LOR question

[sdboy]

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I have an awesome letter of recommendation. The only thing is that the attending wrote down that he worked with me for only several days during a four week elective. Otherwise the letter is strong. Is this a letter worth sending out?

 

[Amy]

It depends... how good are your other ones? There's really no need to send more than what's required (it's just more for the committee to read), so if you have extra letters, just send the absolute best ones.

 

[Blade28]

Just to clarify, you can see how many letters are recommended/required via FREIDA, right? Because ERAS just lists "3 minimum, 4 maximum" for all programs, it seems.

 

[axm397]

sdboy,

Are you SURE the LOR is good? Attendings sometimes use code words to say things that sound nice but really aren't all that impressive.

The fact that he/she felt compelled to write that you only rotated with them for a few days probably is not the most positive thing. I would consider holding off on sending that LOR - see if you can get a better one.

 

[Jaded Soul]

sdboy,

Are you SURE the LOR is good? Attendings sometimes use code words to say things that sound nice but really aren't all that impressive.

The fact that he/she felt compelled to write that you only rotated with them for a few days probably is not the most positive thing. I would consider holding off on sending that LOR - see if you can get a better one.

I agree. Any mention of essentially how little they worked with you can only hurt you.

 

[Samir Desai]

It is fairly common for attending physicians, in a rec letter, to make note of the amount of time they have spent with a student during a rotation. So, if you've spent two days with an attending and they mention this in the letter, that's not necessarily a bad thing - like I said, it's often a standard thing. What you really need to is evaluate the rest of the letter. Is it really as strong as you think?

Two days is not a lot of time for an attending physician to really learn a lot about a student. Having said that, it all depends on your experience and the way the rotation was set up. You can knock the socks off an attending in two days, especially if you spend considerable time with him or her and perform at a high level.

Samir Desai, MD