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my semi-solicited advice
Started by adcomm
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robsuz said:
From what I've seen, it's extremely rare for committee letters to be "bad." They almost always err on the side of being generally supportive.
Individual letters are a whole different story.
I've seen a fair number of recommendation letters from individual letter-writers that range from praise-with-faint-damnation all the way to outright bad. For example, "I have no doubt this applicant can survive medical school, but she will always be in the lowest quartile of the class." Or "This applicant exercised blatant dishonesty in accepting funding from X program then proceeding to apply to Y school."
The bottom line: Be sure to establish a substantial, positive relationship with the person before you ask for a letter. And be sure to ask the letter-writer whether they feel they can write you a strongly supportive letter before you seal the deal.
Z
zimmie256
Seen your file said:
I would hope that someone approached to write a letter of recommendation for someone they couldn't support would have the courtesy to suggest that the student ask someone else instead, or in some way indicate that the letter would not be supportive. Although I totally agree that the applicant should work hard to establish good relationships with potential letter writers before asking. I just know for people at larger schools for example, that it can be a challenge to find several letter writers that know the applicant really well.
zimmie256 said:
Of course, but you would be surprised. I have seen enough "recommendations" of this sort to convince me that pre-meds need to be more careful when they pick their letter writers. Apparently some faculty seem to feel that if an applicant is foolish enough to ask them for a letter, they deserve what they will be getting.
DUDE!! bumping.
CavalierMD said:
Seriously, what a valuable thread.
adcomm, I was wondering how adcoms view multiple MCAT scores? I've taken it twice with scores on the lower end of the 30's but I honestly feel that I can break out of that range with one more retake. Will adcoms view this negatively?
Seen your file said:
i tried that and it freaked my letter writers out. luckily i knew the first prof well enough for her to tell me that and I took a less agressive approach with the other two. I think it's best to make sure you give them an out (I completely understand if you cannot write me a letter for any reason and would appreciate your honesty in letting me know) and just leave it at "positive" and don't mention it repeatedly as I did. Just my 2 cents. Maybe other profs are a bit denser and need to see the word "strong" repeatedly.
hi kids. sorry I was gone for a while 🙂 hope you're all having fun applying.Monarch Kong said:
re: multiple takes. one or two retakes hasn't hurt anyone that I've seen. a retake that is LOWER is a warning sign, but can be defended with an honest explanation. I have seen people use the fact that a verbal score was higher on a first take than on the retake (when the retake composite was higher) in the applicant's favor.
30s doesn't sound horrendous. however, if you feel that it doesn't represent your personal best, you should have no problem discussing that as a reason why you took it again. study your booty off and wow them, if you're aiming for a school that needs a killer MCAT. 3rd should be the last time though! agh. I can't imagine taking that thing that many times.
Anyone have the link to the "Adcomm's demystified" thread or is this it?
I tried the search function but that did not help me at all.
I tried the search function but that did not help me at all.
Dear Adcomm-
Would you mind assessing a weakness in my future application....i am married with kid on the way and have worked full-time since deciding to pursue medical school admisssions, because i'm trying to overcome poor previous gpa i'm really focusing on excellent grades and haven't figured out out to budget time for volunteering activities or research. My clinical exposure is fine...2 years as an ER tech and still working in patient care....how do you think i would be evaluated in terms of lack of community service or other E.C .'s....thanks.
Would you mind assessing a weakness in my future application....i am married with kid on the way and have worked full-time since deciding to pursue medical school admisssions, because i'm trying to overcome poor previous gpa i'm really focusing on excellent grades and haven't figured out out to budget time for volunteering activities or research. My clinical exposure is fine...2 years as an ER tech and still working in patient care....how do you think i would be evaluated in terms of lack of community service or other E.C .'s....thanks.
did you ever have these in your past? I think the fact that you're working in patient care helps. adcomms at nontrad-friendly schools understand that kids and jobs get in the way of the perfect application. I would not waste your time or money applying until you have shown that you are able to perform well in the classroom within the last year. hope that helps answer your question!Nasrudin said:
Dear Adcomm,
thank you for what you ware doing! That's really great.
I have a couple of questions:
- How are online classes looked upon? (general classes, not the science prereqs)
- When selecting for interviews, what weights more in the application? I know you probably take everything in consideration, but I bet there are some few things in that can completely hinder an applicant's interviews. One of them would be lack of clinical experience, right? What else?
Thanks a lot!
thank you for what you ware doing! That's really great.
I have a couple of questions:
- How are online classes looked upon? (general classes, not the science prereqs)
- When selecting for interviews, what weights more in the application? I know you probably take everything in consideration, but I bet there are some few things in that can completely hinder an applicant's interviews. One of them would be lack of clinical experience, right? What else?
Thanks a lot!
9
93106
Hi, just a quick question!
On one of my LORs I didn't sign the portion of the required form that reads something like, "I hereby relinquish my right to read this recommendation." It was a mistake on my part. My undergrad commitee office will not allow me to sign the form now that it has been received. Do you think this will pose a problem? The rec is from a boss for whom I worked at a hospital clinic.
Any thoughts?
THANKS!!
On one of my LORs I didn't sign the portion of the required form that reads something like, "I hereby relinquish my right to read this recommendation." It was a mistake on my part. My undergrad commitee office will not allow me to sign the form now that it has been received. Do you think this will pose a problem? The rec is from a boss for whom I worked at a hospital clinic.
Any thoughts?
THANKS!!
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1. an online class here or there from your university isn't a problem. shady internet universities, core classes, or too many could raise some questions.redsky said:
2. I don't participate in the interview selection process. at my school numbers get crunched into a composite score, and they start picking through the list that way. people with lower scores show up at interview when they are interesting, have exceptional experiences, etc.
adcomm --
As with everyone else, your help is greatly appreciated! I think that I essentially know the answer from reading the previous entries in this thread, but I wanted to clarify, just to be sure...
Is it ok to lack volunteer hours if you make up for it with a large number of clinical hours? I am a non-traditional student due to the fact that I have been working as a nurse for the last several years. Because I am going back to school to finish my med school pre reqs, (and continuing to work) it leaves precious little time for anything else, including volunteer hours. Will it be detrimental to me to be lacking this, or will the fact that I have an extensive amount of clinical experience make up for this?
And on a totally different subject -- do you have any thoughts on early decision programs?
Thanks again!
As with everyone else, your help is greatly appreciated! I think that I essentially know the answer from reading the previous entries in this thread, but I wanted to clarify, just to be sure...
Is it ok to lack volunteer hours if you make up for it with a large number of clinical hours? I am a non-traditional student due to the fact that I have been working as a nurse for the last several years. Because I am going back to school to finish my med school pre reqs, (and continuing to work) it leaves precious little time for anything else, including volunteer hours. Will it be detrimental to me to be lacking this, or will the fact that I have an extensive amount of clinical experience make up for this?
And on a totally different subject -- do you have any thoughts on early decision programs?
Thanks again!
dearest adcomm,
on the very first page of this thread you mention that some medical schools have agreements with teach for america and peace corps, allowing one to defer for the duration of involvement. if i am planning on doing teach for america, is it negative to divulge this info during the application process? it seems like it would be a bad idea to tell a school, if accepted, i'll defer for two years! but there also seems to be a lot of good qualities associated with it too. hmm, what to do?
thanks in advance!
on the very first page of this thread you mention that some medical schools have agreements with teach for america and peace corps, allowing one to defer for the duration of involvement. if i am planning on doing teach for america, is it negative to divulge this info during the application process? it seems like it would be a bad idea to tell a school, if accepted, i'll defer for two years! but there also seems to be a lot of good qualities associated with it too. hmm, what to do?
thanks in advance!
B
brown98
Dear Adcomm:
Thank you for helping us!
I submitted my secondary and realize that I made a substantial error on my secondary essay. They asked for past plans/achievements. Though I answered that question, at the end, I also talked about how I plan to use past achievements for future activities. On one hand, I feel like I answered the question, but went outside the scope.
Will admissions toss out my application for this mistake 😳
Thank you for helping us!
I submitted my secondary and realize that I made a substantial error on my secondary essay. They asked for past plans/achievements. Though I answered that question, at the end, I also talked about how I plan to use past achievements for future activities. On one hand, I feel like I answered the question, but went outside the scope.
Will admissions toss out my application for this mistake 😳
eeeeeeee. I dunno. the evil, devious part of me might play up how much I liked to volunteer, teach, etc without overtly mentioning that I was gonna do it before getting accepted. I know a bunch of kids in my class did it but I'm not sure when they told.cobalt31 said:
Sahmbo said:
Problem only if their is a disclaimer saying you didn't waive your right. My research mentor is often on the adcom for UF, I asked him about it and he fervently suggested that I waive my right.
Hi, thanks so much for posting. I have some questions:
1. I have three quarters worth of research, but it's molecular benchwork for a structured undergraduate genomics research project. I didn't email anonymous PIs and then slave for him/her. I also have no clinical research experience. Will this hurt me?
2. I began volunteering at the UCLA medical center in March and have been volunteering 6+ hours/week. I love it and my LOR will show it. Will the fact that I began March 2006 hurt me for this application cycle?
3. Would being the editor-in-chief of a UCBerkeley media magazine and working on the school paper help me stand out?
thanks adcomm!=)🙂
How would schools know if the classes we've taken are online (if they are from our university)?
Thanks!!
I'd imagine that it is denoted as such on your transcript?
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Just read this whole thread. Top notch 👍
adcomm, thank you for demystifying the process a little bit for a worried undergrad. 🙂
I'm a nontrad applicant and like many others, had a craptastic first year GPA. I brought it up significantly second year (and will continue to do the same through the final two years) to 3.8+ in the first semester, but dropped to about 3.6 during the second semester. I didn't slack off or anything, but there were some significant family issues (illnesses, bitter divorce, completely awful environment) that hampered my performance.
I know some people suggest putting reasons for slipping GPAs on the personal statement, but I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses or unable to deal with these kinds of things. Will they even notice this in the big scheme of things? I'm guessing (and hoping) MCAT, volunteer, etc. will help make up for it.
Thank you!
I'm a nontrad applicant and like many others, had a craptastic first year GPA. I brought it up significantly second year (and will continue to do the same through the final two years) to 3.8+ in the first semester, but dropped to about 3.6 during the second semester. I didn't slack off or anything, but there were some significant family issues (illnesses, bitter divorce, completely awful environment) that hampered my performance.
I know some people suggest putting reasons for slipping GPAs on the personal statement, but I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses or unable to deal with these kinds of things. Will they even notice this in the big scheme of things? I'm guessing (and hoping) MCAT, volunteer, etc. will help make up for it.
Thank you!
i know there was mention of an alcohol violation, but what about a marijuana violation, in the first month of college in freshmen year, i dont even think its on my record, the sanctions stated in the letter were
Verbal Warning
Substance Education Class for one day.
it says i violated a student conduct code(drug violation). Ironically that was my best semester so far 3.9. So does this totally kill my chances? Should i only apply to D.O scholls now or what?
Verbal Warning
Substance Education Class for one day.
it says i violated a student conduct code(drug violation). Ironically that was my best semester so far 3.9. So does this totally kill my chances? Should i only apply to D.O scholls now or what?
No. Apply MD assuming your stats are fine. Assuming you have no subsequent problems with the law (esp. with weed again) you will be OK.
Just my opinion, but I think you should just send a traditional thank you card.
1. Your email could go to their spam box. They never see it.
2. Email is so easy to do, while a card in this day and age reflects that you did a little bit of 'work' (ya, however minimal it is).
3. Some of the people who interview are older doctors, who may or may not check their own email. Instead, they have their assistants check it and sort it and only really read the most pertinent ones. Therefore, your email may get lost in the shuffle.
Perhaps you could send your card certified mail, but that may be seen as kinda extra. Whatever you do, don't use FedEx, b/c FedEx sucks 👎
1. no
2. no, although I hope you have *some* kind of medical or non-medical type volunteer experience in your past, somewhere. soup kitchen, tutoring, something.
3. not enough for it to be a sole reason to do it. anything that you're proud of that is outside of the norm is nice for interviews, and if the story is impressive will do more to just make a favorable impression on the interviewer than to be recognized as a specific accomplishment. hope that made sense.
2. no, although I hope you have *some* kind of medical or non-medical type volunteer experience in your past, somewhere. soup kitchen, tutoring, something.
3. not enough for it to be a sole reason to do it. anything that you're proud of that is outside of the norm is nice for interviews, and if the story is impressive will do more to just make a favorable impression on the interviewer than to be recognized as a specific accomplishment. hope that made sense.
yay 🙂
Hello adcomm,
how does physics I for scientists without lab look with respect to an application. Namely, is the lab really required. Also I didn't do to stellar in Orgo (B, B+), but I'm a math major with an okay BCMP GPA (3.7) how would someone on the commitee view that?
how does physics I for scientists without lab look with respect to an application. Namely, is the lab really required. Also I didn't do to stellar in Orgo (B, B+), but I'm a math major with an okay BCMP GPA (3.7) how would someone on the commitee view that?
Dear Adcomm,
You are the man (or the woman, as the situation may go). I have a question. I am going to be a reapplicant. I applied last year but I am going to wait until next year to apply to again. (Oh and I am not a gunner, I am just bored at work and all i think about is applying again)
I am going to apply to a bunch of the schools that I applied to this past year but I am going to apply to some new schools also. Should I mention in my personal statement that i am a reapplicant even if I am not for a particular school? Can I talk about what i have done to improve my application since the last time I applied? Thanks for you help.
You are the man (or the woman, as the situation may go). I have a question. I am going to be a reapplicant. I applied last year but I am going to wait until next year to apply to again. (Oh and I am not a gunner, I am just bored at work and all i think about is applying again)
I am going to apply to a bunch of the schools that I applied to this past year but I am going to apply to some new schools also. Should I mention in my personal statement that i am a reapplicant even if I am not for a particular school? Can I talk about what i have done to improve my application since the last time I applied? Thanks for you help.
Some schools ask you in the secondary if you have previously applied to other medical schools, and a lot of them ask what you have been doing with your time after undergrad, so you might a well explain your situation in the PS. Just my opinion as a fellow applicant.
Right now, I would focus on keeping your GPA up rather than what you'll write in your personal statment (if I'm reading correctly that you are not currently applying...). Showing that you have been able to keep up with a demanding courseload more recently than your most recent academic difficulties will speak louder than what you choose to write in your statement. You're right though- avoid making excuses, if something really needs included put a positive spin on how it made you work harder or something.
Give the mailmen some credit. You should be able to find the specific address of your interviewer (or call the admissions office) and 39-cent that baby.
You should stop making statements like that. If an ethics thing is going to keep you out of med school it will hurt your chances at a DO school, too. It most likely isn't on your record- check with the registrar or whoever does your transcript and just flat out ask. Deal with it once you know for sure.
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Look on the website of the schools you are applying to. If it says "with lab", they mean "with lab". Even if you say you're going to take it and get an interview they will be requesting final transcripts.
Gut feeling on this one is to leave the idealistic why-I-want-to-be-a-doctor BS to the personal statement and discuss your previous application and especially your improvements at the interview at the schools you applied to before. Your day-of call at the new schools. It's kind of funny but I think reapplicants to my school (when they applied to this school before) really get a special look- I'm not sure if it's the fact that they are determined to go to this school, or just show dedication, but interviewers usually like it.
You can discuss what you did with your life in the statement without focusing on your past application. Or, you can go all-out and make the entire statement about how you didn't get in once, so you did all this stuff and kept at it because of that experience you had when you were five and blah blah blah...
Hello,
I have a dilemma on my hands that I need help with:
I requested LORs from: my Korean teacher, the dean of my college, and the director of the clinic that I volunteer in (a physician and a harvard grad), back in May. I explained the whole medical school application process to them and said that I was taking the august MCAT. The LORs from my Korean teacher and the dean (she knows me personally because I worked as her assistant the summer before starting college) were complete in late July, but I never got the letter from the Physician.
Last week I got an email response from her (finally) and she explained that she's still dealing with the fact that her husband had passed away last year and that she might take a lot longer to write it. She had volunteered to write my LOR b/c she knew I was applying when I talked to her before. Basically, I can't really count on her letter. I feel really bad for her.
I do have other people that I can request LORs from, namely my research PI. He's REALLY nice. He wrote me a good mid-quarter evaluation. But my question is:
1. How do I tell him it's a late request without jeapordizing the content of the LOR,
while
2. Not telling him he's my last resort?
3. If the LORs from the people I have listed above are strong, is there a problem with the fact that I don't have a LOR, from, say ,my Ochem prof?
I have a dilemma on my hands that I need help with:
I requested LORs from: my Korean teacher, the dean of my college, and the director of the clinic that I volunteer in (a physician and a harvard grad), back in May. I explained the whole medical school application process to them and said that I was taking the august MCAT. The LORs from my Korean teacher and the dean (she knows me personally because I worked as her assistant the summer before starting college) were complete in late July, but I never got the letter from the Physician.
Last week I got an email response from her (finally) and she explained that she's still dealing with the fact that her husband had passed away last year and that she might take a lot longer to write it. She had volunteered to write my LOR b/c she knew I was applying when I talked to her before. Basically, I can't really count on her letter. I feel really bad for her.
I do have other people that I can request LORs from, namely my research PI. He's REALLY nice. He wrote me a good mid-quarter evaluation. But my question is:
1. How do I tell him it's a late request without jeapordizing the content of the LOR,
while
2. Not telling him he's my last resort?
3. If the LORs from the people I have listed above are strong, is there a problem with the fact that I don't have a LOR, from, say ,my Ochem prof?
Hey adcomm,
I was wondering what your response would be to a mistake in 1 of 7 LORs. One professor wrote a sentance saying that I have a twin sister who is sick that I take care of. This is blatantly untrue as I do not even have a sister and it is not mentioned anywhere else in my application. Obviously, he made a mistake and I know that he was working on several letters at the same time as mine.
My question is how bad does this make me look?
I am really concerned, so thank you for your help.
I was wondering what your response would be to a mistake in 1 of 7 LORs. One professor wrote a sentance saying that I have a twin sister who is sick that I take care of. This is blatantly untrue as I do not even have a sister and it is not mentioned anywhere else in my application. Obviously, he made a mistake and I know that he was working on several letters at the same time as mine.
My question is how bad does this make me look?
I am really concerned, so thank you for your help.
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