No luck with Letters of Recommendation.

[Leukocyte]

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I am seriously freaking out about those Letters of Recommendation. I did 7 rotations so far, and asked 5 attendings for letters (by mail), but no one is getting back to me. It has been over 2 months since I first mailed by request, and still no response. I tried calling them, and going to their office, but I had no luck catching them.

I will be applying for the 2006 match (I am a MS-3), but I am afraid that I will not be able to qualify for the lack of LORs. I AM FREAKING OUT!!! You see, I am a shy quiet guy who really does not know how to "kiss a**". Asking an attending face to face for a letter is my worst nightmare. Can you guys offer me any advice to help me out?

- When is the best time to ask for LORs?

- By what means? (mail, e-mail, phone, face to face )

- How should I word by request?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.

 

[mikegoal]

i would find them and ask them in person. i am also a quiet guy and hated asking for them but they expect it and most do it all the time

 

[fourthyearmed]

It's a little early first of all. Most people begin asking about July of their final year when they've completed all their core rotations and know what they are planning to go into. You don't want a letter from every rotation. You want the majority to be from your chosen field (preferably including a chair letter) and maybe one from a related field if necessary (I used a 3 peds letters and 1 medicine letter for my peds application). You're going to have to ask in person at first and take them a copy of your CV, personal statement, transcript, etc. Then if they agree it requires a lot of follow up with emails, reminder letters disguised as thank you notes, calls to secretaries, more emails, etc. to finally get it submitted. And hopefully in the end you will end up with 3-4 letters. Don't ask more than 4-5 people, make them feel special and don't waste anyone's time with a letter you won't use. I didn't like asking face to face either but no one will respond to a letter. It doesn't show them how important this is to you. Also you want to see their reaction to your request so you can be sure they will write you a good letter if you waived your right to see it as my school required. Good luck and don't worry, you've got lots of time.

 

[Ice-1]

Another point might be to give each person requested to write an LOR for you a stamped, self addressed envelope for them to mail it to you. It acts as a reminder when they see that envelope laying around on the desk!

 

[fourthyearmed]

Our LORs had to be mailed to the school office, we weren't allowed to see them so check your school's policy on that.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

It's way way way too early to be asking for LORs to be written on your behalf. I would personally ask some of the folks, "I enjoyed working with you during the rotation; I was wondering if you would feel comfortable writing a supportive/strong LOR on my behalf this summer when I start the residency application process?"

 

[Seaglass]

I agree that right now is about the earliest you should start asking for LOR's. Face to face is the way to go, and the stamped addressed envelope helps too. I always gave them a deadline as well, like "I will need this letter by x date." Worked for me.

 

[fuzzyerin]

It's way way way too early to be asking for LORs to be written on your behalf.

I completely disagree. As a fourth year who's in the midst of residency interviews, I asked for LOR at the end of rotations. So that means I asked in person for a peds LOR in August, a family med LOR in October, a surgery LOR in December...on and on. I wasn't sure what I was going into at the time. It took some reminder letters from me to get the surgery LOR - I didn't get the surgery LOR until 2 days before I clicked submit on my residency app - almost 8 months after - but it was a fabulous letter. However, my medicine letter was in my file mere days after I completed my rotation. Some people like to write the letter when you're fresh on their mind - especially if you're in a larger program and they see millions of students. Even more so if you're shy and aren't standing out on the rotation.

Better to have the letter hanging out in the Dean's office than not having it at all....

 

[AF_PedsBoy]

I think the first time I asked for a LOR was December near the end of my peds rotation because I'd hit it off so well with the attending. I didn't really start asking until maybe block 2 4th year, though. As everyone said, do a face to face, and ask people you've spent a amount of significant time with (at least a couple of weeks). And don't sweat the chair letters - you basically contact the chair's secretary, wander in with a CV, they talk to you for fifteen or twenty minutes and *poof* done!

 

[carol ann]

My 2 cents -- at the end of rotations, I asked attendings in person if they would be willing to write letters of recommendation, just to get a sense of their response (some offered before I asked in a final meeting). Most of the meat and potatoes was done in email -- I sent an email to the attendings asking if "you would be willing to write me a FAVORABLE letter of recommedation" and offered to set up an appointment with them (if they felt like they needed to see my face again to be refreshed) or sent them a packet of stuff instead. I finished my IM rotation in September and asked for letters in May. One of the attendings wanted to set up a meeting - we talked and I gave him a packet of stuff (transcript to date, copies of his and resident evals from my rotation, CV, letter of intent). The other attendings were content just to get the paper stuff (which is very convenient). I think that this way of doing it worked out pretty well because even if they didn't know tons about me - they could write what they remembered and then fill in the gaps with the information from my packet. All of my letters ended up stellar according to my interviewers - and I assure you that only one of my four letter writers really knew me well. It will be OK. Your med school wants you to succeed.

 

[Leukocyte]

You guys rock! 😎 Thank you everyone for your GREAT advice!!! 👍