No committee letter, but school offers one

[ada.v]

My school writes committee letters, but they require students to open a file with the pre-med office a year prior to applying to medical schools. Since I didn't know about this, I missed the deadline to open a file and now I will not receive a committee letter. Will this look bad on my application? I believe med schools know which universities offer the letter services, so will they suspect something worse if I don't have one?

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[LoveBeingHuman:)]

Calm down

Ask for an exception and explain that you didn't know the policy

If that does not work, explain in your primary and/or secondary why you did not get a committee letter (in fact, some secondaries will directly ask you this). If you have nothing to hide, you should be fine.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

It's not a killer but it might paint you in a careless light. If med schools know your school does committee letters then they will wonder why you don't have one. Your explanation really boils down to "I didn't to my homework on something that can effect my life for the next 30-40 years" that's not what they are going to want to see. Just be careful how you phrase things and it shouldn't be a huge detriment.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

It's not a killer but it might paint you in a careless light. If med schools know your school does committee letters then they will wonder why you don't have one. Your explanation really boils down to "I didn't to my homework on something that can effect my life for the next 30-40 years" that's not what they are going to want to see. Just be careful how you phrase things and it shouldn't be a huge detriment.

I'd actually argue the opposite. No one will be able to predict that something they need has a required task to be done a year before. I bet that information comes up when pre meds talk to their advisors. So it just boils down to the fact that OP may have never talked to a pre med advisor. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe OP didn't have to because he/she was being proactive about their life and was able to find information and opportunities without having to talk to a pre med advisor.

 

[freak7]

What's to preclude you from asking for a letter for the next cycle and just gap year-ing/making money/strengthening your app?

 

[DrDarce]

FWIW my school offered a committee letter and I didn't go through the process. I honestly wish I had because it would've helped but I did get accepted to one school. The whole process especially at my school was annoying and what were they gonna say in the letter about me anyway? They don't know me. I had very strong letters otherwise though.

OP if really want to apply this cycle I'd apply with the letters you have but at the same time preparing for next year's committee process.

 

[235009]

Calm down

Ask for an exception and explain that you didn't know the policy

If that does not work, explain in your primary and/or secondary why you did not get a committee letter (in fact, some secondaries will directly ask you this). If you have nothing to hide, you should be fine.

Disagree with the above. This looks really bad. "I didn't know and missed the deadline" isn't a valid excuse for this or anything in the future if you end up making it to med school. While you might still get in depending on how strong the rest of your application is (probably to a school at which you are over qualified taking advantage of your mistake), your best bet would be to take a gap year and apply with the committee letter the following cycle.


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[jordansnfootbal]

Bro youre fine as long as your individual letters are strong.

 

[chrisjh]

You dont need a committee letter if you feel you can aquire good LORs on your own.

 

[235009]

You dont need a committee letter if you feel you can aquire good LORs on your own.

That's not the point of a committee letter. You have to get good letters on your own regardless.


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[chrisjh]

That's not the point of a committee letter. You have to get good letters on your own regardless.


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I realize that, but premeds in general dont realize that you dont need the committe letter. I've seen more cases of harm than good on sdn, mostly due to the amount of time the committees take. Many of them buy into the crap I have seen a lot of undergrad schools feed that you NEED their committee letter ti get into med school. If you already have the letters on your own, who gives a crap what some advisor who barely knows you thinks?
My school didnt have a committee, but even if it did, I wouldnt have gone near it with a 10 foot pole. I've spoken breifly with several different premed advisors, and they're generally laughable. They know they couple big checkboxes to tell you but are ignorant in the nuances of the process.

 

[235009]

I realize that, but premeds in general dont realize that you dont need the committe letter. I've seen more cases of harm than good on sdn, mostly due to the amount of time the committees take. Many of them buy into the crap I have seen a lot of undergrad schools feed that you NEED their committee letter ti get into med school. If you already have the letters on your own, who gives a crap what some advisor who barely knows you thinks?
My school didnt have a committee, but even if it did, I wouldnt have gone near it with a 10 foot pole. I've spoken breifly with several different premed advisors, and they're generally laughable. They know they couple big checkboxes to tell you but are ignorant in the nuances of the process.

You really don't know what you're talking about at all and should stop giving "advice" about something you have no experience with.
If your school has a committee and you don't get a letter from them it's a big red flag because it usually means you're trying to hide something. The point of the committee letter is an endorsement of your overall record at the school, including your disciplinary record, and an objective summary of where you stand relative to your peers.
It is understandable to forego the committee letter if you've been out of college for 5+ years but it is particularly inadvisable to do so if you're still in college.

 

[chrisjh]

There is no requirement by medical schools that you must have a committee letter. I HIGHLY doubt that any adcom would pay attention to whether or not an applicant had a committee later, unless they were familiar with the specific school the applicant is from. They go through thousands of applicants from thousands of different schools. If you have lor's, you're fine. If there were any "issues" you were trying to cover up, it would come up in either a transcript, interview process, or background check. Just because my specific school doesn't have a committee doesn't mean I dont know how they run, or that I dont have some common sense.

 

[chrisjh]

Nobody's chances of getting into medical school will be shot just because they dont have a committee letter, as long as they check off all the ACTUAL requirements.

 

[cactusman]

Just because my specific school doesn't have a committee doesn't mean I dont know how they run, or that I dont have some common sense.

Consider that your common sense might be wrong.

 

[chrisjh]

Please show me a single instance of anybody ever being denied entry into medical school because they just used their LOR's instead of going through the committee? I'll wait.

 

[chrisjh]

There is absolutely no good reason to delay a med school app by a year just because you didnt meet some undergrad committees timeline req, as long as you have a good set of LOR's. At the worst, if the adcom is familiar with the school and asks about it, just explain yourself. Its not a shot in the foot. Don't be naive.

 

[ciestar]

You really don't know what you're talking about at all and should stop giving "advice" about something you have no experience with.
If your school has a committee and you don't get a letter from them it's a big red flag because it usually means you're trying to hide something. The point of the committee letter is an endorsement of your overall record at the school, including your disciplinary record, and an objective summary of where you stand relative to your peers.
It is understandable to forego the committee letter if you've been out of college for 5+ years but it is particularly inadvisable to do so if you're still in college.

I was out of school for two years and my undergrad still allowed a committee letter/interview as long as I had the two required science LORs and one nonscience.

There is absolutely no good reason to delay a med school app by a year just because you didnt meet some undergrad committees timeline req, as long as you have a good set of LOR's. At the worst, if the adcom is familiar with the school and asks about it, just explain yourself. Its not a shot in the foot. Don't be naive.

Here's what you're missing: if you look at the LOR requirements for many schools if you don't have a committee letter can actually be quite obnoxious. I don't remember which school, but they wanted a letters from all three biology, chemistry, physics AND a nonscience. Obviously exceptions can be made but come on... it's just easier with the committee letter and they DO ask you why you didn't get one if it's available. (Well, some school secondaries)

EDIT: clarity

 

[chrisjh]

I was out of school for two years and my undergrad still allowed a committee letter/interview as long as I had the two required science LORs and one nonscience.



Here's what you're missing: if you look at the LOR requirements for many schools if you don't have a committee letter can actually be quite obnoxious. I don't remember which school, but they wanted a letter from BCM AND nonscience. Obviously exceptions can be made but come on... it's just easier with the committee letter and they DO ask you why you didn't get one if it's available. (Well, some school secondaries)

I'm not saying it can't help. I'm just saying it's not necessary, and there are numerous situations where it can become more of a hassle than it's worth.

 

[chrisjh]

Prehealth committee letter, OR 3 individuals letters.
Preference does not equate to requirement. I still want to see a single example of someone being turned down for having 3 individual letters instead of a committee letter.

Obviously you have different opinions, but Im still not buying it. Especially with all the negatives I have seen come out of it.

 

[studpremed]

My school writes committee letters, but they require students to open a file with the pre-med office a year prior to applying to medical schools. Since I didn't know about this, I missed the deadline to open a file and now I will not receive a committee letter. Will this look bad on my application? I believe med schools know which universities offer the letter services, so will they suspect something worse if I don't have one?

I highly highly recommend you to delay applying to medical school until you get the letter. I know it is a pain because I am also delaying my application for this letter. Depending on your undergrad I feel a committee letter is necessary if surrounding medical schools (ie. state schools) know the school really well therefore will find it odd or a red flag that you don't have a letter from that school.

 

[235009]

https://medicine.stonybrookmedicine.edu/admissions_SOM
A letter of evaluation from the applicant's premedical advisor is also required. If no such official exists, letters from two instructors, one of whom is in a science field, should be submitted. No other letters are solicited.

Guess I would've been one of those folks denied entry into med school for not having a committee letter since the above is the policy of the school I attended.
I actually had no idea they required it because I didn't even consider forgoing the committee letter.

Prehealth committee letter, OR 3 individuals letters.
Preference does not equate to requirement. I still want to see a single example of someone being turned down for having 3 individual letters instead of a committee letter.

Obviously you have different opinions, but Im still not buying it. Especially with all the negatives I have seen come out of it.

What negatives? You're a pre-med....making an argument that appeals to your vast experience seems quite laughable.

 

[chrisjh]

Guess I would've been one of those folks denied entry into med school for not having a committee letter since the above is the policy of the school I attended.
I actually had no idea they required it because I didn't even consider forgoing the committee letter.



What negatives? You're a pre-med....making an argument that appeals to your vast experience seems quite laughable.

I'm a premed. Not a child. You attempting to talk down to me is laughable.

 

[235009]

I'm a premed. Not a child. You attempting to talk down to me is laughable.

Seriously just stop. You said your piece and were told by multiple people that you're completely wrong. @gonnif was even nice enough to do the leg work and show you that many schools basically require you to have a committee letter, some even saying so explicitly and warning that it would be a red flag you need to have a good explanation for. You cant come up with any examples of "all the negatives" you've seen come out of having a committee letter. Move on.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I'd actually argue the opposite. No one will be able to predict that something they need has a required task to be done a year before. I bet that information comes up when pre meds talk to their advisors. So it just boils down to the fact that OP may have never talked to a pre med advisor. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe OP didn't have to because he/she was being proactive about their life and was able to find information and opportunities without having to talk to a pre med advisor.

Proactive and finding information would also mean they could have opened up the school's premed website (most schools of any worth maintain this information in an easily discoverable fashion) and found the appropriate deadlines. It looks bad. It's not a killer everywhere but it's definitely bad.

Prehealth committee letter, OR 3 individuals letters.
Preference does not equate to requirement. I still want to see a single example of someone being turned down for having 3 individual letters instead of a committee letter.

Obviously you have different opinions, but Im still not buying it. Especially with all the negatives I have seen come out of it.

This isn't a matter of opinion and you obstinately refusing to "buy" it until provided with an unreasonably specific and possibly illegal example only makes you look the fool.

Nobody cares what you believe or buy but kindly stop talking out your ass for the benefit of everyone else.

 

[chrisjh]

I asked you guys for examples. You havent provided me with a single one of anyone getting denied for not having it I was not asked for examples, but they are all over the place. Do a search here on SDN. Or any other premed forum. They're everywhere. People who were screwed out of what should have been a good app cycle because their committee took until around september thru november to actually put the letter out. People who's committee barely knew anything enough about them to put down anything besides a generic endorsement based on the LORs already aquired. On the other hand I have personally been aquainted with 2 people from one of my states schools with a committee who didnt use it, and still got into med school. So no, just because thats what you were told, does NOT mean in will break your app.

 

[chrisjh]

Yeah, you have have an opinion and I have more years of experience with medical schools admissions then your age kid

A common theme with you and a couple other "adcoms" on here.
First off, I am not a kid.
Second, talking down to people doesnt validate anything you say.
Like I said, I personally know people who didnt use the committee and got in, so no, I am not "talking out of my ass". I am providing my opinion based on what I have seen.
There is absolutely no need to be hostile and throwing out insults, especially being the middleaged respectable adcom member you claim to be.

 

[starspells]

Please show me a single instance of anybody ever being denied entry into medical school because they just used their LOR's instead of going through the committee? I'll wait.

Actually I recall @gyngyn saying they had a Harvard applicant who didn't use the committee letter which was odd to the rest of the faculty who attended there so they rejected him. If your school is known for providing a committee letter and you decide not to use it just have a good reason for not having it. People have certainly gotten in without one but they had a good reason for it.

 

[chrisjh]

Actually I recall @gyngyn saying they had a Harvard applicant who didn't use the committee letter which was odd to the rest of the faculty who attended there so they rejected him. If your school is known for providing a committee letter and you decide not to use it just have a good reason for not having it. People have certainly gotten in without one but they had a good reason for it. It's possible other schools place less emphasis on having a committee letter but others take it more seriously.

Thank you. An example I asked for, without hurling insults or denigrations.

 

[freak7]

I have more years of experience with medical schools admissions then your age kid

This is why I and most other adcoms get pissed off at idiot comments from people who either cant read or who cant understand that when a schools says required, recommended or preferred, it is done so because that is what they want. Do you think they write this solely for your entertainment or do they do so that perhaps, just perhaps, you can read and understand they like committee letters over indivdual. Your comments about have no effect or requiring proof that not having a committee letter was the factor that kept an applicant out , shows how you have little, if any, understanding of how applications are screened, how they evaluated by readers and how they reviewed by a committee. What is an adcom to think when an applicant who goes to a UG with a well-known and respected premed committee, doesnt have their letter? why did he/she avoid it? should I admit he/she with this open question or with these others that have no unanswered items.

Again, this isnt a matter of opinion, you are simply and utterly wrong and providing misleading information on a subject you appear to have no experience or knowledge of. Somewhere in this world, you are depriving a village of an idiot.

I agree they're totally wrong, but you didn't have to stoop that low @gonnif

 

[chrisjh]

And by that comment, you therefore reach the conclusion that it doesnt matter whether or not you have a committee, it wont make any difference in impact and the comments from most medical schools have required, recommended or preferred as guidelines will not matter one iota to an applicants. You certainly have set low standards of conclusion and apparently have failed to reach them. Just go away, preferably to another career path

Did you actually read what i said? Again, I'm not saying they arent helpful. I'm saying I do not believe it is a strong enough reason to delay an app an entire year. For all your trash talking about my skills of deduction, you obviously didnt read everything I said.
And with the trash talk still....
You are incredibly immature for who you claim to be. I hope to god you are not involved in any of the schools I applied to. Anonymity is not an excuse to be an a**.

 

[freak7]

Did you actually read what i said? Again, I'm not saying they arent helpful. I'm saying I do not believe it is a strong enough reason to delay an app an entire year. For all your trash talking about my skills of deduction, you obviously didnt read everything I said.
And with the trash talk still....
You are incredibly immature for who you claim to be. I hope to god you are not involved in any of the schools I applied to. Anonymity is not an excuse to be an a**.

I think the point that @gonnif was trying to make was that schools have different requirements. Just because you know people who got into a school without a committee letter doesn't mean that they got into a school that required a committee letter. He's just saying that you took a specific and generalized it a little way too much

 

[SydSing]

n = 1 but I didn't have one either and just submitted a 'letter packet' filled with strong individual letters. I did really well.

I think I had to explain my choice in one interview and on two secondaries. One of my interviewers explicitly said he was required to ask but that it really wasn't an issue.




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[chrisjh]

I think the point that @gonnif was trying to make was that schools have different requirements. Just because you know people who got into a school without a committee letter doesn't mean that they got into a school that required a committee letter. He's just saying that you took a specific and generalized it a little way too much

And he may have a point, although he wouldnt completely have changed my mind. But with his attitude straight off the bat, he pretty much bars any reasonable discussion.
There are a couple adcoms on this site that based on how I've seen them treat people they disagree with here, I would be extremely against applying to any school they were even remotely involved in.

 

[chrisjh]

there are numerous situations where it can become more of a hassle than it's worth.

As it shows clearly from your words below, you went far beyond saying "they arent helpful" and essentially said they are no good as "you have seem more harm then good" from them.

I said there are SITUATIONS where they have done more harm than good.
Don't cherrypick.

 

[ada.v]

Hey guys, thanks for the input, drama aside. I admit that I could have been more proactive about getting involved with the pre-med advising office. I didn't do so because I though I had everything figured out and obviously that wasn't the case (still baffled by the 1 year in advance requirement). I will still be applying in the summer without a committee letter and I'll come back here to post results of the process for people searching the forums with a similar problem.

 

[Lawpy]

I agree they're totally wrong, but you didn't have to stoop that low @gonnif

the frustration is understandable (though granted, the language may be too harsh). misinformation (i.e. misleading, deceptive and wrong information) is a major problem here, and trying to resolve that with actual, concrete and established facts only to face with stubborn denial is frustrating. really the best approach is to present the evidence calmly and move on. it's not worth the time arguing with those who refuse to see the evidence.

 

[mistafab]

@OP,

Most the time secondaries will ask if you procured the committe letter if available. Some schools may even REQUIRE a committe letter if available. You will likely have to have a paragraph or two pre-written to make a good point as to why you decided not to aquire a committe letter at your school.

Though the real reason is that "you didn't know," I'd advise you to play to the strengths of your LOR's in the paragraph explanations, saying stuff like "professor XYZ worked neck and neck with me for X months (or years) on single project, she/he really knows me so well that I think they are a better source of character judgement than any committe writing a letter from limited information."

Anyway, best of luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[blackroses]

@OP,

Most the time secondaries will ask if you procured the committe letter if available. Some schools may even REQUIRE a committe letter if available. You will likely have to have a paragraph or two pre-written to make a good point as to why you decided not to aquire a committe letter at your school.

Though the real reason is that "you didn't know," I'd advise you to play to the strengths of your LOR's in the paragraph explanations, saying stuff like "professor XYZ worked neck and neck with me for X months (or years) on single project, she/he really knows me so well that I think they are a better source of character judgement than any committe writing a letter from limited information."

Anyway, best of luck. Let us know how it goes.

Note that a defense along these lines only works if your committee would send in a single letter from them and NOT include a "letter packet" from your professors. If your school would include a letter packet from your professors, then this defense doesn't make any sense. (And the risk you take if you use that defense and your school does use a letter packet depends on how well-known your school is to the medical schools you'll be applying to).

 

[cloudstrife2054]

Calm down

Ask for an exception and explain that you didn't know the policy

If that does not work, explain in your primary and/or secondary why you did not get a committee letter (in fact, some secondaries will directly ask you this). If you have nothing to hide, you should be fine.

That's an indication this person did not make an effort to stay on top of things and research thoroughly and shows poor judgment on their end. If they were like this as a physician, what do you think will happen? Also, keep in mind, science and medicine are constantly changing. Just like requirements for committee letters. My school recently changed theirs this year and I was aware of it the year before because I interacted with my school's health professions advisor a lot. Admissions committee members will think about that too. Take a year off, work in a research lab or something related to medicine and secure another source for a strong letter. That's my advice.

Besides, think about it, just applying to school, not including secondary application or interview costs a lot of money. If taking a year off to work and save money for the application process and boosting your resume and getting another strong letter will boost your application, I say take a year off.

People always say "quality not quantity" when it comes to letters, but that's a lie. It's both. We're all required to have at least 3 letters, 2 science and 1 non-science professor. You also want to include more letters from different sources such as supervisor (work and volunteer).

 

[ada.v]

Update incoming! For anyone searching the forums with a similar question -- Just about 1 year later, and I am happy to report that I did get accepted to a school I like!!! Couldn't be more excited 🙂

To clear some things up - some schools do give you a chance to explain why you don't have a committee letter (weather they prefer/require it or not).
Other schools may have a portion of the secondary that lets you explain any inconsistencies in you app/grades which I used to explain why I lacked a letter.
I tried to be tactful with my explanation and I also had individual letters from good, varied sources (professors, lab mentor, volunteer supervisor).
I personally would not recommend skipping an entire year solely for the purpose of obtaining a committee letter if you have good individual letters from people you trust.

Good luck everyone!

 

[freedoctor17]

Update incoming! For anyone searching the forums with a similar question -- Just about 1 year later, and I am happy to report that I did get accepted to a school I like!!! Couldn't be more excited 🙂

To clear some things up - some schools do give you a chance to explain why you don't have a committee letter (weather they prefer/require it or not).
Other schools may have a portion of the secondary that lets you explain any inconsistencies in you app/grades which I used to explain why I lacked a letter.
I tried to be tactful with my explanation and I also had individual letters from good, varied sources (professors, lab mentor, volunteer supervisor).
I personally would not recommend skipping an entire year solely for the purpose of obtaining a committee letter if you have good individual letters from people you trust.

Good luck everyone!

I'm finding it crazy to see people recommended you a gap year just because you didn't have a committee letter. My own school tells us it's just optional and they don't care either way. I'm glad you went with it anyways and got in. Seriously sdn sometimes looks into every little detail way too much. I have many friends who have also gotten in and didn't know the committee letter even existed. I'm using one myself just because it seems easier to have them all compiled in one when sending them.

Also thanks for updating everyone because I'm sure this will help people in the coming cycle.

 

[Deleted member 737595]

Wow... I don't know how I even ended up on this thread, but this has some AMAZING SDN drama. @chrisjh put up a decent fight haha. Wonder where he is now...

Dr. Pinesett said committee letters are bogus and that medical schools don't care about them. Check his latest Fb video lol... misinformation?

 

[892002]

Wow. I didn’t realize that this post started over a year ago when I first started reading it. Very entertaining. Congratulations OP! 🙂

 

[Goro]

Wow... I don't know how I even ended up on this thread, but this has some AMAZING SDN drama. @chrisjh put up a decent fight haha. Wonder where he is now...

Dr. Pinesett said committee letters are bogus and that medical schools don't care about them. Check his latest Fb video lol... misinformation?

That comment from Dr Pissant is so ignorantly wrong, it's outright malicious. A decent number of MD schools will specifically comment that "if you don't have a committee LOR, please explain why".

 

[Deleted member 737595]

That comment from Dr Pissant is so ignorantly wrong, it's outright malicious. A decent number of MD schools will specifically comment that "if you don't have a committee LOR, please explain why".

Well... there must be SOME reason he says it. We'll see, he's hosting a webinar next Saturday, I'll watch with a critical ear to see what he says about LORs

 

[Goro]

Well... there must be SOME reason he says it. We'll see, he's hosting a webinar next Saturday, I'll watch with a critical ear to see what he says about LORs

...because he's a *****?

 

[ada.v]

The lack of a committee letter never came up in my interviews and the school I will be attending preferred a committee letter.

 

[A_Garrr]

Question - even though this thread was created a long time ago.

If I’m forced to reapply (currently sitting on a few WLs), I will be skipping a cycle before reapplying. Thus, I will be two years removed from graduation at the time of application, and three years removed should I matriculate from that cycle.

Would it still be necessary for me to go through the committee process even if I’ve been gone? I went through the process this year, and though it wasn’t too bad, I’m sure it’d be made a bit more complicated with me no longer attending the school. It’s also my understanding that the current chair of the committee (who also has been around forever and actually instituted the committee in the first place) is retiring after this year, so idk what direction the committee itself will be going either.

All in all, I just feel like it’d be significantly more practical for me to just get individual letters and leave it at that. But I don’t want to run into any problems on account of foregoing the committee process that’s available to me. Thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 737595]

Question - even though this thread was created a long time ago.

If I’m forced to reapply (currently sitting on a few WLs), I will be skipping a cycle before reapplying. Thus, I will be two years removed from graduation at the time of application, and three years removed should I matriculate from that cycle.

Would it still be necessary for me to go through the committee process even if I’ve been gone? I went through the process this year, and though it wasn’t too bad, I’m sure it’d be made a bit more complicated with me no longer attending the school. It’s also my understanding that the current chair of the committee (who also has been around forever and actually instituted the committee in the first place) is retiring after this year, so idk what direction the committee itself will be going either.

All in all, I just feel like it’d be significantly more practical for me to just get individual letters and leave it at that. But I don’t want to run into any problems on account of foregoing the committee process that’s available to me. Thoughts?

This is fine. Committee letters are preferred for convenience, but in cases like yours I would think its ok, and a quick explanation why like you just did.