Humanities/NonScience LOR

[junkct]

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so we've all heard the "you need 2 science and 1 non-science LOR for med school" spiel. but I've also heard that "non-science" implies "humanities" (e.g. Literature, Foreign Language, Philosophy, etc.)

Can non-science also be Social Sciences (e.g. Psychology, Political Science, Public Health, Economics, etc.)?

Might be a stupid question, but it just came to mind while reading other people's posts, people who wrote specifically about having trouble finding "Humanities" LORs...

 

[DrWookie]

so we've all heard the "you need 2 science and 1 non-science LOR for med school" spiel. but I've also heard that "non-science" implies "humanities" (e.g. Literature, Foreign Language, Philosophy, etc.)

Can non-science also be Social Sciences (e.g. Psychology, Political Science, Public Health, Economics, etc.)?

Might be a stupid question, but it just came to mind while reading other people's posts, people who wrote specifically about having trouble finding "Humanities" LORs...

I don't know if Psychology would count as a 'non-science' but those others would probably be fine.

 

[BlueElmo]

I would say Psychology counts as non-science. It's probably not a big deal.

 

[littlemisspiggy]

do you think a LOR from a foreign language professor would be okay for nonsciecne LOR?

 

[nuance]

do you think a LOR from a foreign language professor would be okay for nonsciecne LOR?

Yes, as long as they know you well and you are confident they will write a positive recommendation.

It *might* make a difference if the writer is not a full "professor" (at my school many foreign language teachers were actually instructors or graduate students), but I'm not sure how significant that distinction really is.

 

[littlemisspiggy]

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[candav]

I would say Psychology counts as non-science. It's probably not a big deal.

At all the schools I applied to, psychology was considered a science. (I know this because nearly all of my letters were written by psychology faculty...)

 

[Classof2013PreM]

Ok, this whole "you need two science and humanities letter" rule is made up (according to my school's pre-med committee adviser, and i go to a top school with an over 90% acceptance rate to medical school so I think they know what they're talking about).

Just get letters of recomendation from the people that will recommend you most strongly (our adviser just mandates two science letters)

 

[candav]

Ok, this whole "you need two science and humanities letter" rule is made up (according to my school's pre-med committee adviser, and i go to a top school with an over 90% acceptance rate to medical school so I think they know what they're talking about).

Just get letters of recomendation from the people that will recommend you most strongly (our adviser just mandates two science letters)

I think that's very school-dependent. I've had schools tell me directly that my letters did not meet their requirements.

 

[nuance]

Ok, this whole "you need two science and humanities letter" rule is made up (according to my school's pre-med committee adviser, and i go to a top school with an over 90% acceptance rate to medical school so I think they know what they're talking about).

Just get letters of recomendation from the people that will recommend you most strongly (our adviser just mandates two science letters)

I'm not clear on what you mean about the rule being "made up." A few schools that I applied to specifically asked for (required) a letter from a non-science professor. However, some schools may be more strict than others in terms of enforcing a rule like this. And, of course, you can always choose not to apply to schools that have this requirement (although that would be a lame reason not to apply to a school).

BTW I don't doubt that you go to a great school with a high acceptance rate, but I want to warn you not to accept everything your pre-med adviser tells you as the be-all and end-all. Sometimes they are misinformed, and it is safer to check each school's requirements yourself rather than rely on an adviser.