Letters of Rec Question

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ace425x

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What happens to your letters of recommendation if you are not accepted into med school? Let's say I apply this year but don't get accepted anywhere. Obviously next year I would want to apply again, which means I would have to fill out another AMCAS app. Would I have to get new letters of recommendation sent in again? Or does AMCAS hold onto letters of rec from previous application cycles? I don't think my professors would think very highly of me (and I doubt there letters of rec would be much nicer) if they had to rewrite me a new one again.. or god forbid a third time... So how does that work? Are they permanently held on file? Or will I have to ask my prof's to rewrite a letter each year I apply? Also what if you were not a science major, and lets say you took your science classes at a junior college, and they all transferred into your university curriculum. Do med schools really care (or are the specific) about your science letters of rec coming from a university vs a junior college?

Finally... where can I find out more info about where, when, & how these letters need to be sent?

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1. AMCAS does not retain LORs or any application info from one cycle to the next.
2. A lot of people use Interfolio (http://www.interfolio.com/) to store their LORs until they're ready to use them. That will probably answer a lot of your concerns
3. I don't remember any schools being specific about needing LORs from a university vs community college...if your science classes are from junior college, that's who you need to ask for LORs. There's really nothing much else to do about it, unless you want to take science classes at uni for the sole purpose of getting an LOR (no.)
4. If your undergrad has a pre-health committee, most med schools require you to submit a committee letter or have a good reason why you don't.

5. Read the AMCAS instruction manual: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf
 
1. AMCAS does not retain LORs or any application info from one cycle to the next.
2. A lot of people use Interfolio (http://www.interfolio.com/) to store their LORs until they're ready to use them. That will probably answer a lot of your concerns
3. I don't remember any schools being specific about needing LORs from a university vs community college...if your science classes are from junior college, that's who you need to ask for LORs. There's really nothing much else to do about it, unless you want to take science classes at uni for the sole purpose of getting an LOR (no.)
4. If your undergrad has a pre-health committee, most med schools require you to submit a committee letter or have a good reason why you don't.

5. Read the AMCAS instruction manual: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf

/thread

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What exactly is Interfolio? Do they permanently save a copy of your LOR on file that you can have sent to AMCAS? I'm trying to plan ahead incase for whatever reason I don't get in anywhere, that I won't have to face trying to convince the science / pre-med committee that I deserve another letter. At my school they basically bring you forward and put you through this whole interview process almost as if they are trying to see if you are truly worthy of receiving a LOR from them. Generally from what I hear they don't think highly of students who don't make it on their first try.
 
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