How old can LORs be?

[s.ch]

Hi everyone,
I was hoping someone could guide me on what to do as I apply to dental school for the next cycle: so basically, I just took the DAT and decided that the grades were not competitive enough (AA 19) so I'm not applying this cycle for 2024 which I was originally planning to do (it also would have been late to apply anyways, as I have been told). Because that was the plan, I already have pretty much everything else ready for my application including reference letters. Now my question is, if I apply for next year, will I need to obtain these letters again? I technically won't be a re-applicant since I decided not to apply this cycle, so that would mean the letters will be about a year old when I do apply so as such, is it alright to just use the ones dated for this year? Or will I need to obtain new ones?
Is there a rule of thumb of how old the LORs can be?

Thank you for your help! Wish everyone the best of luck as they apply.

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[Ryxndek]

I believe they should be within the year you plan on applying. I think all your LORs would have to do is adjust the date and that should be okay.

 

[s.ch]

I believe they should be within the year you plan on applying. I think all your LORs would have to do is adjust the date and that should be okay.

I see, thanks for your reply. It's just that it's hard to reach one of my referees again so I wanted to see if I could just use the original letter.
The other thing I was wondering is because I am still contemplating on if I do want to apply this year or not (as it's a little late), should I ask my third reference (who hasn't given me a letter yet) to just date the letter for next year? But then in the case I DO apply this cycle, would it be weird for schools to view a letter dated for a future date? Sorry if that made no sense, thanks for your help.

 

[Ryxndek]

I think it could be viewed weird if noticed. At this point though, you’re setting yourself back by applying now unless you really have solid stats or a solid mission fit to some schools. You really want to put your best foot forward. So if you are able to wait it out another cycle and apply right away, it maximizes your chances. You only get to be a first time applicant once, so you want to make the best of it. If that makes sense.

But if you’re ready to go and truly want to apply this cycle, then it’s your choice and you just gotta roll with it. This is ultimately your decision and you gotta weigh the pros and cons of either applying now or waiting it out. There’s a mix of both. Do what is best for you, that is the best decision.

But I would reach out to your profs. Sometimes you can use interfolio to store LORs. I’ve never used it, but I know some folks have and haven’t had problems.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

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[s.ch]

I think it could be viewed weird if noticed. At this point though, you’re setting yourself back by applying now unless you really have solid stats or a solid mission fit to some schools. You really want to put your best foot forward. So if you are able to wait it out another cycle and apply right away, it maximizes your chances. You only get to be a first time applicant once, so you want to make the best of it. If that makes sense.

But if you’re ready to go and truly want to apply this cycle, then it’s your choice and you just gotta roll with it. This is ultimately your decision and you gotta weigh the pros and cons of either applying now or waiting it out. There’s a mix of both. Do what is best for you, that is the best decision.

But I would reach out to your profs. Sometimes you can use interfolio to store LORs. I’ve never used it, but I know some folks have and haven’t had problems.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and give your opinion on this; I too have been leaning more towards applying next year now instead of this year. However, you mentioned that it's important to maximize my chances as I apply for the first time– could you elaborate on that? Will I be evaluated differently as a re-applicant?

Thanks again.

 

[Ryxndek]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and give your opinion on this; I too have been leaning more towards applying next year now instead of this year. However, you mentioned that it's important to maximize my chances as I apply for the first time– could you elaborate on that? Will I be evaluated differently as a re-applicant?

Thanks again.

Yes, reapplicants are held to higher standards. Admissions will want to know what you did differently when you reapply, and that could mean having to retake your DAT again, getting a bunch more volunteer hours, going back and doing a post-bacc or SMP. All that takes more time and money and doing poorly or not as well as they would have liked can set you back even more, so if you can try to do it right the first time; apply early as your can, apply when you have all your materials ready to go, apply to the right well-targeted schools, network/go to events, etc, it will help you out in getting into dental school.

But again, this is just to maximize your chances of getting in. If you can only afford to apply small amount of schools, or only take the DAT once, or apply later in the cycle, then that's what you have to do. But in your situation, I think next cycle would be a better idea than applying this cycle. It's starting to get "late" into this cycle now and could set you back vs. waiting and applying right away.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You need to ask the schools you are applying to about how old letters need to be. Most probably will be fine with letters being within 1-2 years, though you probably should have at least one letter that is contemporary (preferably one that reflects what you did in the last year with classes, shadowing, or work). You don't want to have an old letter saying you had 20 hours of shadowing when you added more in the interim. Only you know whose perspectives you want to be most current.

 

[s.ch]

You need to ask the schools you are applying to about how old letters need to be. Most probably will be fine with letters being within 1-2 years, though you probably should have at least one letter that is contemporary (preferably one that reflects what you did in the last year with classes, shadowing, or work). You don't want to have an old letter saying you had 20 hours of shadowing when you added more in the interim. Only you know whose perspectives you want to be most current.

Makes sense, thank you!

 

[s.ch]

Yes, reapplicants are held to higher standards. Admissions will want to know what you did differently when you reapply, and that could mean having to retake your DAT again, getting a bunch more volunteer hours, going back and doing a post-bacc or SMP. All that takes more time and money and doing poorly or not as well as they would have liked can set you back even more, so if you can try to do it right the first time; apply early as your can, apply when you have all your materials ready to go, apply to the right well-targeted schools, network/go to events, etc, it will help you out in getting into dental school.

But again, this is just to maximize your chances of getting in. If you can only afford to apply small amount of schools, or only take the DAT once, or apply later in the cycle, then that's what you have to do. But in your situation, I think next cycle would be a better idea than applying this cycle. It's starting to get "late" into this cycle now and could set you back vs. waiting and applying right away.

Thanks for your suggestion, it does make sense to just maximize my chances and apply right away when applications open again, it just sucks having to wait another year.

I took your advice and emailed one of my references to request to have the date of the letter changed but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that from the ADEA website. When I tried to generate a new evaluation for the same referee using their email, it gave me an error and didn't let me use their email again. I'm not sure how else to instruct the referees to change the date. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you!

 

[Ryxndek]

Thanks for your suggestion, it does make sense to just maximize my chances and apply right away when applications open again, it just sucks having to wait another year.

I took your advice and emailed one of my references to request to have the date of the letter changed but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that from the ADEA website. When I tried to generate a new evaluation for the same referee using their email, it gave me an error and didn't let me use their email again. I'm not sure how else to instruct the referees to change the date. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you!

I’d maybe see if you can contact AADSAS. It might be that you’ll just have to have them reupload it for next cycle when it opens, or use interfolio and have them upload it there and you can just have interfolio send it on their behalf

 

[s.ch]

Hi there,

So, I have my LORs ready to go on the ADEA website, however, I don't want to use them for this cycle but for the next cycle when I apply in 2024; I wanted to know if they will 'roll over' to the next cycle or will they disappear when the cycle renews and I'll have to request them again..? I just wanted to know how that works so I can make arrangements now if needed. Thank you.

 

[Ryxndek]

I don’t think they’ll roll over, I believe it’s just your demographic information that should roll over. You could contact AADSAS and ask for confirmation. But I would error on the side of caution, mistakes can happen in data transfers when the new portal opens

 

[s.ch]

I don’t think they’ll roll over, I believe it’s just your demographic information that should roll over. You could contact AADSAS and ask for confirmation. But I would error on the side of caution, mistakes can happen in data transfers when the new portal opens

What about transcripts? Will I have to order new ones in again?

 

[macsak]

What about transcripts? Will I have to order new ones in again?

yes

 

[s.ch]

yes

Then how will I be able to apply as early as I can, for instance within the first week? It took about a month for a few of my transcripts to be received by the AADSAS head office.

 

[Ryxndek]

The application opens 1 month before you can officially submit. Work on getting everything uploaded then. Transcript verification takes time. But you can put your grades in beforehand. Does your school not do electronic transcript sending?

 

[s.ch]

The application opens 1 month before you can officially submit. Work on getting everything uploaded then. Transcript verification takes time. But you can put your grades in beforehand. Does your school not do electronic transcript sending?

No the Canadian colleges I went to don’t do electronic transcript sending, so I have to have it sent by mail which took like a month last time and the last one still hasn’t been received.
When do applications open before the submission date? In May?

 

[Ryxndek]

No the Canadian colleges I went to don’t do electronic transcript sending, so I have to have it sent by mail which took like a month last time and the last one still hasn’t been received.
When do applications open before the submission date? In May?

It's on AADSAS, usually opens around May 1st to let you get things imported, written down, and saved. I highly recommend it as it will save you a lot of time beforehand.