ERAS LOR problem...help please?

[ilovetomatoes]

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Hello all, I have a weird LOR issue and I'm hoping for a little midnight hour advice....

So I did an elective at an outside hospital where I really, really want to match. I got a pretty good overall vibe from the program, and one of the faculty members said he would write me a letter. We had spent about a week together and had done some cool cases, so I thought everything was great.

When I got my evaluation back, it was...okay. He said I had "adequate knowledge about physio" and some of the eval wasn't exactly written in wonderful english (he is not a native speaker). Said I was eager to learn and motivated, but not a whole lot of back-patting, superlative-usage, etc.

I know I have three perfect letters from my home area. I also have one letter from Stanford. I know it will be wonderful. I did research there with Cancer Institute for three years, from 2004 to 2007. we published papers, gave talks, it was a rockin good time for all.

which letter do i send? the for-sure amazing research letter? or the possibly-not-so-amazing letter from the school i want REALLY badly?

really appreciate your thoughts....

 

[gasblaster]

Hello all, I have a weird LOR issue and I'm hoping for a little midnight hour advice....

So I did an elective at an outside hospital where I really, really want to match. I got a pretty good overall vibe from the program, and one of the faculty members said he would write me a letter. We had spent about a week together and had done some cool cases, so I thought everything was great.

When I got my evaluation back, it was...okay. He said I had "adequate knowledge about physio" and some of the eval wasn't exactly written in wonderful english (he is not a native speaker). Said I was eager to learn and motivated, but not a whole lot of back-patting, superlative-usage, etc.

I know I have three perfect letters from my home area. I also have one letter from Stanford. I know it will be wonderful. I did research there with Cancer Institute for three years, from 2004 to 2007. we published papers, gave talks, it was a rockin good time for all.

which letter do i send? the for-sure amazing research letter? or the possibly-not-so-amazing letter from the school i want REALLY badly?

really appreciate your thoughts....

Wow I would not use a LOR from a research experience 5 years ago.

I'm hoping your other LORs are clinical letters from clerkships.

 

[ilovetomatoes]

they are. one for anes, two from crit care. this topic is so polarizing. i've been getting just as strong a reaction in the other direction which is what makes this so confusing. as in, "wow, i would totally use the strong research one, you basically did everything for those papers and that advisor loves you to death, why on earth would you send a possibly-weak letter"

 

[gasblaster]

they are. one for anes, two from crit care. this topic is so polarizing. i've been getting just as strong a reaction in the other direction which is what makes this so confusing. as in, "wow, i would totally use the strong research one, you basically did everything for those papers and that advisor loves you to death, why on earth would you send a possibly-weak letter"

Yeah but this is pre-medical school research that probably has little bearing on residency applications. Putting undergraduate research on the experiences for ERAS is already debated, let alone using a LOR. I think it's justifiable to put significant undergrad research on the ERAS application, but that's where I would end it. I would just use the 3 you currently have and only use a 4th if the program requires it (most only require 3).

Idk. You'll get more input on here in the morning. A couple hours won't make a difference.

If cross-posting wasn't an issue, I would've asked this in the ERAS forum.

 

[ilovetomatoes]

Oh jeez. So once you ask a question in one forum, you're forbidden from asking again elsewhere? Good to know....