LOR's question

[JayJayEPT]

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Hi, I was hoping to get some advice about LOR's and the next application cycle. I applied this year to a lot of schools, got 2 interviews and haven't heard from either school yet. If I don't get an acceptance, I was wondering if I could still use the same LOR's (most of them I got during the spring of last year) or should I get some new ones? I guess my question is this: regardless if I get new LOR's, do medical schools take into account the date of when these (older) LOR's were sent off? The reason why I ask is b/c most of these LOR's come from professors and I feel like the would carry more weight than LOR's from a work supervisor...but I'm not sure..

 

[Beast11]

Hi, I was hoping to get some advice about LOR's and the next application cycle. I applied this year to a lot of schools, got 2 interviews and haven't heard from either school yet. If I don't get an acceptance, I was wondering if I could still use the same LOR's (most of them I got during the spring of last year) or should I get some new ones? I guess my question is this: regardless if I get new LOR's, do medical schools take into account the date of when these (older) LOR's were sent off? The reason why I ask is b/c most of these LOR's come from professors and I feel like the would carry more weight than LOR's from a work supervisor...but I'm not sure..

In the same boat-so I will be looking carefully at responses. My gut instinct says that old(er) letters are still valid no matter the age/dating on letters. Most schools require a science prof letter, which may be several years old even for the traditional young 'un apps.

What I think is critical (even at this stage) is

1) Make sure you have an active document registry service-Interfolio or VirtualEvals. You should take the effort now to get the letters there, so you determine when they are resent-even with a (dated) older letter making sure they are sent out ASAP when needed is crucial. Would be bad if your ref felt put upon (even though it is theoretically easy to print up old letter, change date, and drop it in the mail-you must assume that the sense of urgency drops 2nd time around)

2) If you have any affiliation with a University with a pre-med committee-get them to write the composite letter. You can send short "updates" (even by Email) to the committee as the year progresses and they can make a nice, recent sounding header while incorporating "old" letters into a nice package.

 

[JayJayEPT]

What I think is critical (even at this stage) is

1) Make sure you have an active document registry service-Interfolio or VirtualEvals. You should take the effort now to get the letters there, so you determine when they are resent-even with a (dated) older letter making sure they are sent out ASAP when needed is crucial. Would be bad if your ref felt put upon (even though it is theoretically easy to print up old letter, change date, and drop it in the mail-you must assume that the sense of urgency drops 2nd time around)

2) If you have any affiliation with a University with a pre-med committee-get them to write the composite letter. You can send short "updates" (even by Email) to the committee as the year progresses and they can make a nice, recent sounding header while incorporating "old" letters into a nice package.

This is my second time around applying for med school, the first year was a learning experience for me. I thankfully was able to find out about Interfolio at the end of that cycle. As for the pre-med committee, I've been out of college for some time now and don't believe my school has a committee. I just finished my MPH with UT Houston and most of my LOR's have come from that program.

 

[Beast11]

This is my second time around applying for med school, the first year was a learning experience for me. I thankfully was able to find out about Interfolio at the end of that cycle. As for the pre-med committee, I've been out of college for some time now and don't believe my school has a committee. I just finished my MPH with UT Houston and most of my LOR's have come from that program.

Don't worry about being out for some time. The committee is precisely that-a group of people with wildly different schedules/motivations. Sure it's great if you get to know them all personally, but it is not unreasonable that you just are a file folder to them (for a reapp-relatively clean cut-your old AMCAS, letters, Emails with new stuff). This can be done from UG (even years after graduation). It is just important that you are active (you can Email the committee chair-say that med schools like/expect the committee letter-can you help an alum out) The committee has practice in dressing up the LOR portion and so can help frame the manager letters, vs. sci professors, vs. grade performance. etc.

You do worry me by saying you just finished your MPH. This seems to be about the most competitive spot and thus would need something big for next cycle if you don't get in. I recommend looking into finding a SMP now

Good luck!

 

[Luxian]

I used my old LOR's for this, my second round of applications. That's because I felt my LOR's were not the weak part of my application, so I redid my essay and updated my app, but left the LOR's the same. That said, I do feel like a work supervisor can provide a valuable recommendation if it's more recent than your school experience. I used two work supervisors and one prof because I've been out of school for 10 years. That has narrowed the number of schools that are looking at me, but I don't think getting any more dusty old recs from profs would have helped me. Just balance who you think will give you the best recommendations with a one or two prof recommendations and it will all work out. Good luck!

 

[jgirl]

In the same boat-so I will be looking carefully at responses. My gut instinct says that old(er) letters are still valid no matter the age/dating on letters. Most schools require a science prof letter, which may be several years old even for the traditional young 'un apps.

What I think is critical (even at this stage) is

1) Make sure you have an active document registry service-Interfolio or VirtualEvals. You should take the effort now to get the letters there, so you determine when they are resent-even with a (dated) older letter making sure they are sent out ASAP when needed is crucial. Would be bad if your ref felt put upon (even though it is theoretically easy to print up old letter, change date, and drop it in the mail-you must assume that the sense of urgency drops 2nd time around)

2) If you have any affiliation with a University with a pre-med committee-get them to write the composite letter. You can send short "updates" (even by Email) to the committee as the year progresses and they can make a nice, recent sounding header while incorporating "old" letters into a nice package.

So I'm a little new to all of this. What are service-Interfolio or VirtualEvals?