Letters questions

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WizardofRoke

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Hi Everyone,

I have a letters questions. I decided not to use the premed committee letter because I am a nontraditional. I did an informal postbac. I plan to have 5 individual letters and only 2 of them are from my latest institution. The letter breakdown are:

2 Science LoR & 1 nonscience. 2 work letters for a total of 5 letters. Do you think it will be an issue not having a premed letter. I think they mainly matter for undergraduates that had only 3 years of experience in college. It should be less serious for those of us that are close to hitting our 30s.

Thanks for any constructive views.

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A committee would be a more objective evaluation of your academic aptitude. Honestly, if you can get a a committee letter then get it. I didn't qualify for a committee letter, but I wish I did.
 
I was a nontrad applicant, graduated undergrad three years before applying to med school. I only had one faculty LOR and the rest came from my recent work experience. This was only a problem at a handful of schools, where the requirement for non traditional students was either more than one science LOR, or they didn't consider me a nontrad because I hadn't been out of school long enough. But the majority of schools allowed me to have letters from supervisors and one professor. I'd double check the schools you're interested in, but generally since you're a nontrad you don't have to have a committee letter.
 
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I was a nontrad applicant, graduated undergrad three years before applying to med school. I only had one faculty LOR and the rest came from my recent work experience. This was only a problem at a handful of schools, where the requirement for non traditional students was either more than one science LOR, or they didn't consider me a nontrad because I hadn't been out of school long enough. But the majority of schools allowed me to have letters from supervisors and one professor. I'd double check the schools you're interested in, but generally since you're a nontrad you don't have to have a committee letter.

@alana615, could you please elucidate which schools were most troublesome about not having the LORs from the typical 2 science + 1 non-science professors? I would very much appreciate it.
 
Specifically I remember that Vermont wasn't willing to waive that requirement for me, because I hadn't been out of school long enough for them to consider me a non-trad. As for the rest of schools, I can't remember. You can check on their websites and see what the requirement is. But lacking the specific pre-med committee letter, I do not think it would be to your disadvantage. It sounds like you have a good mix of letter that will cover your academic and professional bases, so I would run with it if I were you. Good luck!
 
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