My advisor messed up my committtee letter, help?

[Basil246]

Hi,

So my pre-health advisor used my old MCAT score in my committee letter(he also based his strength of the recommendation based on that score) and I just found out when an interviewer mentioned it in passing at an interview. Do you think this might have recked my chances this cycle?

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[Dr. Meliodas]

What might have affected your chances was having a weak recc letter by a professor who based the "strength" of the letter on your MCAT score.

 

[Basil246]

What might have affected your chances was having a weak recc letter by a professor who based the "strength" of the letter on your MCAT score.

What should I do? He does recommendations by categories(strongly recommend,recommend, recommend with reservations). I’ve been waitlisted by three schools

 

[el_duderino]

The schools know your MCAT score. They're smart enough to see that someone made a mistake in a LOR. If you have to reapply, make sure it gets fixed.

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

I wouldn't say they are "smart enough to see that someone made a mistake in a LOR". How would they know that the strength of the LOR is based on his MCAT score?

You really can't do anything about it now. Not sure if finding someone now and sending an additional (STRONG) LOR would make much of a difference but that is one option I can think of. If you have to reapply make sure to get LOR that are strong and from those that can say more than "this kid got an A in my class and has a high MCAT ergo strongly recommend"

 

[Basil246]

I wouldn't say they are "smart enough to see that someone made a mistake in a LOR". How would they know that the strength of the LOR is based on his MCAT score?

You really can't do anything about it now. Not sure if finding someone now and sending an additional (STRONG) LOR would make much of a difference but that is one option I can think of. If you have to reapply make sure to get LOR that are strong and from those that can say more than "this kid got an A in my class and has a high MCAT ergo strongly recommend"

I was thinking of speaking to my advisor and seeing if he can send something or write something for me to send to at least the schools I was waitlisted at?

 

[el_duderino]

I wouldn't say they are "smart enough to see that someone made a mistake in a LOR". How would they know that the strength of the LOR is based on his MCAT score?

You really can't do anything about it now. Not sure if finding someone now and sending an additional (STRONG) LOR would make much of a difference but that is one option I can think of. If you have to reapply make sure to get LOR that are strong and from those that can say more than "this kid got an A in my class and has a high MCAT ergo strongly recommend"

I really don't think that adcoms put much stock into some premed committee's "strength of recommendation." I mean, sure, ask the committee if they'll send an updated letter to the schools you're waitlisted at, but I really don't expect this will change anything.

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

I was thinking of speaking to my advisor and seeing if he can send something or write something for me to send to at least the schools I was waitlisted at?

I'm not sure how this would be received, because it doesn't make sense (at least to me) why a LOR writer would send an updated letter. I've never heard of this being done. Maybe some of the adcoms on here could weigh in @LizzyM @Goro

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

I really don't think that adcoms put much stock into some premed committee's "strength of recommendation." I mean, sure, ask the committee if they'll send an updated letter to the schools you're waitlisted at, but I really don't expect this will change anything.

From what I've seen Committee Letters do have more weight than just any old LOR. I could be wrong.

 

[LizzyM]

This is why I am strongly against giving letter writers anything except what you've submitted to them for assessment in a class or lab. They should not be basing a recommendation on your MCAT score but on their own experience with you. The two (score and letter) should be independent, not one dependent on the other. This halo effect is not helpful to us in adcoms.

Yes, if a LOR says, "Basil 246 was disappointed with his MCAT score of 29 and this score was not in keeping with his performance in my class." and the adcom sees that Basil 246 has a 29 as well as a 512 on a second attempt, then we know that the letter writer was not using all the data available to the adcom for a decision. That said, if the letter writer says "Basil246 is a strong applicant" rather than "a very strong applicant" or "an exceptionally strong applicant" and if we are at all familiar with this writer's use of adjectives, we get the picture which, unfortunately, is biased by the MCAT score.

 

[Basil246]

This is why I am strongly against giving letter writers anything except what you've submitted to them for assessment in a class or lab. They should not be basing a recommendation on your MCAT score but on their own experience with you. The two (score and letter) should be independent, not one dependent on the other. This halo effect is not helpful to us in adcoms.

Yes, if a LOR says, "Basil 246 was disappointed with his MCAT score of 29 and this score was not in keeping with his performance in my class." and the adcom sees that Basil 246 has a 29 as well as a 512 on a second attempt, then we know that the letter writer was not using all the data available to the adcom for a decision. That said, if the letter writer says "Basil246 is a strong applicant" rather than "a very strong applicant" or "an exceptionally strong applicant" and if we are at all familiar with this writer's use of adjectives, we get the picture which, unfortunately, is biased by the MCAT score.

Unfortunately it’s my pre-health department’s policy that you have to submit your MCAT score for them to write your committee letter.

 

[Basil246]

This is why I am strongly against giving letter writers anything except what you've submitted to them for assessment in a class or lab. They should not be basing a recommendation on your MCAT score but on their own experience with you. The two (score and letter) should be independent, not one dependent on the other. This halo effect is not helpful to us in adcoms.

Yes, if a LOR says, "Basil 246 was disappointed with his MCAT score of 29 and this score was not in keeping with his performance in my class." and the adcom sees that Basil 246 has a 29 as well as a 512 on a second attempt, then we know that the letter writer was not using all the data available to the adcom for a decision. That said, if the letter writer says "Basil246 is a strong applicant" rather than "a very strong applicant" or "an exceptionally strong applicant" and if we are at all familiar with this writer's use of adjectives, we get the picture which, unfortunately, is biased by the MCAT score.

Is there anything I can do for at least the schools I was waitlisted at?

 

[LizzyM]

You were not waitlisted on the basis of the committee letter. Despite giving you, perhaps, a lower overall classification than you deserved, you still got interviewed. Getting waitlisted is usually due to metrics (grades & scores) being a bit less than the top of the heap and the interview being a little less impressive that the best interviews. So, hold on, wait for the superstars to make their choices in April, and see where you are.

Just for clarification, when did you take the second MCAT in relation to when you asked for the LOR?

 

[Basil246]

I took it before I asked for it, he said he wouldn’t write it for a bit after anyway, received my score two weeks later and told him immediately.

You were not waitlisted on the basis of the committee letter. Despite giving you, perhaps, a lower overall classification than you deserved, you still got interviewed. Getting waitlisted is usually due to metrics (grades & scores) being a bit less than the top of the heap and the interview being a little less impressive that the best interviews. So, hold on, wait for the superstars to make their choices in April, and see where you are.

Just for clarification, when did you take the second MCAT in relation to when you asked for the LOR?

 

[LizzyM]

I took it before I asked for it, he said he wouldn’t write it for a bit after anyway, received my score two weeks later and told him immediately.

Did you release your score to your pre-med office? Did he have an official score in writing? Either he did not record your self-report or he is sloppy. Either way, you got scr3wed which is unfortunate.

 

[Goro]

Hi,

So my pre-health advisor used my old MCAT score in my committee letter(he also based his strength of the recommendation based on that score) and I just found out when an interviewer mentioned it in passing at an interview. Do you think this might have recked my chances this cycle?

We can see your MCAT score, so any person leading the letter with half a brain will simply take the letter with a large grain of salt

 

[LizzyM]

We can see your MCAT score, so any person leading the letter with half a brain will simply take the letter with a large grain of salt

There is more to it than this. Let's say that a school has recommendations:
Most highly reccommend
Highly recommend
Recommend
Recommend with reservations
Cannot recommend

Let's also say that all other things being equal, the MCAT score that corresponds to the recommendations are >519, 515-519, 510-514, 500-509 and < 500. If the school used an old score rather than a new higher score, the bottom line recommendation from the committee would be lower than it should have been being fairly compared to the rest of the pool from that school. Schools are not transparent to the adcom as to how they make these classifications but if they do take MCAT into account, getting the MCAT wrong did screw the student.

 

[Goro]

There is more to it than this. Let's say that a school has recommendations:
Most highly reccommend
Highly recommend
Recommend
Recommend with reservations
Cannot recommend

Let's also say that all other things being equal, the MCAT score that corresponds to the recommendations are >519, 515-519, 510-514, 500-509 and < 500. If the school used an old score rather than a new higher score, the bottom line recommendation from the committee would be lower than it should have been being fairly compared to the rest of the pool from that school. Schools are not transparent to the adcom as to how they make these classifications but if they do take MCAT into account, getting the MCAT wrong did screw the student.

I see your point.