Etiquette for asking for LOR after rotation has ended

[mtDNA]

If I am thinking of asking for an LOR after the rotation has ended, is it reasonable to do this over email? or do I need to call? what do you guys think? I am thinking of asking for one from a surgeon, and I am sure I could get him on the phone, but might take a little longer because he is busy (unless I paged him, but would that be appropriate either?).

Let me know what you guys think.

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[Doctor Bob]

is it reasonable to do this over email? or do I need to call? what do you guys think?

Oh goodness no. Ask in person. Face to face. Have a LOR packet ready to give them. It should include a copy of your CV, a self-addressed stamped envelope, a draft personal statement (optional) and a cover sheet (ERAS has cover sheets you can print out). Talk to their office manager and set up a time to meet them. It's always better to ask in a manner that's more formal (face to face) than to be too informal (email).

Besides, if you send an email, you won't always know if they're willing to write a letter. The request might sit in their inbox unopened for a while. Or it might get read, set aside and not looked at again, accidentally deleted, inadvertently labeled as spam, etc. If you ask face to face, you'll have a yes or no before you leave the office.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Oh goodness no. Ask in person. Face to face. Have a LOR packet ready to give them. It should include a copy of your CV, a self-addressed stamped envelope, a draft personal statement (optional) and a cover sheet (ERAS has cover sheets you can print out). Talk to their office manager and set up a time to meet them. It's always better to ask in a manner that's more formal (face to face) than to be too informal (email).

Besides, if you send an email, you won't always know if they're willing to write a letter. The request might sit in their inbox unopened for a while. Or it might get read, set aside and not looked at again, accidentally deleted, inadvertently labeled as spam, etc. If you ask face to face, you'll have a yes or no before you leave the office.

I don't really think it's that big a deal. If the rotation has ended and you need the letter, it's hard to find a face-to-face time. A concise, professional email is fine - but you should definitely ask to meet and provide all that info (CV, PS, etc) to the letter writer.

 

[Boxer1]

Asking in person is best. This allows you to give them all the paperwork that has already been mentioned. I think you could get away with email, but it is not ideal. Another important point is to ask for a strong LOR. It's implied when you ask, but I would ask something like this.

"Would you feel comfortable writing me a strong (insert any other positive adjective) letter of recommendation?"

That way you're not just asking for any old letter, you want a great letter. If they don't feel comfortable doing that you give them an out. You don't need any lukeward LORs. I read through a bunch of LORs (>200) last interview cycle and there were a lot of them that sounded okay but you could tell the writer wasn't really sold on the candidate, or maybe didn't even really know them.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I don't really think it's that big a deal. If the rotation has ended and you need the letter, it's hard to find a face-to-face time. A concise, professional email is fine - but you should definitely ask to meet and provide all that info (CV, PS, etc) to the letter writer.

Mmmmmm no. Don't ask over email. Big no-no.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I agree...in person is >>>>> better than email.

You can email Dr. So and So and say "I'd like to come by your office to discuss my future career plans. Would X time be convenient for you?" as a foreshadowing of your visit, but not to ask for the letter with email.

 

[MrBurns10]

While I agree that it's preferable to do in person, I also don't think it's a big deal. I asked for a couple of mine over email because I was on another rotation and didn't know when they'd be in their office. I prefaced the email with exactly that: "I really hate to ask you this over email, but I wasn't sure when I could find you in your office..." etc. But keep in mind this was for people I knew pretty well and knew they wouldn't take it personally. They were both fine with it.

I also think if you're unsure whether or not they'll agree to write you a strong LOR, saying "no" over email may actually be easier for them due to the lack of face-to-face pressure. And I would certainly want someone to be honest with me if they couldn't write a strong letter.

 

[45408]

I think they could always just say "Maybe you should ask a few other people for a strong letter first. They could probably do a better job."


Anyways, most of my attendings just kind of assume you're going to need a letter. I ran into one from a previous rotation while in clinic for a more recent rotation, and I asked to meet with him. I had actually not really decided if I was going to ask him, but he came right out and said "Are you going to need a letter?" If every applicant needs a letter or three, every attending should assume that the students are going to ask. Both of my medicine attendings came right out and offered to write me a letter.

 

[tfom08]

Yeah a couple of my attendings offered to write one for me while on rotation, so I emailed them later on when I was ready to meet and talk with them about it just to set up a meeting. I don't think it really matters either way as long as you just finished the rotation and you are sure they know who you are because you will meet with them soon to talk anyway. If you had a rotation like 6 months ago and email someone out of the blue, it could be a little strange and in that case I would make sure to meet them in person just so they even can match your name and face.

 

[BAM!]

ok, the way you ask isn't going to dictate the letter they write. it's how well they know you/how nice of a person they are. email is fine. it's hard to get 1 on 1 attending time. ask in person if it clears your mind.

 

[illixir]

So the best time to ask for letters if you think you've done well on a rotation is right at the end of it right? So at the beginning of third year when you're asking for letters say at the end of your second rotation, are you still giving a CV or anything like that? Also people talk about how letters can be adjusted down the road, how does that work if say you got a letter in the first couple months 3rd year and you want to change it for your future specialty 10 months later. After they're done writing it where do they give it to, if its at beginning of 3rd year i'd think they're not sending it out anywhere, do they just give it to you and you make copies?

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. To 4th years, how many letters in total did you end up asking for during third year?

 

[PathMD2010]

So the best time to ask for letters if you think you've done well on a rotation is right at the end of it right? So at the beginning of third year when you're asking for letters say at the end of your second rotation, are you still giving a CV or anything like that? Also people talk about how letters can be adjusted down the road, how does that work if say you got a letter in the first couple months 3rd year and you want to change it for your future specialty 10 months later. After they're done writing it where do they give it to, if its at beginning of 3rd year i'd think they're not sending it out anywhere, do they just give it to you and you make copies?

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. To 4th years, how many letters in total did you end up asking for during third year?

You need at least your CV for LORs in most cases and in all cases you need the ERAS cover letter.

These will not be available until late in the third year. In the event that a person offers to write an LOR early in third year, often you have to come back by with these two things to ask them.

As to the number, it depends on the programs. All the ones I applied to wanted three. So I asked 4 different people (there is always a writer that takes a while)

My 2 cents: do the best you can during your rotations. Do not ask for LORS until April/ May of third year at earliest.

If someone (in your desired field or not) OFFERS to write you an LOR duirng your rotations, make note of it so that when you get the cover letter and CV (and possibly PS) you can ask them properly.

After April/ May of third year and into your fourth you should have the above documents ready. Then at the end of a rotation (approx 3rd week of 4 week rotation or equivilent thereof) ask for the LOR from the chair, high ups ect. and expect to maybe have to talk to them a bit about your carreer plans ie academic vs private, region of the country, local vs moving ect.

You should have requested all LORs well before Sept 1 of Fourth year so that they can go up with the ERAS. My writers took an average of a month to write the letters. So you want to get the pertinent rotations in early M4 or have writers ready from third year rotations if this is not possible.

As to email: First option: schedule a time in the office with their secretary. They know what you are there for.
Second option: email to set up a time to talk to them. (attach CV and PS if possible) and bring the hard copy.
third choice: ask for LOR by email. I did this with one writer because I could not get a time to meet with her in her office as she was very busy and she had offered to write the letter previously. All other three I asked face to face. I think all of them were strong.

Hope this helps. I don't know about writing a letter 10 mos in advance and then tweaking it. I just asked them l8r and they remembered me and it worked out fine. I think this is a pretty common experience.

 

[NikoNLS8]

Is the PS really required? I would like to ask for a LOR but am nowhere near finished with my PS.

 

[HopefulDoc1984]

this may be a dumb question but should you put your step scores on the CV that you give to them?

 

[Doctor Bob]

this may be a dumb question but should you put your step scores on the CV that you give to them?

Not a dumb question... but no. Your LOR writer is assessing your performance and knowledge on the rotation, and maybe using your CV as a way to personalize the LOR. They are not assessing your overall suitability as an applicant (ie: synthesizing grades, scores, etc). That is a job for your department chair. As such, they have no need to see/know your step scores.

The only time I would think to give your step scores to a potential LOR writer is if the person is the program director at a program you plan on applying to. They're going to get it anyways and, like the chairman, their letter might be more of a synthesis of information than other people's letters.

 

[sendwich]

Not sure what to make of it but I've already asked my PD (who I rotated with), an attending (who I did an elective with) and my chair....and none asked to come in and discuss my cv/PS/what not. They just wanted me to drop off the stuff to their secretaries/email it in.

Is this common???? I'm kind of confused/freaked out.

 

[kdburton]

Not sure what to make of it but I've already asked my PD (who I rotated with), an attending (who I did an elective with) and my chair....and none asked to come in and discuss my cv/PS/what not. They just wanted me to drop off the stuff to their secretaries/email it in.

Is this common???? I'm kind of confused/freaked out.

I had an attending offer to write a letter for me earlier in 3rd year and I told them that I would eventually want the letter at that time. Since they were very busy I asked in the end of 3rd year and they told me to e-mail them a copy of my CV and PS and they would write the LOR for me. I ended up going to their office to drop off hard copies of the CV and PS along with the ERAS cover sheet and a pre-addressed, stamped envelope to make things easier. I don't think this is uncommon at all. Everyone gets busy. I think that if you're going to e-mail stuff to them you could just mention in there that you'd be happy to meet with them face-to-face to discuss anything in those documents or other questions they might have for you.