Any rural or frontier med area students had success in getting your letters? I have already searched the forums and couldn't find anything specific to my situation. I am struggling to obtain letters of recomendation. I have one but need more some schools require 3 some 5. We live in a rural , what is considered frontier med in alot of the areas around us. This makes obtaining long term shadow hours tough. We are usually with one provider for no more than 1 to 2 days. This makes it tough to obtain letters because they don't know us well enough. At my school I have asked several professors and receive the same response, 'your a great student and I feel you will be a wonderful Doctor but you had me for one quarter. Letters of recomendation come after you've known someone for years' . How do I go about this? Our university doesn't allow research unless your at graduate standing, so that cuts off options as well.
Letters of recommendation for rural students
- Thread starter Girlneuro
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I think you should build a connection with a professor beyond an academic connection.
Ask them about their personal lives and get to know them as people. My favorite professor who already has a LOR for me due to a summer internship knew me for only 1 semester but it felt like years. I won't lie, many of my LORs will be from random professors if I don't secure 2 in the next semester but it's definitely doable to know somebody at a personal level after only a quarter. Try your best to also have multiple courses with your favorite professors.
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Does your school offer a pre-med committee letter? If so, that meets the requirement for letters. If not, many schools are looking for 3 letters, two from people who taught science courses you took and one person who taught a non-science subject. Given that you will have taken chem, o-chem, physics, biology, biochem and perhaps more, there are numerous science professors to choose from. Ideally, you've been able to take more than one course with a given professor. Attending office hours or otherwise getting to know faculty members outside of the classroom situation, is helpful.
Aside from letters by DOs for DO schools, letters from physicians are not particularly helpful or necessary.
Aside from letters by DOs for DO schools, letters from physicians are not particularly helpful or necessary.
Work as a teaching assistant/supplemental instructor for one of your professors. That should help build a connection.
Take small seminar classes that emphasize project based learning. The small class size and discussion based format will help you get to know your professor. Working on a project will showcase your creativity and initiative.
Try to schedule more than one class with those professors who you like.
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