Letter of Recommendation Question

[cjfarrell21]

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This I feel like is a stupid question, but I'm slightly curious of the adcoms take.... I submit five LORs through AACOMAS, said school sts per website "it is advisable to limit the additional letters to 5." Would it be frowned upon to send one more additional letter specifically to them, if it were to be written by a DO who is alum, who has connections to the school, AND who I have grown very close to in the past few months.

... I feel like I'm also being slightly neurotic by being afraid I would be looked down on for submitting one more than the "advised" letter amount.

 

[AlteredScale]

This I feel like is a stupid question, but I'm slightly curious of the adcoms take.... I submit five LORs through AACOMAS, said school sts per website "it is advisable to limit the additional letters to 5." Would it be frowned upon to send one more additional letter specifically to them, if it were to be written by a DO who is alum, who has connections to the school, AND who I have grown very close to in the past few months.

... I feel like I'm also being slightly neurotic by being afraid I would be looked down on for submitting one more than the "advised" letter amount.

If the directions state to limit your LORs to 5 then do so. You need to follow directions in this process and taking that risk is IMO not advisable.

Switch out one of your LOR's with that special one you are talking about who has connections to the school.

 

[cjfarrell21]

That's what I was thinking too... Just wanted to hear other's advice.

any adcoms have any advice about this? @Goro

 

[Goro]

One of the things Adcoms look for is the ability to follow simple instructions.

This I feel like is a stupid question, but I'm slightly curious of the adcoms take.... I submit five LORs through AACOMAS, said school sts per website "it is advisable to limit the additional letters to 5." Would it be frowned upon to send one more additional letter specifically to them, if it were to be written by a DO who is alum, who has connections to the school, AND who I have grown very close to in the past few months.

... I feel like I'm also being slightly neurotic by being afraid I would be looked down on for submitting one more than the "advised" letter amount.

 

[cjfarrell21]

Thank you for the advice!

One of the things Adcoms look for is the ability to follow simple instructions.

 

[TrueWolverine]

I'm wondering if "limit to 5 additional letters" means the 2 or 3 required plus no more than an additional 5. That's how I read it at least. If that's the case you could have 7-8 letters total. Maybe I'm missing something but that's kind of the vibe I got from it.

 

[AlteredScale]

I'm wondering if "limit to 5 additional letters" means the 2 or 3 required plus no more than an additional 5. That's how I read it at least. If that's the case you could have 7-8 letters total. Maybe I'm missing something but that's kind of the vibe I got from it.

I'd consider that to be 5 total because they do not specify. I did not give any school more than 4-5 LOR's. That's more than enough to help supplement your application if those LOR's are solid. If I was an AdCom I would favor an app with 2-3 stellar LOR's than 7 LORs that stated "this student received an A in my course...I recommend him/her".

 

[Dr. Death]

I'd consider that to be 5 total because they do not specify. I did not give any school more than 4-5 LOR's. That's more than enough to help supplement your application if those LOR's are solid. If I was an AdCom I would favor an app with 2-3 stellar LOR's than 7 LORs that stated "this student received an A in my course...I recommend him/her".

I agree, but unfortunately at the undergrad institution that @TrueWolverine and I attend, they send all letters to all schools (free of charge). So I had to send 6 letters to every school. So far I have 3 II so I'm not sure it is a huge problem.

 

[TrueWolverine]

I'd consider that to be 5 total because they do not specify. I did not give any school more than 4-5 LOR's. That's more than enough to help supplement your application if those LOR's are solid. If I was an AdCom I would favor an app with 2-3 stellar LOR's than 7 LORs that stated "this student received an A in my course...I recommend him/her".

Yeah I totally agree....like @Dr. Death said though, we basically bundle them into one package that encompasses every school. So by the time I have a package that covers each school I'm up to 4-5 letters plus the 1 or 2 from employers, etc every school gets every letter even if it's not required. Kind of annoying/overkill but it was certainly a cheap way to do it.

Congrats on the interviews by the way Dr. D

 

[AlteredScale]

Yeah I totally agree....like @Dr. Death said though, we basically bundle them into one package that encompasses every school. So by the time I have a package that covers each school I'm up to 4-5 letters plus the 1 or 2 from employers, etc every school gets every letter even if it's not required. Kind of annoying/overkill but it was certainly a cheap way to do it.

Congrats on the interviews by the way Dr. D

Ah I see, well if that's the case then idk if there's much you can do besides send the extra ones. I doubt it'll get be some sort of reason to throw your app in the reject pile.