ERAS Letters of recommendation due date?

[gators21]

So I'm applying AOA and noticed programs can begin downloading our applications in July. Do we need to have all our letters of rec in with the application by then? Or can you still have everything filled out but the letters and still get interview invites? I know places don't start interviewing until October, but spots fill up quick
I'm just a little confused because I was always told that 4th year letters of rec are weighed much heavier than 3rd year. Im also probably gonna be a letter short by July, but have auditions set up in July-nov that I was hoping to get some letters. Thanks for the help!

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[gators21]

Cool..... thanks

 

[scummie]

Wish I could help you, but have no idea honestly. Will be applying to both matches this year, but won't have any letters in time by July 15th. What specialty are you applying to?

 

[AMEHigh]

My school and several outside program directors have told me that you can still get interview invites without all of the required letters. The requirements are technically there for a program to rank you, so technically you only need to have letters in by the time programs have to finalize their rank list. However, this could be program specific and some programs might require that you have everything in before granting an interview. Programs seem to know that many students will still be doing electives at the beginning of their 4th year, so I assume they would know that 1 or 2 letters might come in after the July.

 

[DO3]

You want to be complete as early as possible...letters and everything. On the DO side especially, the early bird gets the worm. If someone else has all their letters in and you don't, guess who will get the interview spot. At the very least, you need to have your ERAS application submitted on July 15 even if you are waiting on letters. There's no excuse for it not to be submitted then.

 

[itallbelongstoyou]

Try to get them in as soon as possible. Make this easy for your writers, let them know when you need them by when you ask them for the letter (tell them a month or two before the July 15 date because it'll most likely always be done after that anyway and it will give time for your school to process and upload). Give them all of the correct forms for upload/submission to your school. Give them a self addressed/stamped envelope to mail it in.

Interviews will be granted by some programs to an incomplete ERAS application but it is not reliable that all programs will do that and being late to have your application complete can make or break you in some fields/programs depending on how competitive it is there. Try your best to get them in early. If you think one letter writer is going to hold you back ask for another letter from someone else as a back up and if you get both then - bonus!

Here's my blog entry on the subject: http://itallbelongstoyou.com/2013/09/19/eras-application-advice/

 

[gators21]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like I need to get some letters quick

 

[Trogghunter]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like I need to get some letters quick

Yeah the above 2 posts were spot on. Get letters asap and be ready to go when you can submit. There are thousands of students who will be ready.