Letter of recommendation from doctors - Please Help!

[captaincbr]

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Hi,

I wanted to know if anyone knew if having a doctor write me a letter affect my chances if he/she is an alma mater at a particular medical school.

For example, if I wanted to apply to UCSF, and I knew of a doctor who is a faculty at UCSF, will having him write me a STRONG letter of recommendation help my chances of getting into UCSF?

I wanted to know from an admissions committee staff if any part of this information is true.

Thanks in advance!

 

[qmcat]

Hi,

I wanted to know if anyone knew if having a doctor write me a letter affect my chances if he/she is an alma mater at a particular medical school.

For example, if I wanted to apply to UCSF, and I knew of a doctor who is a faculty at UCSF, will having him write me a STRONG letter of recommendation help my chances of getting into UCSF?

I wanted to know from an admissions committee staff if any part of this information is true.

Thanks in advance!

It'll help, but I doubt it helps that much. I had two doctors from X university write me LORS. One of the doctors is on the ADCOM, the other doctor is the Department Chair of Pulmonary and Crit Care Medicine and runs the ICU at X university hospital.

In the end... I didn't even get an interview. :cry:

But, most of this process is subjective anyway. Like, in one of my interviews, my interviewer was like "oh yea I know Dr. M, we used to collaborate for research... how do you like working with her?" Ended up getting in.

 

[NotAndrew]

Hi,

I wanted to know if anyone knew if having a doctor write me a letter affect my chances if he/she is an alma mater at a particular medical school.

For example, if I wanted to apply to UCSF, and I knew of a doctor who is a faculty at UCSF, will having him write me a STRONG letter of recommendation help my chances of getting into UCSF?

I wanted to know from an admissions committee staff if any part of this information is true.

Thanks in advance!

It can't hurt.

 

[SiR99]

I new a guy who got a LOR from a faculty member of the medical school he wanted to go to, and he told me that he did not even get an interview.

 

[Wanderingw]

Every little bit helps (a little), but I don't think it's going to make a huge difference. It's probably more important to make sure that the person know you well enough to provide a strong voice in his/her letter.

I received an LOR from a doctor who was not only a faculty (and admissions committee) member, but part of the subcommittee that reviews applications from my undergraduate university. I didn't get an interview from that school.

From my (informal) conversations with him and some other adcom folk, your chances of landing an interview increases significantly only if you're the child of a faculty member. And even then, that just gets you to the interview, doesn't usually change your likelihood of acceptance.