how heavy did your LORS weigh???

[MRa2z]

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so we all know that a stellar gpa may offset a not so good MCAT, and a great MCAT might offsett a less than impressive gpa..but my question is this : from your experiences, how heavy do letters of rec weigh? if a gpa is weak, and a MCAT mediocre , does an excellent letter from a D.O offset that? what about extracurrics? i'm only asking because i've heard recently that a "above and beyond" letter from a D.O. alone should be enough to gain an interview ..what do you all think?

 

[Kuba]

so we all know that a stellar gpa may offset a not so good MCAT, and a great MCAT might offsett a less than impressive gpa..but my question is this : from your experiences, how heavy do letters of rec weigh? if a gpa is weak, and a MCAT mediocre , does an excellent letter from a D.O offset that? what about extracurrics? i'm only asking because i've heard recently that a "above and beyond" letter from a D.O. alone should be enough to gain an interview ..what do you all think?

i have no definite info, but i dont think half of the LOR get read.

 

[MRa2z]

haha, thats' what i'd originally thought. i'm just curious worried i dont know how great my lor's are.

 

[DoctorMom78]

The only place I interviewed that even mentioned my LORs was PCSOM. I was told that I had great LORs, but they didn't match up with my transcript. I have a lot of Ws and some not so great grades, but my LORs indicated a much different story. They just wanted me to explain it to them. In that case, I think that they did pay a big role. I was accepted, so I guess they helped. However, I am sure it depends on the school. PCSOM has one of the lower MCAT averages of all the schools, and I would imagine that at a school like that they would carry more weight than one that has higher averages. So, I guess it probably depends on the school. 🙂

 

[Dr.Inviz]

If you have stellar LORs, it wont matter ...

if your LOR is somewhat questionable, you're in for a fun time

 

[HarveyCushing]

I might just be out of the norm, but I think that a great set of letters can only help you. In two of my interviews it was commented how good my LOR were. Not saying that the LOR gave me my acceptance (I had the other aspects as well) but I think it made it easier/made the ad com. more comfortable with their decision of accepting me. Not sure if that really made sense.

 

[DoctorMom78]

If you have stellar LORs, it wont matter ...

if your LOR is somewhat questionable, you're in for a fun time

I was going to post that he should ask you in a few weeks, but I didn't. 😉

 

[v-lander]

I was actually told within the last week by someone in admissions at one school that an unfavorable LOR is one of the things that will kill your chances the quickest. Very important to ask recommenders if the letter will be favorable.

 

[Dr.Inviz]

I was actually told within the last week by someone in admissions at one school that an unfavorable LOR is one of the things that will kill your chances the quickest. Very important to ask recommenders if the letter will be favorable.

true, but if someone lies about the letter being a good one ... nothin you can do about it ...

 

[Krazykritter]

If you have stellar LORs, it wont matter ...

if your LOR is somewhat questionable, you're in for a fun time

Inviz is almost exactly correct if you throw in what KUBA said. Many times these get skimmed. So-so LOR's always leave you wondering why you would ask someone to do this if you didn't already know what they were going to say about you.

 

[docem]

I was actually told within the last week by someone in admissions at one school that an unfavorable LOR is one of the things that will kill your chances the quickest. Very important to ask recommenders if the letter will be favorable.

Just my opinion - I run an internship program and am often asked to write letters of rec. sure some are better than others. If the person is stellar I want to convey that, but I will not write a letter of recommendation for someone unless it is a positive letter. I know many people who are like this - they don't want to risk their reps writing good letters for questionable people and they don't write negative letters.

 

[v-lander]

Just my opinion - I run an internship program and am often asked to write letters of rec. sure some are better than others. If the person is stellar I want to convey that, but I will not write a letter of recommendation for someone unless it is a positive letter. I know many people who are like this - they don't want to risk their reps writing good letters for questionable people and they don't write negative letters.

Oh, that every recommender could take your approach! I've just been hearing way too many instances of people willing to write letters for students and then they trash the students in the letter. I was surprised yet appreciative of my O-chem professor that politely declined to write me a letter because she felt my grades weren't quite where they should be - I disagreed with her opinion of my performace but was grateful she was honest.

 

[v-lander]

true, but if someone lies about the letter being a good one ... nothin you can do about it ...

Yup, that's the risk we take, I guess. Hence the importance of really getting to know someone and build a relationship with your potential recommender.

 

[Dr.Inviz]

Yup, that's the risk we take, I guess. Hence the importance of really getting to know someone and build a relationship with your potential recommender.

yes, but if you felt you had a great relationship with that individual and then they resort to bashing you on paper ... truly unprofessional.

 

[Ossari]

I would think you can get by with well written LOR's, you don't need excellent ones since they never came up in my interviews. What did come up very often was my personal statement and we spoke of it in great depth, so I think the PS weighs in a bit more than your LOR's since it is more personal.