LORs for reapplicants

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hockeydentist

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Hey guys,

I know this has been answered before (i think), do I need to get fresh letters of Rec for Dental school especially if I am reapplying.


HD
 
If you mean from new professors...no. But if I were you I would look to one of your more recent classes and ask that teacher (in a class you did well in) for a LOR. However, the letters do need to be submitted again. I was told by AADSAS that they get rid of the entire file once the cycle ends. You need all new information. Is this your second or third time??? I thought you had to reapply last year....and if so didnt they tell you that? I called them back when I was going to apply and they said it doesnt matter if you reapply...they treat all incoming applications as new.
 
Bullfan16 said:
If you mean from new professors...no. But if I were you I would look to one of your more recent classes and ask that teacher (in a class you did well in) for a LOR. However, the letters do need to be submitted again. I was told by AADSAS that they get rid of the entire file once the cycle ends. You need all new information. Is this your second or third time??? I thought you had to reapply last year....and if so didnt they tell you that? I called them back when I was going to apply and they said it doesnt matter if you reapply...they treat all incoming applications as new.

Just like was said get new LOR's but if you have a commitee at school go through them to send em since I totally got screwed last cycle on this part. I wouldn't send my transcripts unless they were the most current either because the turn around time to fix em is crazy long!
 
I am sure at least one of the schools that you applied to will keep a folder. I am worried about this too cuz it'll be hard for me to get LoRs again from some profs.
 
I would get new LORs just to refresh my application.
 
The schools may keep your old files, but AADSAS does not! I am not so sure a school will go by its old file for LORs. I think you have to resubmit all new LORs...if only for your own benefit and to avoid confusion.
 
Ok... a question of practicality: I have a rec from an upper-division micro/micro-phys teacher, my supervisor (well-respected researcher), a good dentist... this is all I used last year, but I was only applying to Texas schools and this is what they required. This year, I'm applying outa state, and in total, I'm going to have to ask for about 6 LORs to fill all the different school requirements. Would a letter from a freshman/sophomore calculus teacher carry much weight? He promissed to write an amazing letter, but stated that an amazing letter from a lower-level teacher from 6 yrs ago would hold much less water than even a mediocre letter from an upper division proff. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do have a couple other people I could ask, but none of them knew me as well as this guy did... Plz help!

-D
 
Why do you need 6 LORs? 3 should cover all the bases...4 max. This step is the least of your concerns...as long as you have 3-4 good sources to choose from (even if they arent upper division professors) and they have a lot of good things to say about you...you will be fine. Admissions these days is about GPA and DAT. These will get you in the door. The interview will get you into the school. LORs help bolster the GPA and DAT, but are there more to make sure you are a good student/employee/etc and have character. I would be more concerned about what was written in the LORs and not how many or who has written them....although if you can get a professor/head of a department at a dental school to write one for you that will certainly help out a lot (obviously you need to have a relationship with that person before you ask them to write it).
 
Bullfan16 said:
Why do you need 6 LORs? 3 should cover all the bases...4 max. This step is the least of your concerns...as long as you have 3-4 good sources to choose from (even if they arent upper division professors) and they have a lot of good things to say about you...you will be fine. Admissions these days is about GPA and DAT. These will get you in the door. The interview will get you into the school. LORs help bolster the GPA and DAT, but are there more to make sure you are a good student/employee/etc and have character. I would be more concerned about what was written in the LORs and not how many or who has written them....although if you can get a professor/head of a department at a dental school to write one for you that will certainly help out a lot (obviously you need to have a relationship with that person before you ask them to write it).

I would just send in the three that I already have, but certain schools require different recs... Creighton requires 2 science profs and 1 liberal arts, others require 3 science profs, san an, houston and baylor need an employer (for me since I've been out of school for 2 yrs), and baylor wants a dentist. If I'm overdoing it, or if there's another way to go about it... maybe I'm just paranoid about improving my apps for the second try.

Thanks,
D
 
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