LOR questions

[llry4nll]

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I am planning to apply to medical school in 2012. However, if I'm getting the LORs this year and the next, how can I "save" them until I actually apply? Please help. Thank you in advance! 🙂

 

[Potatoman1800]

If your school has a letter-service through the career center or health profession office, use that.

Basically, when you ask your prof or PI for a letter, they are to send it to the office via snail mail/email where they are stored electronically, are sent as a packet to AMCAS, and finally to your individual schools when the time comes.

You should check out the policies at your school, which division actually has that service (if they do), and the offices' rules about how long they save your letters. At my school they are saved for about 5 years, and afterwards they are deleted.

OR

You can use Virtual Evals and have your letter writers send your LORs through that online service via pdf or email. It works the same way as the method I mentioned before but it is not affiliated with any institutions. I'm pretty sure that your letters are purged after a year, unless you pay the annual fee to keep your account active. Never used this service, but there's a good chance others on this board have.

 

[Juneilow]

Interfolio and VirtualEvals are the two big online services. You will need a paid account and will pay to save your letters from year to year. I use Interfolio and it's pretty convenient and simple to use. When you want a letter of recommendation, either tell Interfolio to email the person with a message that they can click through to upload to your account, or print out a paper letter requesting a LOR, which will tell your recommender where to mail the letter and have it linked to your account.

 

[noshie]

If you are applying for the 2012 cycle, that would mean you are applying this Summer... If this is true, then yes you can get your letters now and save them. I would also recommend using one of the services mentioned above.

However, if you are APPLYING in 2012, for the 2013 cycle, this would be too early to collect letters. Most schools will not accept LORs that are over a year old... I have applied 3 times, and I had to get new LORs each time because of this rule. Just wait... You will likely get much better LORs just prior to applying than you will now... You never know who you will meet in the next few years. 🙂

 

[llry4nll]

but i graduated in 2009....

 

[Potatoman1800]

but i graduated in 2009....

So, all the more reason to get on that quest for your letters as soon as you can! Or at least re-establish your connections with your profs, PI, etc so you can ask them later. In your situation, VirtualEvals or Interfolio would be the best in terms of storing them for at least a year.

I thought that this was the toughest part of the application, aside from the MCAT🙄. Good luck

 

[noshie]

but i graduated in 2009....

I graduated in 2007... Regardless, they don't want to see old letters of rec. Also, you are a nontraditional student since you are applying years after graduating, this means you don't have to have letters only from professors... An employer letter would be amazing for you application. I did not get any letters from my undergrad professors this time around, I went with an MD employer letter, a DO letter from a doc I worked with, a letter from my PI from my research and one from my graduate advisor... Best letters ever because they were more personal than any letters from my undergrad professors would have ever been. 🙂

 

[llry4nll]

I graduated in 2007... Regardless, they don't want to see old letters of rec. Also, you are a nontraditional student since you are applying years after graduating, this means you don't have to have letters only from professors... An employer letter would be amazing for you application. I did not get any letters from my undergrad professors this time around, I went with an MD employer letter, a DO letter from a doc I worked with, a letter from my PI from my research and one from my graduate advisor... Best letters ever because they were more personal than any letters from my undergrad professors would have ever been. 🙂

Thank You!😀

 

[llry4nll]

So, all the more reason to get on that quest for your letters as soon as you can! Or at least re-establish your connections with your profs, PI, etc so you can ask them later. In your situation, VirtualEvals or Interfolio would be the best in terms of storing them for at least a year.

I thought that this was the toughest part of the application, aside from the MCAT🙄. Good luck

Thank You! 😀

 

[llry4nll]

Interfolio and VirtualEvals are the two big online services. You will need a paid account and will pay to save your letters from year to year. I use Interfolio and it's pretty convenient and simple to use. When you want a letter of recommendation, either tell Interfolio to email the person with a message that they can click through to upload to your account, or print out a paper letter requesting a LOR, which will tell your recommender where to mail the letter and have it linked to your account.

Thank You! 😀

 

[gravitywave]

However, if you are APPLYING in 2012, for the 2013 cycle, this would be too early to collect letters. Most schools will not accept LORs that are over a year old... I have applied 3 times, and I had to get new LORs each time because of this rule.

this is nonsense, so far as MD goes. maybe it's different for some DO schools. many people apply successfully several years out from undergrad with letters from that time period, because it was the last time they were in school and med schools require academic letters. it's a grey zone, and past a certain point you'd need to start calling schools to see what they recommend, as some of them do worry about people's science skills getting stale with time. but this 'one-year' rule simply doesn't exist at most places.

you would need to get at least one recent letter as a non-trad, however (eg, from a supervisor if you were employed, from a PI if you were in a lab, etc)

 

[Potatoman1800]

this is nonsense, so far as MD goes. maybe it's different for some DO schools. many people apply successfully several years out from undergrad with letters from that time period, because it was the last time they were in school and med schools require academic letters. it's a grey zone, and past a certain point you'd need to start calling schools to see what they recommend, as some of them do worry about people's science skills getting stale with time. but this 'one-year' rule simply doesn't exist at most places.

you would need to get at least one recent letter as a non-trad, however (eg, from a supervisor if you were employed, from a PI if you were in a lab, etc)

+1: never heard of this "rule"

 

[Self]

Hi all,

I figured this thread would be appropriate, though my question detracts from the OP's intentions.

When it comes time to submit LORs, I will have no shortage of good ones from academics. My clinician side, however, is lacking. I have the following two options, and I would like to know if these are of any value or if they would instead hurt my application:

A. Friend who is a first-year resident, thus, an inexperienced doc. He's a DO, as well. Would either of these facts make him a poor choice for an LOR if I was applying to MD schools?

B. Friend's mother, an very experienced RN in integrative oncology. These days she practiced alternative medicine like acupuncture and the like and has certifications for it that took her years to earn. Will either the fact that she is "just" an RN or that she practices alternative medicine (albeit in a famous NYC cancer center) make her a poor choice for letter writer as well?

 

[Self]

bump

 

[llry4nll]

Hi all,

I figured this thread would be appropriate, though my question detracts from the OP's intentions.

When it comes time to submit LORs, I will have no shortage of good ones from academics. My clinician side, however, is lacking. I have the following two options, and I would like to know if these are of any value or if they would instead hurt my application:

A. Friend who is a first-year resident, thus, an inexperienced doc. He's a DO, as well. Would either of these facts make him a poor choice for an LOR if I was applying to MD schools?

B. Friend's mother, an very experienced RN in integrative oncology. These days she practiced alternative medicine like acupuncture and the like and has certifications for it that took her years to earn. Will either the fact that she is "just" an RN or that she practices alternative medicine (albeit in a famous NYC cancer center) make her a poor choice for letter writer as well?

I don't think both of those letters will help you....but then again...my opinion means nothing....😕