Just Saw my LoR...

[flip26]

agreed, common misconception: it is not a letter of evaluation, but a letter of recommendation and thus the writer should write it only if they feel they have enough positives to point out

Exactly. An LOR is not a balanced, objective evaluation, it is a recommendation.

This thread should now be locked - there was nothing else to add to your post.

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[utah3219]

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[flip26]

This is the worst advice I have ever heard. There are schools which require a letter from a supervisor. Ask for a rewrite if you are too uncomfortable with the "quiet" remark.

I applied to 25 schools and none of them required such a letter.

Not every applicant has been 'supervised,' but every applicant has taken the basic science pre reqs, hence why these are required by all med schools.

 

[utah3219]

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[flip26]

There are PLENTY of schools which require more than 2-3 academic letters. Many schools GIVE you the option of a supervisor letter and will let you choose between clinical, research, or service. For all of my schools, I opted to use my service LOR before my Research one. Utah even required 6 letters of rec: 3 academic, 1 research, 1 service, 1 clinical.

To claim that a research letter is more valuable than a service letter is baffling. I know far too many applicants who have had issues with getting a quality letter from a PI they hardly know because they work under the supervision of a post-doc or grad student.

Utah is fairly unique among med schools - your error is that you are extrapolating the unique reqs at Utah on to PLENTY of schools.

Wrong.

 

[utah3219]

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[utah3219]

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[MilkmanAl]

Of course you're encouraged to submit letters from your superiors. Who else would write them? Those sound like pretty generic "we want rec letters" statements to me.

 

[flip26]

Arizona's page:

"Applicants who have participated in clinical activities and/or academic research are encouraged to include recommendation letters from their clinical or community service supervisor and/or research mentors."


Ohio State:

"Additional letters from individuals who are able to speak to your abilities and unique characteristics are also encouraged. For example: community and volunteer service, clinical exposure, research experience."

Stanford:

Stanford requires complete letters of evaluation from three to six individuals who know you well and can evaluate your performance in those areas that are most relevant to your application. Professors, instructors, thesis advisors or supervisors of special projects, clinical, volunteer or employment activities usually provide the most informative evaluations.

Do you understand what "required" means? I applied to 25 schools and not a single one required any such letters, but all of them required letters from professors, most often a prescribed number.

Knock yourself out finding examples of schools that allow for additional letters, but that don't require them. You missed the point, and you missed the point of the thread, too.

 

[utah3219]

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[flip26]

Flip, all comments don't have to be addressing the OP. It's the fact that you have made a horrible statement in saying volunteer letters mean nothing that prompts me to say that is absolutely bogus.

You claim supervisor letters aren't necessarily required, yet you claim you should have a research letter, guaranteeing that it is the fool proof route...yet I mentioned above that research LORs are not always the best to go with when they are impersonal (which you clearly ignored).

You can't throw out bad information to people, have others refute it, then decide how to validate your poorly given advice.

Others? Is that like a "royal we?"

You are the only poster getting his tutu in a twist...

 

[utah3219]

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[caseofthemndays]

OP, When in doubt, leave it out. There will be thousands of other applicants who have truly glowing letters, anything less than that may be cause for concern. You need academic letters, you don't need letters from extracurricular activities. Did your volunteer coordinator give you this letter to get feedback on it? If she's asking for your opinion, I would tell her what your concerns are. If not, don't give her unsolicited advice, just don't use the letter. No one will even blink if you don't have this letter in your file.

 

[BlueElmo]

OP, When in doubt, leave it out. There will be thousands of other applicants who have truly glowing letters, anything less than that may be cause for concern. You need academic letters, you don't need letters from extracurricular activities. Did your volunteer coordinator give you this letter to get feedback on it? If she's asking for your opinion, I would tell her what your concerns are. If not, don't give her unsolicited advice, just don't use the letter. No one will even blink if you don't have this letter in your file.

Very true. One bad letter could derail your entire application. Leave out that suspicious letter. Better be safe than sorry.