Letter of recommendation - coworker(????)

[deleted943850]

I interned at a nonprofit organization, where I shadowed a lot of the workers there and asked for help from them a lot. Although this person wasn't my supervisor directly, he was like a mentor to me the whole time. Much older than me. Would it be okay to ask this person to be my "personal" recommender, or would he count as a coworker and thus not someone I can ask?

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[TelemarketingEnigma]

Medical schools typically only want recommendation letters from professors, generally two science (BCPM) professors and one non-science professor who are all familiar with you and your work ethic. If you're considering the D.O. route, osteopathic medical schools also typically require a recommendation letter from an osteopathic physician. Be sure to check the specific requirements of each school that interests you.

Other than that, it's not necessary to include letters from coworkers, supervisors, volunteer coordinators, etc., although you should certainly include this experience in your applications since it was incredibly meaningful to you!

I don't think this is true. Those are usually the minimum requirements for someone who is applying straight through from undergrad, but some schools like to see more, including non-academic letters (for example, USUHS requires a clinical letter). But for many people additional letters (within the limit set by the schools) can be helpful in painting a picture of who you are outside of the classroom. It depends on the length and strength of the experience - you definitely don't need letters from every volunteer position or short internship you've ever had, but if you held extended employment, are non-trad, etc I think non-academic letters can be very valuable. Or if you're MD/PhD, pretty sure you need a PI letter.

 

[faerie62]

in my opinion no, they are still a coworker and not officially in a supervising role. It might be okay from your perspective (ie they are much senior to you) but might raise a question mark to some people as to the veracity of the evaluation. I definitely agree that non-academic letters from a boss or someone in a supervising position are helpful though.

 

[ciestar]

I only had a non-academic letter because the pre-med committee asked for it because I was a non-trad before they wrote my letter.

If you have a committee letter plan, you won’t likely need this.

 

[freedoctor17]

Medical schools typically only want recommendation letters from professors, generally two science (BCPM) professors and one non-science professor who are all familiar with you and your work ethic. If you're considering the D.O. route, osteopathic medical schools also typically require a recommendation letter from an osteopathic physician. Be sure to check the specific requirements of each school that interests you.

Other than that, it's not necessary to include letters from coworkers, supervisors, volunteer coordinators, etc., although you should certainly include this experience in your applications since it was incredibly meaningful to you!

I had an interviewer comment about a few of my letters that really impressed them and one of them was from my supervisor. Although they may not always be necessary i think they definitely can help.

I don't know how it would look coming from a co worker. What i would suggest is if you really think this will be a good one then maybe have them write it as your mentor and get it signed by the supervisor as well so it's more legitimate.

 

[differentiating]

I don't think a coworker letter would be of much use. If they were your supervisor, that might be one thing, but without that I am not sure what it would add to an application.