letters of rec addendum

[grasshopper]

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sorry if I spelled that wrong. I do spell check my apps. 🙂 Here's my question: I had 4 letters plus my school's committe letter, and they already started going out to all those that are taking them. But I've been doing a research thing this summer, and have an offer for a letter from here. Which is great, but 1) do med schools get annoyed with >5 total? and 2) is it worth it to bother my own pocket and med school admissions people with the fact that it's an add-on for many?

 

[md2be06]

If you're going MD/PhD then I would go ahead and send it, otherwise I would just hold off. I haven't seen any schools request more than 5. Some may be annoyed with additional letters, others may welcome the chance to make a better evaluation of you. It really depends on the school I guess. However, there is definitely a point where too many letters will start working against you. Whether that's at 5 or 6 or 7 is anybody's guess.

 

[SMW]

I think 5 is the max, at least for the schools I'm applying to. And what's with sending in a committee letter plus individual letters? I thought it was either/or.

 

[sandflea]

my understanding was that it was either/or, unless you are in grad school or have been out of college for some time, in which case additional letters are often required. i have my undergrad 'committee' letter (which is basically a letter collection service, but the pre-med office will also tack on a compilation/summary of all of the letters in addition to the letters themselves, in case an adcom doesn't want to read every single letter, i guess) which is made up of 5 letters, plus two additional post-college letters. but i've checked with every single school to ask what their limit is on rec letters before i submit anything and if they restrict the amount, then i've only sent grad school stuff.