Ltr of Rec Problem

[scooter31]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello one and all-
So here's my question. I am a post bac/grad student and am getting to that point where I am going to start compiling my letters of rec for the upcoming application cycle. My only problem is how to do this in light of the fact that I am not a fulltime student at my current institution, and my undergrad is thousands of miles away, and I wasn't even a pre-med when I went there. How do I go about compiling letters? Do I need a committee? Do I have to go back to Cali to get this ball rolling? Any insight would be great, fantastico even...


Speaking of rolling, hope all of my fellow Californians weren't affected by todays mover and shaker up by Cambria. Needless to say, Boston was NOT affected by any seismic abnormalities today

😉

 

[TexasRose]

If you are taking prereq's, or even any sci courses in your current postbacc/grad program, you should be asking your prof's for LORs. Doesn't matter that you aren't fulltime.

Does your school have a premed advisor? If so, you need to find out what the procedure is for med school applicants. They may have a premed committee that will review your LOR's and make a composite letter to send to the schools you apply to.

Most universities have some kind of standard procedure, complete with LOR request forms, etc. So your first step should be to find out what that procedure is.

Good luck! BTW, you are smart to begin this process now. It can take time to get things organized!

Theresa

 

[kiernin]

I would start by finding out if your undergrad school even has a committee letter. If not, you'll need to collect letters from individual instuctors on your own. I graduated in 99 and took a couple post-bac classes in 2002/03. Here's what I did:

-Called undergrad school and found out they don't do a committee letter. They did agree to collect all my letters for me and send them out to the med schools though.
-Contacted my favorite non-science professor from undergrad who I knew would remember me and write me a good letter
-Asked 2 post-bac science instructors (including 1 community college bio prof) I have had within the past year to write letters
-Asked manager at work to write a letter
-Had all 4 letter writers mail letters to pre-med advisor at undergrad school. Had her send out letters as I completed my secondaries.

That worked out well for me. I was a little nervous about having a letter from a community college, but I have gotten 7 interviews so it seems to be ok. Each one of my three academic LOR's is from a different school (only one of which I was ever a full-time student at) and the last is from my manager. I did this all by email/phone; you should not have to travel anywhere to get the letters going.

 

[scooter31]

thanks- the only reason why I say I'm parttime is because I am not in a traditional postbac porgram- I am taking calsses a la carte form a recognized program, and I'm not real sure if I am eligible for their committee letter...I wonder if this will skew the process in any way.

 

[kiernin]

You can always ask if you are eligible... since I was also very part-time at my post-bac schools, I just assumed I should use my undergrad as my 'homebase' school. I did complete most of the prereqs there before I graduated though.

 

[jlee9531]

hey i got all 5 of my letters after i graduated.

i live in LA but went to Berkeley. I emailed the professors and if they were slow i emailed my TAs to see if they can get in contact with them. you gotta do this early tho. give them at least 6 months to write you these letters since they are busy.

then i signed up for my university's letter service and after the professors were done with the letters all they had to do was send it to the letter center on the campus.

i was worried at first about being so far away and not having the time to go up there and visit in person, but i asked professors and tas that knew me well and were happy to help me out. and everything worked out for me even though one of the letters was relatively late.

thankful nonetheless.