Just a warning.

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FlowerGirl35

FlowerGirl35

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Do not settle for a mediocre letter of recommendation when it comes to your application. A great letter of recommendation from a non-required professor is infinitely better than a forcibly written one from a required one. In other words, 1 bad letter of rec can greatly undermine 3 good ones.
 
FlowerGirl35 said:
Do not settle for a mediocre letter of recommendation when it comes to your application. A great letter of recommendation from a non-required professor is infinitely better than a forcibly written one from a required one. In other words, 1 bad letter of rec can greatly undermine 3 good ones.
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You mean you get to negotiate the contents of an LOR?
 
This is such a vague post.....do you have any experience or success with this? Although you've made a good point, I don't think it is a good idea to advise other people against a school's admission requirements
 
wildzodiac said:
Requirement: something that is compulsory; a necessary condition.
"applicants must satisfy the normal entry requirements"
synonyms: need, wish, demand, want, necessity,essential, prerequisite, stipulation
"Dental school applicants are required to provide 3 separate letters of recommendation with one if them being from a biology professor."
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Depends on the school but I have heard of some schools being more lenient than others.
 
jujubeess said:
This is such a vague post.....do you have any experience or success with this? Although you've made a good point, I don't think it is a good idea to advise other people against a school's admission requirements
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Heard from my friends that have applied last cycle. Take it or leave it. If you can get a great letter of recommendation from a professor that isn't required, I would send that over one that follows this statement: This student received an A in my Biology course. Signed, Professor. <---That's a killer
 
FlowerGirl35 said:
Heard from my friends that have applied last cycle. Take it or leave it. If you can get a great letter of recommendation from a professor that isn't required, I would send that over one that follows this statement: This student received an A in my Biology course. Signed, Professor. <---That's a killer
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It's not a killer, especially if you have 3 other good letters. Did your friends tell you that one letter is what kept them out? How would they know? I'd be very surprised. Also, I can't imagine a prof would show them a letter that looks like that. If they waived their rights and peeked, maybe that was the killer.
 
hellofuturedentists said:
It's not a killer, especially if you have 3 other good letters. Did your friends tell you that one letter is what kept them out? How would they know? I'd be very surprised. Also, I can't imagine a prof would show them a letter that looks like that. If they waived their rights and peeked, maybe that was the killer.
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They used a letter of recommendation feedback service. That's how they found out. Everything else on their application was solid.
 
FlowerGirl35 said:
They used a letter of recommendation feedback service. That's how they found out. Everything else on their application was solid.
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I don't really agree with this whole thing at all. Schools have requirements and they're just that, required. If anything, send the required ones and then an additional if you think it's stronger. But I'd hate for you to miss an acceptance just because you can't follow the rules.
 
OP isn't entirely wrong fam. Uconn for example explicitly states everywhere that they require 3 professors or something (memory is a little shady.. Busy studying for dat). When I called them asking if I could send an additional LOR to them outside of AADSAS to meet the requirement because mine only held 2 professors and other employers, they said whatever I sent via AADSAS was okay as long as I had 3 letters.

Edit: of course it depends on the school entirely
 
Charles_Darwin said:
OP isn't entirely wrong fam. Uconn for example explicitly states everywhere that they require 3 professors or something (memory is a little shady.. Busy studying for dat). When I called them asking if I could send an additional LOR to them outside of AADSAS to meet the requirement because mine only held 2 professors and other employers, they said whatever I sent via AADSAS was okay as long as I had 3 letters.

Edit: of course it depends on the school entirely
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:nod:
 
Charles_Darwin said:
OP isn't entirely wrong fam. Uconn for example explicitly states everywhere that they require 3 professors or something (memory is a little shady.. Busy studying for dat). When I called them asking if I could send an additional LOR to them outside of AADSAS to meet the requirement because mine only held 2 professors and other employers, they said whatever I sent via AADSAS was okay as long as I had 3 letters.

Edit: of course it depends on the school entirely
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I agree, some schools may be lenient. But this is not a good post and could really screw somebody up if they aren't careful.
 
Besides this post being somewhat misleading and potentially dangerous regarding some schools requirements I have to ask.....

You've had loads of posts regarding every aspect of letters of recommendation. Are you having some major issue with yours?
 
xerxes106 said:
Besides this post being somewhat misleading and potentially dangerous regarding some schools requirements I have to ask.....

You've had loads of posts regarding every aspect of letters of recommendation. Are you having some major issue with yours?
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I'm ignoring you. Please don't message me anymore.
 
xerxes106 said:
Lovely. I never messaged you. Carry-on giving bad advice because your "friend" did it.

And your additional message in my inbox was a nice treat, we call that redundancy.
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Keep up with harassing females on the internet to get through your day, bud
 
@rmarder @changtw @AintNobodyGotTimeForDAT thank you so much guys 🙂 You're awesome, kind, great people. The students in each of your classes will be lucky to have you guys. This made my evening! I hope we get to meet at interviews (and chang, I know you're accepted/aren't interviewing this cycle, but thanks again).
 
xerxes106 said:
Gee whiz that escalated quickly. Was unaware that disagreeing with your post and getting messages from YOU suddenly implies I harass women to get through my day.
With that attitude I have no doubt you'll make a fine clinician, bud.
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You done? Let me know when you pick your next female victim so I can move on with my life.
 
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FlowerGirl35 said:
Do not settle for a mediocre letter of recommendation when it comes to your application. A great letter of recommendation from a non-required professor is infinitely better than a forcibly written one from a required one. In other words, 1 bad letter of rec can greatly undermine 3 good ones.
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FlowerGirl35 said:
They used a letter of recommendation feedback service. That's how they found out. Everything else on their application was solid.
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What's that?
 
FlowerGirl35 said:
You done? Let me know when you pick your next female victim so I can move on with my life.
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FlowerGirl35 said:
Keep up with harassing females on the internet to get through your day, bud
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What was initially asked did not warrant this type of response. It makes me question your maturity. If you're applying this cycle, I hope you present yourself more professionally, and more importantly, kinder, during interviews.

The advice you posted would be risky to follow for a great number of applicants.

Columbia:
"Three CONFIDENTIAL letters of recommendation from science professors or one composite letter from a pre-health committee. Additional letters of recommendation from employers or non-science professors will be accepted, but will not satisfy the requirement."

Rutgers:
"Three letters from faculty (two must be from the sciences)."

You are essentially advising students to go against what the schools have explicitly posted on their admissions information pages. I believe in one of the UCDavid pre-dental admissions panels on Youtube, admissions faculty had listed a few things that immediately stand out (negatively), causing applicants to be dismissed - grammatical errors, carelessness (hand-written supplementals vs typed), and not following directions. They stressed planning ahead and attention to detail, including submitting what the dental schools are looking for (letters).

If you feel you have a good letter written by a professional who does not satisfy the requirements, by all means, ask the school to see if you can mail it directly to their admissions office. Don't, however, go based off a gut feeling and send it in lieu of a required evaluator. If believe the evaluator will write a negative letter, you probably ought to haul ass and look for another professional/professor who satisfies the requirement.
 
Rand627 said:
Yeah, this person is 100% playing victim. The advice is VERY circumstantial. Take it at your own risk. Chances are you give a school what they want, not what you think they want.
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How am I a victim if I haven't even applied yet? lol This is advice from past applicants that I know of. I'm sure you can figure that out.
 
changtw said:
What was initially asked did not warrant this type of response. It makes me question your maturity. If you're applying this cycle, I hope you present yourself more professionally, and more importantly, kinder, during interviews.

The advice you posted would be risky to follow for a great number of applicants.

Columbia:
"Three CONFIDENTIAL letters of recommendation from science professors or one composite letter from a pre-health committee. Additional letters of recommendation from employers or non-science professors will be accepted, but will not satisfy the requirement."

Rutgers:
"Three letters from faculty (two must be from the sciences)."

You are essentially advising students to go against what the schools have explicitly posted on their admissions information pages. I believe in one of the UCDavid pre-dental admissions panels on Youtube, admissions faculty had listed a few things that immediately stand out (negatively), causing applicants to be dismissed - grammatical errors, carelessness (hand-written supplementals vs typed), and not following directions. They stressed planning ahead and attention to detail, including submitting what the dental schools are looking for (letters).

If you feel you have a good letter written by a professional who does not satisfy the requirements, by all means, ask the school to see if you can mail it directly to their admissions office. Don't, however, go based off a gut feeling and send it in lieu of a required evaluator. If believe the evaluator will write a negative letter, you probably ought to haul ass and look for another professional/professor who satisfies the requirement.
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Hey "Chang," you don't know the context in which he responded in. He has harassed me in the past several times. You can't pass judgement here but I question why you would try to spite someone on the internet. Maybe you want to take a cheap shot and relieve some stress? I hope you know most people can see right through this.

That's my sincere advice--written in text. Take it or leave it. Simple as that. Schools can have requirements but it's not always done that way in practice. That's the reality, Chang.
 
And for the record, Columbia has accepted letters of recommendations from 2 science professors in past cycles.
 
FlowerGirl35 said:
Hey "Chang," you don't know the context in which he responded in. He has harassed me in the past several times. You can't pass judgement here but I question why you would try to spite someone on the internet. Maybe you want to take a cheap shot and relieve some stress? I hope you know most people can see right through this.

That's my sincere advice--written in text. Take it or leave it. Simple as that. Schools can have requirements but it's not always done that way in practice. That's the reality, Chang.
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It should be noted that Chang is entering her first year, so she is not relieving stress but rather she is dealing out solid and sound advice.
 
DSlotted said:
It should be noted that Chang is entering her first year, so she is not relieving stress but rather she is dealing out solid and sound advice.
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Good for Chang. When my Dad was in dental school, he seemed pretty stressed out, to be honest.
 
How is it deemed appropriate for one to waive their rights to read a LOR but then be told what is in it by a "feedback service"? I may as well have Interfolio send my letters to my mother...
 
From what I was told, the type of people who write your LORs is fairly negotiable if you have been out of school for at least a certain number of years, otherwise not really.
 
FlowerGirl35 said:
How am I a victim if I haven't even applied yet? lol This is advice from past applicants that I know of. I'm sure you can figure that out.
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When he said victim he meant, "Victim playing (also known as playing the victim or self-victimization) is the fabrication of victimhood for a variety of reasons such as to justify abuse of others, to manipulate others, a coping strategy or attention seeking."
 
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I would also disregard the advice that OP is giving. Follow the directions on their websites and if you are having any issues, contact the school's directly. I wasn't sure if my epidemiology professor would fulfill the biology LOR requirement, but every school I talked to said it was okay. The key thing though is that I checked with the schools instead of disregarding their instructions.

There's a lot of things in life I've been willing to gamble on. Applying to dental school was not one of them.
 
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Roy Williams said:
Dude you're good. Haha you're like the most positive person I've seen on these forums and I'm sure that shows through in real life too. I doubt your letter writers wrote anything other than great things.
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changtw said:
I second this.
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Charles_Darwin said:
I third this. I want to party with @Incis0r
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Fourth this. I haven't seen @Incis0r say even the slightest negative thing on here.

Hoping you applied to MWU AZ so I can say hi in person when you interview!
 
fogorvostan said:
I would also disregard the advice that OP is giving. Follow the directions on their websites and if you are having any issues, contact the school's directly. I wasn't sure if my epidemiology professor would fulfill the biology LOR requirement, but every school I talked to said it was okay. The key thing though is that I checked with the schools instead of disregarding their instructions.

There's a lot of things in life I've been willing to gamble on. Applying to dental school was not one of them.
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Basically if something is that far in the grey area, I would not call to ask. I would ask via email so that if the admissions office questions something, whether it is during the admissions process or immediately prior to matriculation, you have written documentation of what you were told.
 
bwc said:
Basically if something is that far in the grey area, I would not call to ask. I would ask via email so that if the admissions office questions something, whether it is during the admissions process or immediately prior to matriculation, you have written documentation of what you were told.
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Exactly. I emailed for basically everything.

This is also good advice for life in general. Try to get everything in writing and try not to get your words put into writing. CYA is real
 
FlowerGirl35 said:
Hey "Chang," you don't know the context in which he responded in. He has harassed me in the past several times. You can't pass judgement here but I question why you would try to spite someone on the internet. Maybe you want to take a cheap shot and relieve some stress? I hope you know most people can see right through this.

That's my sincere advice--written in text. Take it or leave it. Simple as that. Schools can have requirements but it's not always done that way in practice. That's the reality, Chang.
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I can't see through it.

What I can see is someone giving out unsolicited "advice" on a public forum when they are at the beginning stages of the application cycle. I also see someone else who responds to said "advice," based upon published information, evidence, and experience. Not to mention @changtw has been accepted and will be matriculating soon, whereas you are not.
I wonder, what are your motivations behind offering "advice" that is directly in conflict with explicit instructions put out by dental schools?
 
schmoob said:
I can't see through it.

What I can see is someone giving out unsolicited "advice" on a public forum when they are at the beginning stages of the application cycle. I also see someone else who responds to said "advice," based upon published information, evidence, and experience. Not to mention @changtw has been accepted and will be matriculating soon, whereas you are not.
I wonder, what are your motivations behind offering "advice" that is directly in conflict with explicit instructions put out by dental schools?
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That gunner though...
 
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