Letters of Recommendations!!

[nicolesmine4sur]

When applying to MD schools you generally need about 3 LOR's. Do they all have to be from science professors, or can we have some from humanities profs., employers, etc. Do schools prefer science profs. over the others?

Also, I understand that we do not need the LOR's until 2ndary's come in, am I correct on that?

Any help here would be great, thanks!

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[Appless]

you are correct about the 2ndary thing. Each school has different LOR requirements some are insane like UTAH...but anyways if you want to be able to apply broadly w/o any problems you should get

2 science letters, 1 non-science letter, and a clinical letter from an MD

 

[JonathanMD]

I agree.

LOR's can differ from school to school and you'll need to grab that info from their websites or contact them just to make sure. In general, the minimum is 1 LOR from a science professor w/ lab and 1 LOR from a medical professional in a work setting.

Some schools allow for alternatives to the clinical letter, but you'll have to ask.

 

[nicolesmine4sur]

okay thanks alot!

 

[mvenus929]

In general, the minimum is 1 LOR from a science professor w/ lab and 1 LOR from a medical professional in a work setting.

No, in general, the minimum is 2 science letters, and 1 non-science letter. Very few require a letter from a medical professional, though it's certainly nice to have if it adds to your application.. A committee letter stands in for everyone, and you should have a LOR from your PI if you did research as well.

 

[Bromination]

If my PI was also my professor for an upper division class in my major, will this be ok to count as one of my 2 science letters and research letter? Or should I try and get another science letter?

 

[Appless]

If my PI was also my professor for an upper division class in my major, will this be ok to count as one of my 2 science letters and research letter? Or should I try and get another science letter?

It counts only if you took the class he taught in upper division. Some schools will not allow this letter as they want letters from people who taught formal lecture classes for the science letter, other schools would let you count it. But to be able to apply w/o any hiccups it would be best to have 2 formal lecture science letters

 

[Bromination]

Sorry for the confusion. He was my professor in a formal lecture and after doing well in his class, he invited me to do research with him.