Is it harmful to apply to MD school independently from my university's committee?

[scared_of_med]

Hi all,

I was wondering if there are any negative repercussions associated with applying to medical school outside of the university's professional committee. Obviously I wouldn't receive the school's committee letter etc. etc. but assuming that I apply with my own LORs and my application is solid are there any real issues with this (for example prospective medical schools seeing this as a red flag for some reason)?
At the school I attend (state UG in the Southeast US), most competitive applicants apply to MD school through the professional committee but I may not be able to go this route and am wondering

Thanks for any responses!

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[RogueUnicorn]

This has been discussed and explained ad nauseum here. In short, yes it's a red flag

 

[candbgirl]

If the schools you are applying to know that your school has a committee letter and you don’t submit one they might wonder why. So yes it can be a red flag. Do a search of this forum and lots of discussions will pop up.

 

[scared_of_med]

@RogueUnicorn @candbgirl @gonnif Thanks for the input, much appreciated

 

[907914]

As someone from the-cheaper-State school, May I ask what exactly is a committee letter? Whatever it is, I know my university does not have them. However, what is it?

 

[LizzyM]

As someone from the-cheaper-State school, May I ask what exactly is a committee letter? Whatever it is, I know my university does not have them. However, what is it?

Some schools have a pre-med advisor or a pre-med committee that collects and reviews letters of recommendation on your behalf and that may interview you and review your application including academic record and activities. The advisor or committee then composes a letter that is very formulaic but idiosyncratic for each school. The letter may quote the letters of recommendation which are then appended to the committee letter, it may describe the course work you took, particularly if you took the more difficult options (e.g. you took calculus based physics which is more difficult than the physics sequence taken by most pre-meds at your school), it may describe your family background or rate your application on a school specific scale either overall or in several different realms (e.g. in terms of academic performance, research experience, clinical experience, leadership).

If your school offers such a letter and you don't have the letter, it will be missed and it will raise questions.

 

[scared_of_med]

OP here, just wanted to update with my personal experience in case someone with the same question stumbles on this thread in the future. I applied to 7 schools and ended up interviewing very early in the cycle at 2 with what I would consider pretty average stats (3.9, 513).

In short, I wouldn't worry too much about not having it. Only one school I applied to had an "explain if you do not have a committee letter" in the secondary (Emory, I believe), and I'm certainly glad I did not delay my application to get the letter. I used MSAR to research my schools of interest and then got the letters I needed from professors, etc. as needed.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

OP here, just wanted to update with my personal experience in case someone with the same question stumbles on this thread in the future. I applied to 7 schools and ended up interviewing very early in the cycle at 2 with what I would consider pretty average stats (3.9, 513).

In short, I wouldn't worry too much about not having it. Only one school I applied to had an "explain if you do not have a committee letter" in the secondary (Emory, I believe), and I'm certainly glad I did not delay my application to get the letter. I used MSAR to research my schools of interest and then got the letters I needed from professors, etc. as needed.

Congratulations on your success so far. Do you mind sharing your reasons behind not pursuing the committee letter?

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Congratulations on your success so far. Do you mind sharing your reasons behind not pursuing the committee letter?

Not OP but our schools committee letter requires a bull**** amount of essays and requirements just so that some people you met maybe five times at best can write you some ****ty letter. I can see why someone would want to not waste their time on it.

 

[deleted1001426]

Not OP but our schools committee letter requires a bull**** amount of essays and requirements just so that some people you met maybe five times at best can write you some ****ty letter. I can see why someone would want to not waste their time on it.

It depends on the school. Obtaining my committee letter entailed submitting my LORs to my advisor followed by a 10 minute meeting where I told her about my school list, mcat and gpa and then forwarded her a copy of my amcas app. Apparently the committee then reviewed my info and sent my letter 2 days later

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

It depends on the school. Obtaining my committee letter entailed submitting my LORs to my advisor followed by a 10 minute meeting where I told her about my school list, mcat and gpa and then forwarded her a copy of my amcas app. Apparently the committee then reviewed my info and sent my letter 2 days later

Yeah for my school it's much more involved, and I can see why someone that's busy with semester + applying would forego bothering with it.

 

[ciestar]

It depends on the school. Obtaining my committee letter entailed submitting my LORs to my advisor followed by a 10 minute meeting where I told her about my school list, mcat and gpa and then forwarded her a copy of my amcas app. Apparently the committee then reviewed my info and sent my letter 2 days later

Mine was much more like this

 

[deleted668917]

I have 4 T20 ii and didn't have a committee letter.

 

[KnightDoc]

Not OP but our schools committee letter requires a bull**** amount of essays and requirements just so that some people you met maybe five times at best can write you some ****ty letter. I can see why someone would want to not waste their time on it.

Also not OP, but I heard some schools, in order to make their med school admission stats look better, will not provide a letter if your stats and other metrics do not meet some predetermined threshold, in order to discourage you from applying.

 

[riverrunner]

Another anecdote: student graduated from LAC far from home, returned home for post-grad work/application cycle. Would have had to return to the LAC and present to pre-med board. Decided to apply without committee letter, but WITH letters from appropriate professors. No perceived disadvantage to this choice: admitted to four schools that were a statistical match.

 

[Frazier]

I didn't even know my ugrad had a committee letter for pre-meds (I was out of the loop in a business major).
It worked out well enough to match in a top 15 school.
Perhaps if I had that committee letter, I could have gotten into a top 10.

Long story short, it's like 8 years later and I'm heading into fellowship now. Never knew ugrads had committee letters. Did fine.
Put together a strong app and you will do fine too.

 

[scared_of_med]

Congratulations on your success so far. Do you mind sharing your reasons behind not pursuing the committee letter?

Thanks! At my school the process is, as others have mentioned, pretty bloated and inconveniencing for both students and faculty (multiple interviews, requirements throughout, several cutoff/weedout “deadlines” ie. if you don’t follow the entire process to a T they will not write you a letter.) I missed one such “deadline” early in the process (I originally submitted my unofficial transcript electronically instead of printed, but managed to get the copy they wanted the day after) and this was enough for them to tell me that I might or might not get the letter. After stringing me along for several months they eventually said they wouldn’t be able to write one for me, which is what dissatisfied me most. Despite what I would consider a strong premedical curriculum here, I steer prospective premeds away from my school based on this experience.
So if you have the opportunity to get one, you probably should bc some schools require it and it’s good to cover all bases but if you are in a position where you cannot obtain one I would not lose too much sleep over it like I did lol

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

The more I hear about these committees, the more grateful I am that my UG didn't have one.

 

[Lis207]

I think it depends on the school you attended. I went to a small well-ranked liberal arts school, and the committee and their resources were actually really helpful. We started meeting with members of the committee freshman year and they helped us optimize our experiences throughout undergrad as opposed to just when you were ready to apply. They also were great about helping me find a job for my gap years, composing a school list, mock interviews, and writing and editing my personal statements. My committee also collects stats on the previous years so they have a lot of helpful information. During the cycle, my adviser has also been great about answering all of the types of questions asked on SDN such as when to send updates, what does "interview waitlist" mean at this school, etc...

If you are fortunate enough to have access to a committee, I would recommend at least checking out what they specifically offer before you make a decision.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

For me, the committee letter process included a bunch of essays to complete and an interview. I actually really enjoyed writing the essays (about 20 of them), as I was able to consolidate my thoughts to help write my personal statement, plus I was able to use these essays for like half my secondaries (which helped when applying to 45 schools). My interview was just sitting down with a committee member and writing the bulk of the letter. A lengthy process, but I think it helped me overall.

 

[Doc_Avatar]

This committee stuff is just another useless hoop to jump through for applicants. I'm very happy that my undergrad school didn't have one.

And again: Do. Not. Trust. Admin.

Ever.

Not in undergrad. DEFINITELY not in med school.

This is a blanket generalization that I find a little unhelpful. I am sure you have your reasons - but I have had incredible advocacy for me by my school’s administration.

 

[Seihai]

This committee stuff is just another useless hoop to jump through for applicants. I'm very happy that my undergrad school didn't have one.

And again: Do. Not. Trust. Admin.

Ever.

Not in undergrad. DEFINITELY not in med school.

What terrible advice. Even though admin can be seen as having their own motives, there are plenty of medical schools where administrators are actually on the side of the students (or at least not adversarial). Don't generalize your experience to advice being given to impressionable premeds - it's effectively malfeasance on your part.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

What terrible advice. Even though admin can be seen as having their own motives, there are plenty of medical schools where administrators are actually on the side of the students (or at least not adversarial). Don't generalize your experience to advice being given to impressionable premeds - it's effectively malfeasance on your part.

I have noticed that most undergrad premed advisors are not qualified enough to evaluate a medical applicant. They are not doctors, most of them are some english/humanities major who were hired to read essays....yet for some reason they have the power to rank a candidate against another candidate from the same school...
With that being said, the admission committee at a med school is not blind. Unless there are red flags that are popping up at multiple places, they are still going to evaluate you and see your whole application regardless of a committee letter.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

I have noticed that most undergrad premed advisors are not qualified enough to evaluate a medical applicant. They are not doctors, most of them are some english/humanities major who were hired to read essays....yet for some reason they have the power to rank a candidate against another candidate from the same school...
With that being said, the admission committee at a med school is not blind. Unless there are red flags that are popping up at multiple places, they are still going to evaluate you and see your whole application regardless of a committee letter.

I think advisor != admin. I've actually never met an admin that hasn't been very helpful and accomodating in the two unis I've been at.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

I think advisor != admin. I've actually never met an admin that hasn't been very helpful and accomodating in the two unis I've been at.

Pre health- advisors/admins or whatever they call them who meet with you 3-4 times a year are a big part of your committee letter.
.. but anyways thats how the game works. Some of them are not very helpful/accommodating at certain universities.

 

[riverrunner]

I have anecdotal experience with a few students who've elected not to use the committee, and stick with individual letters from professors. Here's why: if you are applying to medical schools that your undergrad pre-med committee is familiar with, and has developed relationships with, that can go well. If the committee doesn't know the schools on your list, and their missions, maybe not as good.

For students from our region (west) who go to LACs in the east, and then apply back into their home state medical schools, and adjacent state public med schools, those LAC committees don't always understand what these schools are looking for in their applicants. Some western medical schools are very specific about their missions of wanting to train future rural primary care docs. If the committee letters stress academic achievement and high potential for top 20 med schools, this can actually hurt the applicant, who may be perceived as someone not happy to land in their own state school and stay local to practice. They can be perceived as "low yield" and not invited to interview, even though their stats are stellar. Letting the student frame their own message about what they want, and not a committee, can sometimes be a better strategy for this particular situation.

 

[LizzyM]

I have noticed that most undergrad premed advisors are not qualified enough to evaluate a medical applicant. They are not doctors, most of them are some english/humanities major who were hired to read essays....yet for some reason they have the power to rank a candidate against another candidate from the same school...
With that being said, the admission committee at a med school is not blind. Unless there are red flags that are popping up at multiple places, they are still going to evaluate you and see your whole application regardless of a committee letter.

The advisor at Notre Dame is a priest -- and an MD! N of 1 but that's one school with an undergrad pre-med advisor who is writing letters from the perspective of someone who has done medical school and knows what schools are looking for.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

Don't trust admin. Not in undergrad and most certainly not in med school. Their goals are not the same as yours. It's not worth risking a multi-month submission delay over so just submit your app. I had low stats and no committee letter. Still got 3 MD II and over 10 DO II.

Abhorrently stupid reason to question or deny someone anyway -- why would some rando committee member I met once and talked to for 10 minutes paint a better picture of me than my PI who I worked for for 2 years?

With more and more applicants.. and more people who want to become doctors... This just becomes a part to screen out applicants at the undergrad level itself. Yeah, i somewhat agree that why have more people evaluate??.. Why not get the janitor at the school to also write an eval. Any ways, I do not agree with the process but it is a process regardless.. and it has been put in place for a purpose.