Late Committee Letter. Should I contact schools?

[johnnytest]

So, everything is in for my schools EXCEPT this darn committee letter. I can't trust my pre-med office when they say it will be written within 10 days. I have a gut feeling my letter won't be complete until Mid-September. Should I contact schools and update them that my letter will be sent soon? Should I let them know that my pre-med office started interviews much later than usual? This part of the application is out of my control. I wish my pre-med office was better. :/

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[ridethecliche]

Does your school start writing them based on when your primary gets verified or do they have a date that they just cut things off at?

 

[johnnytest]

Does your school start writing them based on when your primary gets verified or do they have a date that they just cut things off at?

No, they wait until the committee is ready. This time it took more than a month to get the professors' schedules set. I believe 50 students are applying from my school this cycle. But, only 33 interview slots were available on a first-come first-serve basis. If you didn't select a slot in time then you're on your own.

 

[ridethecliche]

That's obnoxious. I would complain to the dean. Your school is supposed to set you up to succeed not shoot you in the foot.

 

[FFH]

Sorry to hear this. Sadly my school has similar issue with slow committee letter. Granted, there aren't enough deans to write the letter quickly, but still. it's sad that you've done everything you can only to see your chance at Med school being lowered everyday while waiting for someone else's action. Maybe it's not a bad idea to call the schools and maybe some will agree to evaluate your applications without waiting for LOR. Good luck!

 

[NYCdude]

Sorry to hear. I don't understand why schools don't just start the process earlier in the year or hire more staff to get things done in a timely fashion.

 

[johnston9234]

Sorry to hear. I don't understand why schools don't just start the process earlier in the year or hire more staff to get things done in a timely fashion.

Starting the process earlier in the year doesnt stop people from being late or premed committees from being crappy. It just makes applicants be late earlier in the year than they would have previously.

 

[DokterMom]

That's obnoxious. I would complain to the dean. Your school is supposed to set you up to succeed not shoot you in the foot.

Agreed. Unless your school is giving you a free ride, you are paying them a lot of money to help prepare you for your adult life and they're falling down on the job. You've invested rather substantially in them, and they have a duty to you to do what they can to help you succeed.

Delaying med school committee letters diminishes your chances at a med school acceptance, which in turn, lowers the school's success at placing graduates into medical schools, at attracting those future tuition-paying pre-meds who do their research and check that statistic, and at securing hefty donations from wealthy doctor alumni. It's just bad all around.

After your committee letter has safely gone out, I would suggest that you write a letter articulating these points, and send copies to the university-level decision makers who are in a position to get these standards changed. Think of it as altruistic volunteering