How do LORs work?

[LebLlama]

Ive heard different things from different people.

Do the writers need to write it then send it to a centralized unit which will forward them to all the schools you apply to? Ive also heard some schools require a letter while some require a "survey" type thing to be filled out? How would that work as far as forwarding? Some writer send the letters themselves and some give it back to the applicant to send?

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[mt2010]

The situations you listed seem to have some truth. Honestly, as different undergrad schools have different policies, It would probably be best for you to ask your pre-med advisor first. The basic types of letters are individual, committee letters, and letter packets. If your school has a system in place for soliciting and submitting letters, then you should use it lest you be required to explain to med schools why you didn't. I don't know of any med schools that prefer a survey to a letter (but I may be wrong), though some may send an optional form for letter writers in addition to requiring a letter. Furthermore, it is unlikely that med schools would accept letters mailed by the applicant, just as they would not accept transcripts mailed by the applicant. Letters are mostly electronic, except for some of the schools that don't use AMCAS for letters. Most likely, either the letter writer will submit his/her letter to the pre-health office for a committee letter/letter packet or the letter writer will upload the letter to a service like Virtual Evals or Interfolio (or directly to AMCAS).