Letters of Recommendation: too many? (and Interfolio?)

[rmtom]

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Hey guys!
I'm new to SDN, so please bear with me. I would really appreciate your help!

I was thinking about my LoRs, and I have a dilemma since AADSAS only accepts 4 letters (or 1 committee letter + 1 individual), and some of the schools I want to apply to don't accept additional letters of rec.

Anyway, here's who I have so far:

1) Chemistry professor
2) Physics professor
3) Periodontist I shadow
4) Director of low-income dental clinic where I volunteer (I think she would write a really strong letter... and I've been volunteering there for quite some time; however, she isn't a dentist 🙁 )
5) Fine arts professor (I took a pre-dental fine arts/ceramics class, and she told me my work was some of the strongest, and I feel that she would be able to speak for my manual dexterity)
[6) Pastor (If I apply to Loma Linda... I'm still deciding)]

I was thinking about including the 5 letters in a pre-health committee letter my university offers; however, I'm worried that 5 is too many (especially if I have to additionally send Loma Linda another letter).

I would prefer not to send either the physics or chemistry letters to every school if the school doesn't require the standard 2 science and 1 dentist (since it will be a lot less personal than the other letters)... but I don't think there's any way to send individualized packets of letters to different schools (unless Interfolio offers it and I'm not aware of it... does anyone know for sure about Interfolio's services?).

Thoughts? Advice? Anything would be helpful! Thank you 🙂

 

[Glimmer1991]

To satisfy just about any school's requirements, you will need a professor within your major + one other science professor + dentist.

I believe LLU will let you send the pastor letter to them separately. I wouldn't include this in the committee letter.

I don't think the five letters for the committee will be that unusual. If you feel that the director of the clinic and fine arts professors will write really strong letters, then just go ahead and keep them. However, if they'll be "average," I might not bother with them.

IMO, rec letters only help if they are particularly good... and they only hurt if they are particularly bad. I bet most people have just "average" letters.

Interfolio doesn't really handle committee packets. However, if you're curious about how they handle individual letters, go to the AADSAS FAQs page (link in my signature) for instructions.