late committee letter or early individual

[darkwalk]

My prehealth committee do not start interviewing students until July. It might be the middle of July before the letter will be mailed out. I was hoping to submit finish my application much earlier than that, so do you guys think I should wait for the committee letter or mail them out individually instead?

I know that AADSAS will mail out my application before receiving the LORs, but mailing them to AADSAS seems like yet another process to slow down my application. Should I mail out the LORs directly to the school instead?

Thanks!

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[Atticus]

Dude, that is seriously ridiculous. In my opinion, you should absolutely not wait for them. If I were you, this is what I would do: I would get individual letters from professors/dentists/whatever so that you fulfill the requirement of each school, then when it comes time for the committee interview, still do it, and then just mail that letter to individual schools after the fact. Some schools do require that, if you have a pre-health committee, you utilize them regardless... but not every school is like that. So some schools you probably won't be complete at until they get that letter, but many I am sure would be willing to accept alternate letters knowing your circumstance. It would probably be best to call a few of the schools that specifically REQUIRE a committee letter and see what their opinion on the situation is...

P.S. I would be seriously shocked if your committee got your letter to you in the month of July. The committee that I got my letter from was super effecient and it still took a month and a half. Anymore, unless you have killer stats, you need to be complete and actually mailed to the schools before 8/1.

 

[darkwalk]

Thanks for the advise. I will contact some schools that require committee letter and ask.

Anyone else think this is the right way to go about it?

 

[sketo43]

If you can get good LORs from individuals, I would go that route. If the committee interviews you in July, how much longer before they write and submit the letter?

When I was applying last year, the committee held up my application big time. I gave them everything they needed in June, but at the end of August they still hadn't written my letter, so I canceled it and submitted individual LORs in the beginning of September. In the end, it turned out fine for me, but it was really stressful to be waiting on the committee while other applicants were getting interview invitations. IMO, a committee letter is not necessary for dental school unless you have a blemish on your application, and you need someone to advocate on your behalf. Be sure to check the requirements for each of the schools you are applying to - some require a certain number of letters from science professors, biology professors, dentists, etc.