LOR Plan of Action...

[Atticus]

Hey everyone... I have a question for you all-- I did a search but didn't really find an answer specific enough to my situation. I graduated in 2007 w/ a degree in microbiology and have since decided to apply to dental school. I have been out of school just long enough for it to be awkward to ask my college professors for LORs (or if I did I don't really feel they would be strong). My question is this: Do most schools require only a committee interview in lieu of professor letters? or is the committee letter in addition to the individual professor letters?
In order to apply to the maximum number of schools, who all should I get letters from? I currently run a federally funded grant project working with cancer patients... Would my manager be a good person to get a letter of recommendation from?

Thanks for the help!
-Atticus.

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[JamesOSU]

Most schools that accept committee letters it ends up counting in lieu of professor letters. I think the standard would be to get a committee letter + dentist letter, though the more the merrier in that case I think.

I think if your manager is a scientist it would be beneficial, a boss that doesn't know how good you are at science and science reasoning wouldn't be as impactful. Typically the breakdown is thus:

Dentist you shadow
2-3 Science Professors (or committee letter)
I know WVU requires 1 Physics, 1 Bio, 1 Chem (absolutely idiotic IMHO)

Most require 3 letters, 2 of which are science professors.