How important are "strong" letters of rec?

[FutureD0C17]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm a little worried that I screwed up by not "playing the game" and building a relationship with the professor. Let's say I was at or near the top of the class, is a letter based solely on that narrative considered sufficient? To be honest, there wasn't much personal interaction between the students and the prof and I never had the need to head in to office hours.

 

[GrumpyMS]

What adcom are looking for is if you have what it takes to be a good physician. It takes more than good grades to get into med school. If the rec says that FutureD0C17 did well in my class but I don;t know him personally, then it says nothing about you. Your grades can be seen on the transcript. They want to see other qualities such as interpersonal skills, good communications between the professor and you. A good rec may receive a bit more of an advantage but don't expect it to for nullify that 490 MCAT or that 2.9 GPA.

 

[FutureD0C17]

I agree and wish I played the game a little more. Is this considered a negative though or is it more of a neutral thing? I guess I'm wondering if this letter is worth having at all.

 

[GrumpyMS]

I would say that it wouldn't hurt you, but I wouldn't help you much either. If there are better choices out there use them before this rec.

For your reference, here is the AAMC letter of rec guidelines: https://www.aamc.org/download/332578/data/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf

 

[BundleofWiz]

I'm a little worried that I screwed up by not "playing the game" and building a relationship with the professor. Let's say I was at or near the top of the class, is a letter based solely on that narrative considered sufficient? To be honest, there wasn't much personal interaction between the students and the prof and I never had the need to head in to office hours.

IMHO, If you have good stats and good extracurriculars, adcoms can figure out you are a well rounded applicant when they screen for interviews. A good/decent LOR is more than sufficient IF you have good stats and I see you mentioned you were kind of near or top of your class. So don't worry about this too much! Good luck with your applications!

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

I'm a little worried that I screwed up by not "playing the game" and building a relationship with the professor. Let's say I was at or near the top of the class, is a letter based solely on that narrative considered sufficient? To be honest, there wasn't much personal interaction between the students and the prof and I never had the need to head in to office hours.

Obviously a letter that only mentions the generic will be lackluster, but sometimes it simply is impossible to connect with your professors especially in large classes like physio. Work with what you've been given and look for strengths elsewhere.

 

[FutureD0C17]

Thanks all. It just seems so fake to manufacture a relationship solely for the purposes of a letter.

My science lab teacher will definitely write a more substantial letter speaking to my personal attributes which will hopefully balance things out.

 

[DrMikeP]

I've read hundreds of letters for admissions/residency/internship and have seen certain professors use almost the same exact letter for every student, even those with whom they had a great relationship or didn't hardly know. Some feel it's their duty to help their students get into med or professional school so they all glow and some got a copy of a good sounding letter from someone else and just change the name. A few really sit and write up how they think the student will be a great candidate and why. Most of my letters are somewhere in between.

So I would pick the prof that knows you the best, but ultimately it just may not make any difference so wouldn't sweat it.

I'm a little worried that I screwed up by not "playing the game" and building a relationship with the professor. Let's say I was at or near the top of the class, is a letter based solely on that narrative considered sufficient? To be honest, there wasn't much personal interaction between the students and the prof and I never had the need to head in to office hours.

 

[TrippingBillies41]

I have a question about reqs that kind of applies here..is it too early to request them from DOs that I plan to shadow this summer if I am no going to start my application until next year? Where would they send them if I don't have an account yet? I'm still trying to figure out the shadowing and reqs timeline, can't find a solid answer. Also what should I expect when shadowing? Do you get to help with patient care?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SDN mobile

 

[Scrubs101]

I have a question about reqs that kind of applies here..is it too early to request them from DOs that I plan to shadow this summer if I am no going to start my application until next year? Where would they send them if I don't have an account yet? I'm still trying to figure out the shadowing and reqs timeline, can't find a solid answer. Also what should I expect when shadowing? Do you get to help with patient care?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SDN mobile

It's not too early, get an interfolio account to store your letters. 9 times out of 10 you will do nothing at all, just watch and listen, speak when spoken too when around the patients. In my case sometimes the doctor would entertain me with a lesson on what he just diagnosed, the treatment was, or anything I had a question about during down time. Try not to annoy or bother them too much if they seem busy or irritated, luckily I shadowed during a pretty slow couple days so I had a good experience in regards to learning a lot about the profession via questions and discussions. Some days were busier than others though. I even got entertained with occasional questions on what my opinion about the case was 🙂. Sometimes you have good shadowing experiences, sometime it's just shadowing. All in all take what you can get from it! Best of luck!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[TrippingBillies41]

It's not too early, get an interfolio account to store your letters. 9 times out of 10 you will do nothing at all, just watch and listen, speak when spoken too when around the patients. In my case sometimes the doctor would entertain me with a lesson on what he just diagnosed, the treatment was, or anything I had a question about during down time. Try not to annoy or bother them too much if they seem busy or irritated, luckily I shadowed during a pretty slow couple days so I had a good experience in regards to learning a lot about the profession via questions and discussions. Some days were busier than others though. I even got entertained with occasional questions on what my opinion about the case was 🙂. Sometimes you have good shadowing experiences, sometime it's just shadowing. All in all take what you can get from it! Best of luck!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Thanks for your response that helps alot!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SDN mobile

 

[FutureD0C17]

I've read hundreds of letters for admissions/residency/internship and have seen certain professors use almost the same exact letter for every student, even those with whom they had a great relationship or didn't hardly know. Some feel it's their duty to help their students get into med or professional school so they all glow and some got a copy of a good sounding letter from someone else and just change the name. A few really sit and write up how they think the student will be a great candidate and why. Most of my letters are somewhere in between.

So I would pick the prof that knows you the best, but ultimately it just may not make any difference so wouldn't sweat it.

Excellent point Mike. Stress is gone now (well, except for DO letter and MCAT!) My professors certainly want to see their good students succeed so I'm assuming everything is going to be fine. I half lost my mind and made this thread after watching some Kaplan event where the admins at bigshot schools were talking LOR this and that.

 

[DrMikeP]

Excellent point Mike. Stress is gone now (well, except for DO letter and MCAT!) My professors certainly want to see their good students succeed so I'm assuming everything is going to be fine. I half lost my mind and made this thread after watching some Kaplan event where the admins at bigshot schools were talking LOR this and that.

The MCAT and gpa are the biggest weights... and some read the personal statement more closely than others, the rest is more of you want to make sure there are no deficits (missing EC's, shadowing, etc) and you've put your best foot forward. People get stuck on one thing and often miss the bigger picture.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

This is for MD schools, but I'm sure it's no different for DO schools: LORs are the fourth most important factor in determining who gets an interview invite and the second most important factor (ahead of GPA and MCAT) in determining who gets an offer of acceptance post-interview.

Source: https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf

 

[DrMikeP]

This is for MD schools, but I'm sure it's no different for DO schools: LORs are the fourth most important factor in determining who gets an interview invite and the second most important factor (ahead of GPA and MCAT) in determining who gets an offer of acceptance post-interview.

Source: https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf

Sadly much like homework for elementary students is a measure of the parent's effort more than student's, the quality of letters of rec are often more a measure of the writer than the applicant. The problem is that a student just doesn't know if the prof writes a page or paragraph. Sometimes the letter is written by the student and submitted without changes by the prof.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk