How many letters should I send?

[Thrillhouse]

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The letter's that I have requested:
2 from Science professors
1 from my PI
1 from professor I TA for
1 from my volunteer "boss" (for lack of a better term)
1 from MD I shadowed

My question is, for school's that don't have a maximum or their max is 6, should I send them all of these letters? I feel that all of them would be equally strong as I was fortunate enough to form a great relationship with each of them.

 

[deh2ase]

Do you have one from a non-science professor?

 

[Thrillhouse]

Do you have one from a non-science professor?

No, but the schools I plan on applying to don't require a non science letter. Plus my non science professors weren't that familiar with me so my letter would be very bland.

There was a couple schools that asked for a non science that I was interested in, but I spoke with admissions and they said my volunteer letter would suffice if I decide to keep them in my application.

 

[mvenus929]

Unless you did something other than shadow, don't send in the MD letter. Otherwise, they all sound like they'll add something to your application. If you need to drop another, drop the one from the professor you TAed for.

 

[Thrillhouse]

Unless you did something other than shadow, don't send in the MD letter. Otherwise, they all sound like they'll add something to your application. If you need to drop another, drop the one from the professor you TAed for.

Thank you for the reply! I am curious though as to why letters from people you've shadowed are not recommended? I am a current Washington state resident with ties to Nevada (graduated high school there) and both school's (per their admissions website) have recommended a letter from a physician.

 

[mvenus929]

Thank you for the reply! I am curious though as to why letters from people you've shadowed are not recommended? I am a current Washington state resident with ties to Nevada (graduated high school there) and both school's (per their admissions website) have recommended a letter from a physician.

Washington is the one place I'd probably send it to, because they specifically have a requirement for shadowing. I don't know enough about Nevada to tell you anything about their program, but it may be the same there.

But for the vast majority of schools, a letter from a physician you followed around isn't going to add anything to your application. They didn't see you interacting with patients, they didn't see how well you interview, they didn't see how well you do in the classroom, etc... you were their shadow. What could they possibly say in a letter that's going to improve your application? "S/He acted professionally? S/He asked good questions?"

Besides, as a pre-med, you aren't going to know what questions to ask. That's what medical school is for. Even my first year of medical school, I didn't know what questions to ask, simply because I didn't know enough pathology to figure out what was going on. So even if you asked a lot of questions, it's not going to show what your knowledge base will be as a physician... and it shouldn't.

So you're basically asking adcoms to read another letter on top of the other 5 you have that will add nothing to your application. Why waste their time?

 

[Thrillhouse]

So you're basically asking adcoms to read another letter on top of the other 5 you have that will add nothing to your application. Why waste their time?

Makes sense, which is actually what I was concerned about initially. I don't want to overload them with letters just because the school allows us to send in as many as we want.

 

[sbhav]

I would also drop the MD that you shadowed unless you think it is particularly strong and the schools strong recommend it.

 

[BillrothI]

Makes sense, which is actually what I was concerned about initially. I don't want to overload them with letters just because the school allows us to send in as many as we want.

FYI - a letter from a physician is an 'unofficial' requirement at UNSOM. Definitely get one - even a weak one - if you plan to apply there. I'm still waiting on mine, but I *think* you can update after submitting your application.

Good luck!

-Bill R.

 

[Thrillhouse]

FYI - a letter from a physician is an 'unofficial' requirement at UNSOM. Definitely get one - even a weak one - if you plan to apply there. I'm still waiting on mine, but I *think* you can update after submitting your application.

Good luck!

-Bill R.

Thanks, you too!

In regards to updating your letters, I'm pretty positive you can. I submitted my AMCAS on the 10th and recently had to change some of my letter designations and upload a new letter. I did call the AMCAS service and inquire about potentially "swapping" between which letters get sent to this school (UNSOM) particularly due to one of my science professors falling ill and I don't know if they will be able to write the letter on time and I didn't want to pressure them with everything they have going on.

I decided that the other two I will send them will be one from my PI (who also taught my Genetics) and am waiting until the end of June before I swap out my other science writer as previously noted.

 

[BillrothI]

In regards to updating your letters, I'm pretty positive you can. I submitted my AMCAS on the 10th and recently had to change some of my letter designations and upload a new letter.

Thanks! That's a relief. The MD I'm waiting on is fairly busy. Glad I don't have to wait to submit!

-Bill R.

 

[NickNaylor]

I'm not sure the letter from the MD would be worth including unless you worked with that physician in another context or he/she can write you a particularly strong letter based on interactions with you outside of shadowing.

Sent from my SGH-M919