Letters of Rec?

[OtisO]

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Hi! I was wondering who are good individuals to get letters of recommendation from? I am a sophomore UG currently taking Organic Chemistry 1. My professor taught for 13 years Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Washington University in St. Louis' Medical School. He said that whoever gets the best grade, can get a letter of recommendation from him. I know that your research professor is good, would a letter of rec from this former prof at a top Med school be a good idea too? Obviously I need the grades as well, thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

I was wondering who are good individuals to get letters of recommendation from? I am a sophomore UG currently taking Organic Chemistry 1. My professor taught for 13 years Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Washington University in St. Louis' Medical School. He said that whoever gets the best grade, can get a letter of recommendation from him. I know that your research professor is good, would a letter of rec from this former prof at a top Med school be a good idea too? Obviously I need the grades as well, thanks!

Does your school provide a premed committee or advisor letter? In that case there is a list of LORs that they want online somewhere.

If not, the basic LORs to acquire are three letters written by faculty who have taught you: 2 science and one nonscience (preferably in classes where you earned an A and got to know the professor). Three individual letters are all that some schools allow. Others allow more, so if you have the opportunity, you could consider an employment letter, a volunteer coordinator letter, and a research letter. If you will target DO schools, you should strongly consider getting a DO physician letter. Only five MD schools request a physician or clinician letter, but this can be written by a DO or MD (and for two of them, another medical professional will suffice).

Bonus points if you get PI or faculty letters where you also TAed or tutored their class.

 

[faerie62]

That’s a really silly criteria for a letter of rec in my opinion... Of course you want to do well in their class but you also want them to have specific examples of your critical thinking skulls & personal character. I also don’t think it matters where he was a professor at.

 

[OtisO]

Does your school provide a committee letter? In that case there is a list of LORs that they want.

If not, the basic LORs to acquire are three letters written by faculty who have taught you: 2 science and one nonscience (preferably in classes where you earned an A and got to know the professor). Three individual letters are all that some schools allow. Others allow more, so if you have the opportunity, you could consider an employment letter, a volunteer coordinator letter, and a research letter. If you will target DO schools, you should strongly consider getting a DO physician letter. Only five MD schools request a physician or clinician letter, but this can be written by a DO or MD (and for two of them, another medical professional will suffice).

Bonus points if you get PI or faculty letters where you also TAed or tutored their class.

My school does do the committee letter.. I am a little uncertain of that process but I do know it exists.. All I know is that they said that faculty will interview me or something and write a letter. I get along extremely well with our school's "main" pre-medicine adviser, this is the one that told me about it. Could you explain it a little more? Thanks

 

[Catalystik]

My school does do the committee letter.. I am a little uncertain of that process but I do know it exists.. All I know is that they said that faculty will interview me or something and write a letter. I get along extremely well with our school's "main" pre-medicine adviser, this is the one that told me about it. Could you explain it a little more? Thanks

Every school that provides a committee letter does things a little differently. Your advisor should be able to tell you the committee's requirements and deadlines. A committee letter often includes all the letters appended to a letter written by a committee member that summarizes the highpoints of your LORs and gives some indication of how you rank compared to other applicants at your school. A committee letter counts as one letter, no matter how many other LORs are attached to it.

Also ask your advisor how to store any letters you acquire. You are required to waive your right to see the letters, so you'll need to use a letter storage service either provided by your school, or a commercial one like Interfolio (which is free for storage but charges a yearly fee when you want to send them out).

If you poke about on your school's website you'll probably be able to find more information that is specific to your institution.