How many professor recommendations?

[TigerLilies]

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How many professor's recommendation letters are needed to apply? Also, of these how many need to be from science profs and how many from humanities profs?

Thanks!

 

[jeffsleepy]

The typical is 2 science profs and 1 humanities prof with possibly another one from your major.

 

[OSUdoc08]

How many professor's recommendation letters are needed to apply? Also, of these how many need to be from science profs and how many from humanities profs?

Thanks!

3 minimum.

(I'd do 3 in the sciences, myself.)

 

[kgm4]

3 minimum.

(I'd do 3 in the sciences, myself.)

i was a humanities major, so one lor was from my thesis advisor, and two from science profs. imho, since med schools are looking for more well rounded candidates these days, it might be a good idea to have an lor from a non-science prof, especially if you are a science major or did not have a good verbal score on the mcat.

 

[TigerLilies]

i was a humanities major, so one lor was from my thesis advisor, and two from science profs. imho, since med schools are looking for more well rounded candidates these days, it might be a good idea to have an lor from a non-science prof, especially if you are a science major or did not have a good verbal score on the mcat.

I plan to be a humanities major, possibly philosophy. And so how many science and humanities recommendations would I need? Also, my biology TA knows me better than the prof, so could he write me a letter of recommendation?

Thanks!

 

[dianamd]

I plan to be a humanities major, possibly philosophy. And so how many science and humanities recommendations would I need? Also, my biology TA knows me better than the prof, so could he write me a letter of recommendation?

Thanks!

i did a nontraditional path and knew a lot of non science profs (who are usually better writters)-- had 7 recs total, 3 sciences, 3 nonscience, and 1 work.

though i think that some schools will only accept 3 recs, so my premed committee selected which ones to send out and which ones to hold back... how annoying that they would not just send all of them and let the med schools decide.

 

[nicholonious]

How many professor's recommendation letters are needed to apply? Also, of these how many need to be from science profs and how many from humanities profs?

Thanks!

I asked a resident how many he had as an undergrad and it was 8.

Take home message: 8 is way too many. Something along the lines of 3-6 is more than just.

 

[tigress]

I asked a resident how many he had as an undergrad and it was 8.

Take home message: 8 is way too many. Something along the lines of 3-6 is more than just.

Well the guy is a resident so it can't have hurt him too much; not sure how the take home message from that is that 8 is way too many.

In any case, tell my pre-med committee. They insist on at least that many.

 

[kgm4]

8 lors for md/phd is normal, but not for md.

my premed committee suggested 2 science profs, 1 humanities, 1 research, and if taken time off, 1 from that activity as well. unlike dianamd, my premed committee sends every letter in applicants' files and refuses to pick the best ones. there are pros and cons to this, though.

since you are a humanities major, i would definitely recommend having at least 2 lors from science profs. it seems that you have lots of time before you need to worry about gathering recommendations, so in the mean time i would try to form relationships with all of your science profs. there is nothing wrong with a TA writing a rec for you, but you'll be at an advantage if you have profs write them for you, esp if they are well known in their field. of course only if they know you will this be an advantage.

 

[nicholonious]

Well the guy is a resident so it can't have hurt him too much; not sure how the take home message from that is that 8 is way too many.

In any case, tell my pre-med committee. They insist on at least that many.

Good point Tigress. In my opinion when you get along the lines of 8+ LOR the sheer amount of testaments on an individual seems rediculous. I just wonder if it serves any more purpose in revealing what type of applicant the committee is looking at.

In any case, I'll try to get around eight too. I think my pasteur, priest, grocer, 6th grade middle school teacher, and psychiatrist are good for a nice letter of rec.





Just kidding, all in good fun!

 

[Biscuit799]

I'm also a non-sci major. Every school I applied to required at least 2 science and 1 non-science letter. A few schools require you to submit a letter from a prof within your major, if you're non-science. Most of the schools I applied to required a peer letter, which I got from officers in clubs I had volunteered with (the peer letter is popular in the state of Florida). I ended up with 7 letters (3 sci, 1 non-sci which wasn't from a major professor bc I didn't complete those secondaries, 1 from a D.O. bc I applied to a few DO schools, and 2 letters from peers). I ended up using 2 science letters, my lone non-science letter, and 1 peer letter.

 

[Darth Asclepius]

The key is to make sure you pick people who will write you excellent letters and that you represent your accomplishments (if you did a lot of research, you need a letter from your mentor, if you did a lot shadowing, a letter from that doctor, and then some basic professors). One thing to keep in mind is that if you have too many letters, the adcoms probably aren't going to read 10 letters. They might pick a couple and ignore the others, and you wouldn't want them to ignore a great letter from your research mentor for a letter from a bio professor who didn't know you all that well.

 

[BaylorGuy]

I've been wondering about this for a while and i haven't really been able to get a straight answer, but what exactly do professors/mentors put into a letter of recommendation?? I know some deal with character and accomplishments, but is there any sort of specific characteristic or style that the adcoms are looking for in an application??? I'm just wondering

 

[BaylorGuy]

bump

 

[tigress]

I've been wondering about this for a while and i haven't really been able to get a straight answer, but what exactly do professors/mentors put into a letter of recommendation?? I know some deal with character and accomplishments, but is there any sort of specific characteristic or style that the adcoms are looking for in an application??? I'm just wondering

Personally I think LORs are all complete BS. But hey maybe I'm just cynical.

 

[tigress]

My question is this: I was in grad school for a bit over one semester and then dropped out. I don't feel comfortable asking for LORs from people there (which is, I think, understandable, considering I left their program). Will this hurt me though? The only LOR I have from the past year is from a doc I shadowed, so there's nothing really proving that I did anything this year.