LOR requirement

[mediocriskid]

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Is anybody having problems meeting the letter requirements of having 3 letters from faculty members from your ungrad university? Will these medical schools make exceptions if you have only 2? I suppose I could ask another professor of mine to write one, but the quality of the letter would be suspect. Any advice?

 

[TMP-SMX]

Is anybody having problems meeting the letter requirements of having 3 letters from faculty members from your ungrad university? Will these medical schools make exceptions if you have only 2? I suppose I could ask another professor of mine to write one, but the quality of the letter would be suspect. Any advice?

1) Make sure you don't have a pre-med committee that writes a letter.

2) You go to a large university? (That's your problem).

3) I don't know what to tell you. It's a bit late to start to get to know a professor for a recommendation.

4) If they ask for a specific requirement I suggest you fulfill it.

 

[BuckerPark]

If you are a traditional student, I'd say its pretty likely they will expect what they asked for unless you can provide a good reason for why thats not possible.

If you are a non-traditional student, its more likely you might be able to supplement some of those undergrad ones with ones from employer/supervisor types.

Is anybody having problems meeting the letter requirements of having 3 letters from faculty members from your ungrad university? Will these medical schools make exceptions if you have only 2? I suppose I could ask another professor of mine to write one, but the quality of the letter would be suspect. Any advice?

 

[CTtarheel]

i think that having a generic letter would probably be better than asking for an exemption, which they might not even grant you. If you don't know the professor well now, schedule a couple meetings with him/her and give him/her as much information about you as you possibly can so they can get to know you well enough to write a letter.

 

[mediocriskid]

i have been out of school a couple of years. Those I would have asked are either dead or left the university, for which i cannot obtain contact information. Pritzker told me i was s.o.l. but SLU granted me a waiver.

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

some schools want four. i agree a generic letter is better than none. personal letters are great but part of the reason for LORs is to make sure you're not a total whacko/loser. So, find a nice prof willing to look over your personal statement/resume and write you a brief but positive letter. best of luck.

 

[silkworm]

i have been out of school a couple of years. Those I would have asked are either dead or left the university, for which i cannot obtain contact information. Pritzker told me i was s.o.l. but SLU granted me a waiver.

What's s.o.l? Does it mean no go at Pritzker? I ask because I am in a similar situation. Two letters from undergrad profs, two from PIs. If Pritzker find this unacceptable, I might as well not go ahead with their secondary.

SLU also waived the strict requirement for me. They seem pretty understanding.

 

[MinnyGophers]

What I am a bit unsure on is if we need LOR for three faculty that you actually took a class with, or could it be from research advisors...etc...
just want to make sure.

 

[jackieMD2007]

I'm pretty clear you had to take their class. For a grade.

 

[MinnyGophers]

I'm pretty clear you had to take their class. For a grade.

Urgh. It's already hard getting to know one prof enough that he/she will write you a good LOR, let alone three 😱

 

[ironhill]

if your school has a committee, do you have to get a letter from them? or can you get letters from different profs? my school has a committee but i dont want their letter...plus since it's already july they'll be hesitant... am i screwed? I graduated last year and have been researching since... can i get a letter from an undergrad prof and two from my two PIs now? and one of my undergrad employers? are there strict requirements as to who the LORs need to be from? if so, where can i get that info? each school's website?

 

[iceman77_7]

if your school has a committee, do you have to get a letter from them? or can you get letters from different profs? my school has a committee but i dont want their letter...plus since it's already july they'll be hesitant... am i screwed? I graduated last year and have been researching since... can i get a letter from an undergrad prof and two from my two PIs now? and one of my undergrad employers? are there strict requirements as to who the LORs need to be from? if so, where can i get that info? each school's website?

A lot of apps that I've seen say that if your school has a pre-med committee, the letter must come from them. A few say you can get ind. ones, but you better have a darn good reason for it.

 

[75969]

I started emailing only the professors who I thought knew me well enough to agree to writing a lor. After 4 saying no and 2 saying yes....I just emailed every professor that I have ever taken a class with. With the second method I got 16 no's (or no response), 1 maybe and 1 yes. Am I wishing I had gone to a smaller university? or, wishing I had been one of those kids who *never* put their hand down during class....asking questions no matter how simple the material? Perhaps...but, can I change that? no.

Moral of the story, email everyone and get another letter. You never know how the letter will sound (when I met with the professor who finally agreed to write lor #3, he told me that he loves helping people get into grad/professional schools...that he admires peoples intentions). If you find a nice professor, they may write a nice letter whether they know you well or not.

 

[mediocriskid]

I have e-mailed a couple of schools and they have granted me this exception to their application. Hope this is of help to anyone else who is in a similar situation that i am.