LOR goof up... advice please?

[Pursuitofsanity]

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So I didn't realize that there was a 4 letter cap in ERAS, and I just sent my letters to all my programs as they came in... of course, perhaps the most important came in last and now ERAS won't let me send it to programs.
The letters that I have sent are (1) Senior advisor (who is a psychiatrist and kind of a big name) (2) child and adolescent psych consult service (3) Internal medicine outpatient preceptor (4) Medicine AI attending. The letter that I can't send at the moment is from my dissertation advisor, who is a child psychiatist, and also a pretty big name in the field. I am applying to child tracks and research tracks where those are available, so the child psych research letter is important, and I feel like the lack of a letter from a dissertation advisor is pretty glaring if I am staying in the field.

All my letters are very strong, although I would guess that the medicine AI one is the least so just because we worked together for the least amount of time.

Any advice on how to handle this? I don't want to look like a stupid person that can't follow directions, and the letters that I have submitted are good, but I still feel like this last one is important.

 

[thoffen]

Disclaimer: I'm a resident not a PD.

I don't really see the harm is sending a polite and brief e-mail to the programs you applied to stating you have an extra LOR that came in late & ERAS would not let you include it to their program -- offering to deliver it by other means (there are secure document sites out there to protect you from writing your own LOR) if they are interested. I'm guessing you won't always get a reply, and I would caution heavily against badgering them if you don't.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I have received the occasional email similar to that which "thoffen" describes, and I believe it would be received favorably, especially as it appears that you have a strong application overall. Send it INDIVIDUALLY to your top 5-10 programs, with a short, polite note.

What's far less effective is email bombing with letters from people who barely know you, or are friends of friends who haven't seen your clinical performance, etc....yet somehow expecting those unsolicited letters to make a difference.

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

@OldPsychDoc Do you know if PDs get updated when a letter is newly assigned to their school?