How much weight do LORs carry in this process?

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iamxp

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How important are LORs?

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Depends on the school and even the reviewer. Probably can't hurt you because no one would ever send a bad letter, but could help with an impressive, exceptional letter. The stats still will get you the interview and the acceptance percentages are already high at that point, so 3/4 of the battle is already over.
 
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Well a bad letter can really hurt you.
 
Bad letters are death. Good letters are neutral. Amazing letters are positive.

As a general rule, LORs carry quite a bit of weight but it ultimately depends upon the institution and person evaluating your app. More specific/detailed LORs will naturally carry more weight than ones obviously written by someone who has had you in one 200+-student class that you got an A in (i.e., research advisor or TA advisor >> prof who gave you an A).
 
People have sent bad letters. If a letter is bad it will more than likely destroy your chances. A good/exceptional letter won't have such an impact.

In this case its seems best just not to send any letters :D
 
How do you know that your LOR is bad? Do you get to see what is being sent at some moment?
 
How do you know that your LOR is bad? Do you get to see what is being sent at some moment?

I think you're supposed to sign a statement saying you've never seen the letter. If you know the person well and they have no reason to write a bad letter than don't worry about it. Otherwise, after you get rejected you can ask the schools what's up and they might say of one your letters said you're a pedophile.
 
Bad letters are death. Good letters are neutral. Amazing letters are positive.

As a general rule, LORs carry quite a bit of weight but it ultimately depends upon the institution and person evaluating your app. More specific/detailed LORs will naturally carry more weight than ones obviously written by someone who has had you in one 200+-student class that you got an A in (i.e., research advisor or TA advisor >> prof who gave you an A).

You have to have a mix of them for the good ones to stand out. Obviously the good ones can be quite subjective... the "he got an A+ in my Physics for Engineers class" letter is objective and means something (and is unlikely to be written by you to be signed by the writer, lol).
 
They are like the extra on top.

A bad or even lukewarm letter can kill.....

A really strong letter can help if the school knows the person well. I got a letter from an alum that was key. His letter was mentioned as the key extra since I had shadowed him and worked with him at two volunteering places. I made sure he saw me and my work. It's all about making yourself look great on paper.
 
I don't remember where I saw this information. But post-interview, LORS are ranked second in importance to clinching an acceptance (of course, second to the interview). I truly believe that my LORS sunk me.
 
I think my LORs are the strongest part of my application as well and am convinced they played a central role to securing acceptances post-interview.
 
People have sent bad letters. If a letter is bad it will more than likely destroy your chances. A good/exceptional letter won't have such an impact.

Short of being vindictive, I wonder why people ever send bad letters. Accepting to write an LOR is optional so one can easily decline rather than taking the extraordinary step to write a bad letter.

The other case I can think of where this may justified is if the LOR writer believes the student has NO business in medicine (unethical etc..)
 
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