Is it too late to add a letter?

[atethesun]

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I know this sounds stupid but is it too late to add a letter on ERAS to some programs I interviewed at?

The letter is from a well-known attending.
I've always thought that he wrote the letter but I was never informed about the letter being available on ERAS.
It turned out that he sent in the letter sometimes in early Dec and I never bothered to check my ERAS during my interview season....

Another question. How do I replace 1 letter with this letter on ERAS? They have a limit of 4 letters now.
There's nothing wrong with that 1 letter. The one I want to replace is also a great letter (based on feedback from my interviewers) but I figure that this letter might help boost me a little on the programs' rank lists =P

 

[jcu]

Here I thought I'd read it all.

Yes, it is too late. No, you can't replace LOR's on myERAS once they've been retrieved by programs. Even if it was possible, at this point in time, a letter from the surgeon general herself will not alter your ranking position. If this well known attending is a faculty member of a program you're interested in, s/he may speak on your behalf. That's it. Take a deep breathe. It'll all be over soon.

 

[2012mdc]

I know this sounds stupid but is it too late to add a letter on ERAS to some programs I interviewed at?

The letter is from a well-known attending.
I've always thought that he wrote the letter but I was never informed about the letter being available on ERAS.
It turned out that he sent in the letter sometimes in early Dec and I never bothered to check my ERAS during my interview season....

Another question. How do I replace 1 letter with this letter on ERAS? They have a limit of 4 letters now.
There's nothing wrong with that 1 letter. The one I want to replace is also a great letter (based on feedback from my interviewers) but I figure that this letter might help boost me a little on the programs' rank lists =P

If a program has downloaded 4 letters from you then there's no way to upload this new letter to the program. You can only assign 4 letters to a program and once they're downloaded by the program those 4 are locked in.

If you have a good relationship with the attending you could ask them to call your #1 program on your behalf though

 

[atethesun]

If a program has downloaded 4 letters from you then there's no way to upload this new letter to the program. You can only assign 4 letters to a program and once they're downloaded by the program those 4 are locked in.

If you have a good relationship with the attending you could ask them to call your #1 program on your behalf though

Can they do that? I might ask my Dean to do that (he's in the same specialty I'm applying to) and he knows me well.

 

[HumbleMD]

Can they do that? I might ask my Dean to do that (he's in the same specialty I'm applying to) and he knows me well.

Whoah. 3 things.
1) You technically can change letters if there's a typo or something (but not the writer), but it usually requires an embarrassing phonecall to the PC. This is a September/October problem, NOT a February post-interview problem though.
2) This author isn't even in your specialty? Note that "well-known" is overused, and probably doesn't hold as much value as you think. I doubt this letter would have that huge of an impact, so just relax and don't worry about it.
3) In February, this is the time to have a phonecall made to your number 1 program (ONLY). They should certainly be in your field (so I'd go with your Dean), and it can help if they have a personal connection to the program. This phonecall should be made ASAP; programs are already finalizing their ROLs.

 

[atethesun]

haha, that's what I thought