quality of your work, commitment, etcetera pretty well. in my case i have a TA whos taught me for a full year and with whom im very close.

Thoughts?

Have you TA create a report all about you and have them give it to the professor. Then schedule a time to meet with the professor. The TA and the professor will understand as they both know that a letter from a PhD carries more weight. Don't be shy. 👍

 

[medicalbound]

I agree that you should have the professor write the LOR now instead of later. If your school has a health careers committee that will write you a committee letter, I would recommend going this route. Have your prof send the letter directly to the committee to be put in your file until it is needed. Provide a pre-addressed envelope with postage on it to the professor.

Regarding the TA question. While it is definitely better to have a faculty member write a LOR, it is not out of the question to have a TA write one. It might be better to have an outstanding letter from a TA intead of a mediocre one from faculty. I used 2 faculty and 1 TA for my academic letters and did fine. Good luck!

 

[medicin]

merci guys.