Letters- 2 sci, 2 dent or 3 sci, 1 dent?

[Do Ray]

Hello all,
The main reason for my concern is I am applying to Columbia, UConn, and Rutgers . It looks like Columbia and UConn might be lenient. However Rutgers doesn't seem to be.

Columbia:
Letters of recommendation and transcripts should be submitted through AADSAS. Additional letters of recommendation can be sent directly to the College of Dental Medicine.

UConn:
Three letters of recommendation, preferably from a pre-health advisory committee are required. While the Admissions Committee prefers letters of recommendation from faculty, other sources (employers, dentist, etc.) are acceptable.

Rutgers:
All credentials (transcripts and letters of recommendation) must be sent directly to AADSAS. They are not to be sent to RSDM.

Aside from that, -in general for other schools-, is 2 sci + 2 dent or 3 sci + 1 dent more favorable?
In total, I have 3 sci letters and 2 dent letters.

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[MrBoneless]

In general I would think quality of the recommendation is much more important that meeting a certain ratio of science to non-science. Personally I did one chemistry, one dental, one english, and one biology. Nobody ever said anything about my LoRs.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

I thought for most schools it was 2 sci, 1 committee letter, and 1 dent. Is this the case or am I wrong?

 

[dent_wannabe]

AADSAS gives you the option to submit 4 individual letters, OR 1 committee letter plus 1 individual letter.

If your university has a pre-health committee, then you are generally expected to have a committee letter. In that case, the committee letter satisfies the academic letter requirements at most schools. Your individual letter should then be from a dentist, as if a school requires a letter from a dentist, the committee letter does not satisfy that.

If your university does not have a pre-health committee, then the breakdown of 2 science, 1 non-science, and 1 dentist for your 4 individual letters will satisfy the requirement at most schools. Some schools like Columbia (which requires 3 science) will accept letters sent directly to their school if you exhaust your AADSAS letters, probably because they realize that their requirement is quite a unique one.

 

[dent56171]

AADSAS gives you the option to submit 4 individual letters, OR 1 committee letter plus 1 individual letter.

If your university has a pre-health committee, then you are generally expected to have a committee letter. In that case, the committee letter satisfies the academic letter requirements at most schools. Your individual letter should then be from a dentist, as if a school requires a letter from a dentist, the committee letter does not satisfy that.

If your university does not have a pre-health committee, then the breakdown of 2 science, 1 non-science, and 1 dentist for your 4 individual letters will satisfy the requirement at most schools. Some schools like Columbia (which requires 3 science) will accept letters sent directly to their school if you exhaust your AADSAS letters, probably because they realize that their requirement is quite a unique one.

As I only have 2 science, 1 English, and 1 dentist, I was hoping to apply to Columbia and now realizing their third letter of recommendation needs to be a science. If you do not submit another science letter will the application be incomplete or will they still review your application?

 

[dent_wannabe]

As I only have 2 science, 1 English, and 1 dentist, I was hoping to apply to Columbia and now realizing their third letter of recommendation needs to be a science. If you do not submit another science letter will the application be incomplete or will they still review your application?

I've heard mixed things about them being rigid about that requirement, but at the same time stories where they were forgiving if you had 3 academic letters but only 2 of them were science. Ideally, I would email them and get their response in writing. However, I feel that if they allowed letters to be sent directly to the school if you maxed out your AADSAS letters, then they can say you have less of an excuse to not fulfill that requirement.