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Hello everyone. I am currently preparing for my re-app and I was wondering if I could get some advice on my LoRs.
Here are the LoRs I used from last cycle:
1. My current PI who I've worked for for about a year. She is fairly senior and well-known in her field and is very supportive of her lab members going to med/grad school and has provided a letter draft for me to edit, so I think this will be a strong letter (research supervisor letter).
Given these letters, I would like to swap out number 3 with my current PI because I think that number 1 and 2 have me covered for science letters.
Also, I am wondering if my letter composition might seem too research focused? Although I do have a decent number of hours at various positions (being a resident adviser, volunteering as a NICU cuddler, working as an unpaid MA at a local private practice), I feel like I would not feel comfortable using those positions for LoRs for various reasons below;
I just want some feedback overall lol
Here are the LoRs I used from last cycle:
- PI for a lab that I worked in for 2.5 years (1 poster) and also taught me in an undergrad course that I got a A+ in. I am fairly confident, especially knowing his personality and background, that this was a very strong letter (science letter)
- Professor who taught me in 2 1-credit courses as well as a biology lab course. She also served as the faculty adviser for a Biology honor society that I was a member of for 2.5 years and had 2 leadership positions in. I am fairly certain this was a strong letter (science letter)
- Professor who was the faculty adviser for my major for 3 years and taught me in biochem. This is the letter that I was certain would be probably written well but might have been a little "cold" since he is a department chair and is very busy (science letter)
- Instructor (not a PhD) who taught me in 4 language courses who I had a tight connection with (she and my mother are from the same hometown). Fairly certain this was a strong letter (non-science letter)
- PI of a summer research program where I worked in his lab for 3 months (1 poster). Fairly certain it was a strong letter because I had my own project and went above and beyond during the program (we were moving labs and I would put in extra time every day to help) (research supervisor letter)
1. My current PI who I've worked for for about a year. She is fairly senior and well-known in her field and is very supportive of her lab members going to med/grad school and has provided a letter draft for me to edit, so I think this will be a strong letter (research supervisor letter).
Given these letters, I would like to swap out number 3 with my current PI because I think that number 1 and 2 have me covered for science letters.
Also, I am wondering if my letter composition might seem too research focused? Although I do have a decent number of hours at various positions (being a resident adviser, volunteering as a NICU cuddler, working as an unpaid MA at a local private practice), I feel like I would not feel comfortable using those positions for LoRs for various reasons below;
- cuddling: I volunteer at a satellite location and never interact with the volunteer coordinator and I feel like I have been unable to really develop relationships with various nurses/doctors there because when I am cuddling, they are usually in other rooms.
- resident adviser: The turnover for supervisors in the residential housing department was very high and I was never able to really get to know any supervisor for more than a semester
- unpaid MA: The doctor and I are not very close and he has done some certain things to past employee references (even good employees that left on amicable terms) that I would not feel comfortable asking him.
I just want some feedback overall lol

