LOR's for the non-trads

[tomias]

For those of you who have been out of school for a while how did you get your letters of rec. from science professors? Did you send them to interfolio before graduating or did you ask your boss, volunteer coordinator, etc.? I will soon have the same dilemma. Please tell me in detail; it will be of great benefit.

Peace

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[ClearDay]

For those of you who have been out of school for a while how did you get your letters of rec. from science professors? Did you send them to interfolio before graduating or did you ask your boss, volunteer coordinator, etc.? I will soon have the same dilemma. Please tell me in detail; it will be of great benefit.

Peace

Most places require current LOR's. Even if you had asked for LOR's before you graduated, you would need to ask for updated ones when you're ready to apply. I took some post-bach classes after I graduated, so I asked for LOR's from those professors. I also asked for LOR's from prof's at my professional school. If you're gonna be out of school for 1 year, you should be able to ask your undergrad professors - they should still remember you. I think a letter from your boss or doctors you've shadowed would be good as well. Hope this helps.

 

[thegenius]

Most places require current LOR's. Even if you had asked for LOR's before you graduated, you would need to ask for updated ones when you're ready to apply. I took some post-bach classes after I graduated, so I asked for LOR's from those professors. I also asked for LOR's from prof's at my professional school. If you're gonna be out of school for 1 year, you should be able to ask your undergrad professors - they should still remember you. I think a letter from your boss or doctors you've shadowed would be good as well. Hope this helps.

I have not been in school for 7 years, and I did use one or two LOR's from my undergraduate and graduate professors. But I also supplemented it with a current LOR (from my mentor in grad school, he wrote it in 2005) and one of the CEO's I worked with.

I suppose current LOR's would be preferable, but an excellent *old* LOR is better than a mediocre *current* LOR.

 

[DrMom]

moving to the non-trad forum...

 

[remo]

If none of your old professors remember you then you are going to have to take some classes and get some new ones. You can use a letter from your boss but if you don't have any academic letters you will be at a disadvantage. I think most schools won't waive their letter requirements even if you are a "non-trad".

 

[IAMS]

LOR's is the one area where non-trads are at a definite disadvantage. Most school do not give you the same consideration without a "pre-med' committee letter, as I found out my first round of applying.

I went back 4 years to my old professors, who barely remembered me, but could look up my grades in their classes. One science professor who I needed a letter from had passed away, so it was definitely tough to get them sorted out. I sent them preaddressed/ prestamped envelopes and asked them to drop them in the mail after signing the flap to indicate they mailed them. It worked for 2 schools where I got interviewed - out of 12.

Some schools allow you to have your coworkers/supervisors submit letters, which I did. But frankly, these letters aren't given the same weight as a science professor whose sole job is to grade your scientific abilities in the classroom/laboratory.

The only sure way to go around this is to take classes as a postbacc/or special student and get a committee letter. That's what I did, and I got accepted this round pretty early on.

Do I think the difference was just the LOR's? No, but I think they were a major piece of the puzzle, since most schools base who they invite for interviews solely upon the committee's evaluation - which is why it's so important.

Good luck.

 

[Beau Geste]

LOR's is the one area where non-trads are at a definite disadvantage. Most school do not give you the same consideration without a "pre-med' committee letter, as I found out my first round of applying.

I went back 4 years to my old professors, who barely remembered me, but could look up my grades in their classes. One science professor who I needed a letter from had passed away, so it was definitely tough to get them sorted out. I sent them preaddressed/ prestamped envelopes and asked them to drop them in the mail after signing the flap to indicate they mailed them. It worked for 2 schools where I got interviewed - out of 12.

Some schools allow you to have your coworkers/supervisors submit letters, which I did. But frankly, these letters aren't given the same weight as a science professor whose sole job is to grade your scientific abilities in the classroom/laboratory.

The only sure way to go around this is to take classes as a postbacc/or special student and get a committee letter. That's what I did, and I got accepted this round pretty early on.

Do I think the difference was just the LOR's? No, but I think they were a major piece of the puzzle, since most schools base who they invite for interviews solely upon the committee's evaluation - which is why it's so important.

Good luck.

Thanks for posting this! By the time I get around to application, I will be out of my B.S./M.S. programs for 10 years and already some professors have passed away or retired! I've been making nice with my current professors/instructors to get those LORs!

 

[medworm]

For others who are out of undergrad for 5-6 years as I was, it's still okay to go back to your undergrad pre-med committee. I called my big kahuna up in January, she was very encouraging and assigned me an advisor. For my undergrad, I wrote up some autobio and submitted a resume. I also forwarded LORs from post-bacc professors, former boss, and former professors to the committee. I chatted with my advisor several times and did a mock interview. She had a committee letter ready by June, before summer break. Thereafter, I just had the coordinator send out LORs ad hoc as needed.

Hope that helps someone. Good Luck!

 

[.edu-MD]

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[USAFdoc2be]

I'll add my 2-cents I graduated 5 years ago and called the Pre-med advisor to talk. They still had my file with the old letters but a lot of schools will take a letter from the pre-med advisor/committee instead of the 2 science professors. He read my old letters and then I drove the 5.5 hours down to school to meet with him one Friday so he could get to know me a bit since he wasn't the pre-med advisor when I was in school. It really worked out and then I suplemented that with my letter from my current boss and my clinical experience one.

Must have been an ok letter cause I got in