Non-waived Short US LoR vs home country waived LoR

[jacobus1919]

hello guys,

Sept 15 is really near and I recently got an LoR from a top physician from NYU, but he wants me to upload it by myself because he is old, he wrote me an LOR with NYU letter head but was just like 4 sentences to 5 sentences. I am debating which one to use should I use this unwaived short US LoR or a LoR which is waived home country LoR from a program director when i did my postgrad internship in? Which would be the best one to pick? I have like 4 home country LoRs from my program directors and chair, and a US unwaived short LoR but from NYU?

Applying to FM though

Please let me know your thoughts.

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[gutonc]

You should have at least one US LOR.

 

[jacobus1919]

You should have at least one US LOR.

Should i use then a very short unwaived us lor a stronger waived home country lor???

 

[NotAProgDirector]

First of all, let's be clear on the meaning of "waived". If you waive your right to see a letter, I don't have to show it to you and you can't request a copy of it (a law called FERPA gives students the legal right to see all evaluations, which would include LOR's). But I can still give you a copy of it. That's my choice. So just because she/he gave you a copy of it, doesn't make it non-waived.

Whether a short US LOR is better than a home LOR really depends on what it says. As mentioned above, if this is your only US LOR, then you use it.

 

[jacobus1919]

First of all, let's be clear on the meaning of "waived". If you waive your right to see a letter, I don't have to show it to you and you can't request a copy of it (a law called FERPA gives students the legal right to see all evaluations, which would include LOR's). But I can still give you a copy of it. That's my choice. So just because she/he gave you a copy of it, doesn't make it non-waived.

Whether a short US LOR is better than a home LOR really depends on what it says. As mentioned above, if this is your only US LOR, then you use it.

Thank you. For my home LOR I never seen it. But it is also written my current program director/ hospital administrator who was also my professor, my dept chair, and a previous post grad internship director, all are waived and they uploaded it on my behalf. The US LoR basically introduced me, stating I had an elective with him he is a Chief in a department and just stated I had good attitude, punctual, and had a good mind set and attitude towards the practice of medicine in the US. Basically that is it. 3-4 sentences. So advise is to use, it is pretty generic which I could use to apply to FM or IM correct?

 

[gutonc]

Should i use then a very short unwaived us lor a stronger waived home country lor???

Is your home country the US? Do you have another LOR from a US physician? You need at least 1 LOR from the US. And, as aPD pointed out, just because he gave it to you doesn't mean it's unwaived.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Thank you. For my home LOR I never seen it. But it is also written my current program director/ hospital administrator who was also my professor, my dept chair, and a previous post grad internship director, all are waived and they uploaded it on my behalf. The US LoR basically introduced me, stating I had an elective with him he is a Chief in a department and just stated I had good attitude, punctual, and had a good mind set and attitude towards the practice of medicine in the US. Basically that is it. 3-4 sentences. So advise is to use, it is pretty generic which I could use to apply to FM or IM correct?

If the best they could say about you is that you were punctual, that is not a good letter.

 

[jacobus1919]

If the best they could say about you is that you were punctual, that is not a good letter.

Well he or she also mentioned I was eager to learn, and has a passion towards the practice of medicine. So should I use it? Or just use my 4 home LoRs??

 

[jacobus1919]

Is your home country the US? Do you have another LOR from a US physician? You need at least 1 LOR from the US. And, as aPD pointed out, just because he gave it to you doesn't mean it's unwaived.

He emailed it to me and told me to upload it myself. Is it waived or unwaived? Given he didnt do the uploading it is me that would be doing the uploading

 

[GoSpursGo]

He emailed it to me and told me to upload it myself. Is it waived or unwaived? Given he didnt do the uploading it is me that would be doing the uploading

Whoever uploaded the letter, and even whether you saw the letter or not, does not matter on whether you call this a "waived" or "unwaived" letter. The only way that a letter is "un-waived" is if you requested to see the letter before it was uploaded. As aPD said, you can still consider this letter "waived" because you didn't ask for it, he just gave it to you.

If this is your only US LOR, then you need to use this letter regardless of content, as you will not get interviews without at least one US LOR. That said, it sounds like this is the absolutely least useful letter you could possibly have, and only talks in vague platitudes that could apply to anyone. If there is anyone else at NYU or another US school who could comment on your clinical ability, I would see if you can get them to write you a letter.