Late Arriving LOR

[Duncan]

I have a dilema and I'm hoping that somebody here might have some input.

I rotated with a physiatrist a few months back and asked him for a letter of recommendation, to which he agreed. Months went by and I never received said letter. I, however, had plenty of LOR's from other physicians and ended up using those for my ERAS application.

Well, I finally got that LOR from the first physiatrist and having read it, I really want it to be included as part of my application. But, I have 10 interviews scheduled and have already interviewed at most of those.

My question is... Is it too late to submit the LOR to these programs? Will it even be read by the PD's of the programs that I've interviewed at? Would it appear to be unprofessional to these programs to switch LOR's this late in the game?

Thanks for your help... Hope the interview trail is treating everyone well. We're almost done!

Duncan

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[axm397]

I have a dilema and I'm hoping that somebody here might have some input.

I rotated with a physiatrist a few months back and asked him for a letter of recommendation, to which he agreed. Months went by and I never received said letter. I, however, had plenty of LOR's from other physicians and ended up using those for my ERAS application.

Well, I finally got that LOR from the first physiatrist and having read it, I really want it to be included as part of my application. But, I have 10 interviews scheduled and have already interviewed at most of those.

My question is... Is it too late to submit the LOR to these programs? Will it even be read by the PD's of the programs that I've interviewed at? Would it appear to be unprofessional to these programs to switch LOR's this late in the game?

Thanks for your help... Hope the interview trail is treating everyone well. We're almost done!

Duncan

I would check with your dean's office and see if it's possible for you to directly mail the LOR to the programs. You can attach a nice cover letter talking about how interested you are in their program and how you would like to "update" your file.

 

[2006MD]

My 2nd interview was at a transitional program. At the end of the interview, without me asking, the PD told me that my application would still be "alive". He said that if I wanted to include another evaluation from a more recent rotation or letter to go right ahead. He probably wanted to guage my interest, or let me know that my application was weak and here was a chance to beef it up

Since then, if I liked the program, I've asked about being able to send in letters or other types of documents and every program director encouraged me to do so.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

 

[rehab_sports_dr]

> My question is... Is it too late to submit the LOR to these programs? Will it even be read by the PD's of the programs that I've interviewed at? Would it appear to be unprofessional to these programs to switch LOR's this late in the game?


I would ABSOLUTELY have the LOR forwarded to all of the programs. many programs use familiarity with PM+R as part of their selection criteria, so this letter would weigh heavily in your favor. The worst case scenario is that they just ignore the letter. The best case scenario is that they understand some letters arrive late and use it add to your CV.

Most of the programs will have made preliminary rankings at best so far, so a strong letter can definitely improve your ranking

 

[cyanocobalamin]

> My question is... Is it too late to submit the LOR to these programs? Will it even be read by the PD's of the programs that I've interviewed at? Would it appear to be unprofessional to these programs to switch LOR's this late in the game?


I would ABSOLUTELY have the LOR forwarded to all of the programs. many programs use familiarity with PM+R as part of their selection criteria, so this letter would weigh heavily in your favor. The worst case scenario is that they just ignore the letter. The best case scenario is that they understand some letters arrive late and use it add to your CV.

Most of the programs will have made preliminary rankings at best so far, so a strong letter can definitely improve your ranking

If one already has 4 letters won't s/he have to de-assign a letter to make room for another? How does that work? I mean, will they still consider all 5 letters even though a previously downloaded one has been de-assigned.

Thanks for any insight (as I have just received an additional letter).

 

[rehab_sports_dr]

>If one already has 4 letters won't s/he have to de-assign a letter to make room for another? How does that work? I mean, will they still consider all 5 letters even though a previously downloaded one has been de-assigned.

You can have the letter sent outside the ERAS system- for example, have the dean's office send it. Provide the dean with SASE for each program, and they will probably have no problem sending it out for you.