Non-Science Letters of Recommendation! Advice Much Appreciated!

[coranath]

Hi! I'm looking to apply this summer for the 2013-2014 medical school application cycle and need some advice on non-science letters of recommendation. In particular, I'm having a little trouble narrowing down the professors I would like to ask and whether or not they are 'non-sciency' enough.

I would like to request a letter from the professor of a course I took at our nursing school. It's listed departmentally as Nursing and has the topic of 'Intro to Global Health'. Even though it is health-science related it was well removed from typical BCPM courses.

-Is a nursing course acceptable for a non-science letter of recommendation or is this more science oriented than schools would prefer?

-If not my nursing course, what about a biopsychology course listed under the psych department?



Thank you for any help and advice you can offer!

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[Lollygag]

I'm not positive... but I would think that since it wasn't categorized as BCPM then you should be okay. The Biopsychology should be fine though, especially since it's under the psych department.

Are you applying DO? Because I think DO schools differentiate BCPM differently so what may not be a science course at a MD school may be one at a DO and thus you'd need a different letter. Just something to take into consideration.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I'm not positive... but I would think that since it wasn't categorized as BCPM then you should be okay. The Biopsychology should be fine though, especially since it's under the psych department.

Are you applying DO? Because I think DO schools differentiate BCPM differently so what may not be a science course at a MD school may be one at a DO and thus you'd need a different letter. Just something to take into consideration.

As long as the course is not listed as BCPM, then it is non-science and the letter is considered to be a non-science LOR. However, with the biopsychology course it may count as BCPM because the person verifying the course could list it as a biology ("bio"-psychology). Thus it puts the LOR from the professor in a tough position.

EDIT: the 'global health course' would not be interpreted as BCMP science, so you are good to go for a non-science LOR.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

While a non-BCPM class LOR would count as non-science, I still wonder how med schools that want a non-science LOR would react to a biopysch or cognitive psych professor being used the non-science LOR. I mean, they're quite clearly scientists, and they're going to write from a scientific perspective just like the science LOR writers. It would seem like those sorts of letters wouldn't be taken as seriously as one from a more obvious non-science class like a humanities.

 

[coranath]

Your input has really helped. Thank you all so much!