how many letters of rec?

[caffeine37]

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my advisor told me that getting additional letters beyond the two or three required appears as though you are "padding" your application, and she advised against this.

i taught a class, and had a faculty advisor- should i get a letter from him, or would this look like padding? would the admissions committees be annoyed, since i already listed this activity in my amcas?

 

[LauraMac]

most schools have fairly specific requirements about exactly how many and what type of LORs they want. to be safe, i'd get as many as you can right now. then, when it's time to send them out, just choose the ones that fit right for the specific school. don't send more than a school is asking for. not only might it seem like you're padding your application, i think it will also look like you can't really follow directions.

 

[2tall]

my advisor told me that getting additional letters beyond the two or three required appears as though you are "padding" your application, and she advised against this.

i taught a class, and had a faculty advisor- should i get a letter from him, or would this look like padding? would the admissions committees be annoyed, since i already listed this activity in my amcas?

I had 6 total (although, I only wanted five). Didn't hurt me. I believe this is another example of an advisor not know their @ss from a whole in the wall.

If you want another LOR and you feel it shows another aspect of you and it's strong...get it. 👍

Edit: I should also add that I had a premed committee letter...I'm not sure if this is viewed differently than "straight" LORs.

 

[gujuDoc]

As LauraMac pointed out, it depends on the specific school requirements.

USF, for instance, requires 2 character letters, 2 science professors, and 1 nonscience professor.

FSU, on the other hand, requires that you have the same sci/non sci requirement, but also a peer letter.

On the other hand, there are schools that only want the 2 sci and 1 nonsci letter.

One of my good friends that I always talk about on MCAT forum had a school ask him for a letter specifically from a particular course: So it had to be a physics professor and chem professor and bio professor. One of each. or something of that nature. Forget where this was at or the specifics, but the point is it DEPENDS ON SCHOOL REQs.