I know that most schools limit the number of LOR's to something like 5 but how many LOR's should I get to be safe.
to cover the various requirements at each school, you should get 3 letters from profs that have taught you: 2 science + 1 non-science plus a couple letters from your meaningful extracurricular activities (e.g. research, volunteering, etc.). these are usually not specifically required by med schools, but help give a better picture of you. some schools, like uc davis or tulane, don't want more than 3 letters or something like that. but in general, you probably wouldn't want to send more than 5 letters to a school. i also recommend asking 1 more prof than you need letters. e.g. i had one science prof flake out on me, so it was a good thing that i requested letters from 3 science profs.
Most do. I had a DO one but at many osteopathic schools an MD one is fine. I also sent my DO recommendation to all MD schools and I still had success with them. In fact at Georgetown my interviewer was a DO so it was an interesting conversation starter. I guess that didn't help me though since I was rejected from Georgetown.
Not all schools require a letter from a physician, but I believe that many recommend that applicants have one.. If you've shadowed a physician in a hospital or even become familiar with one through your volunteer work (such as in an emergency room), then that is the physician from whom you should receive a letter of recommendation... I don't think that it would be advisable to receive a letter of rec. from your own private doctor or someone in your family who may be a doctor..
not sure what happened to this thread... another glitch in the matrix i suppose? anyway, unless you're applying to osteopathic schools, don't worry about a letter from a doc. just make sure to get letters from profs who can attest to your academic abilities, and letters from extracurriculars attesting to your dedicaton/compassion/patience/work ethic/leadership/communication skills/whatever.
if your premed advisor collects your LORs for you, are you able to specify which ones go to which medschool? like if i had a LOR from a prof at one school and wanted it included in that school's packet but send a different LOR to another school, does that work? also, would it be good to have the physician LOR be from a physician affiliated with the school you are applying to? or does it not really matter?
if your school has a premed committee, most med schools will want the composite (committee) letter in lieu of individual recommendations [adcoms know which schools have committees]. if you have a committee letter, you probably won't need to send in more than one or two letters. and please please please i've read hundreds of useless LORs. make sure whoever is writing you a letter 1) knows you well, and 2) can agree to write you a STRONG letter of recommendation. When looking for recommenders you need to ask them point blank whether or not they can write you a strong letter. If not, then move on. Don't just ask for a letter cuz you got an A in the course. Here is what that letter looks like: Committee on Admissions: Mr. Smith is applying for a position in your medical school. He was a student in my advanced organic chemistry class with an average of 97 and ranked number 1 out of 27 students. He earned an A in the course. I recommend him highly for a position in your school. Sincerely, Bunsen Honeydew an LOR has to be a good sales pitch.
