NYMC Letter of Rec Question

[jappeach]

Hi All,

New York Medical College requires 3 academic references from undergraduate faculty, 2 of those must be from science faculty. I have 2 letters from science professors but for the 3rd one, could I send in a letter from a science-class TA? I went to a large public school so the TA knows me much better then the professor anyways.

I wanted to email NYMC but they said they don't respond to individual inquiries...so I thought one of y'all SDNers might know the answer!

Thanks.

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[fever106]

I am currently an MS2 at NYMC. I also attended a large university (a UC school). I would say the answer to your question is no. If they ask for professor LORs, they want LORs from professors. You should find a third faculty member in a humanities subject, such as English, History, Philosophy, whatever, and get them to write a letter. If the TA knows you really well and can give you a really glowing rec, let them write a 4th letter to supplement your app. But never substitute a TA rec for a professor rec. Otherwise, NYMC will really wonder why you couldn't find a third official person to write your letter. Don't you think it would be kind of suspect that a person who spent 3 (or more) years at a huge university could only find 2 professors to write for them? I understand it can be difficult to make people remember you when you are one of 300-500 people in a lecture hall, but this is something you much sort of plan for. I wrote extra papers for honors credit for a couple of my professors, took an honors seminar class with only 20 people in it, and did research for a couple years. All of this made it possible, even at a very impersonal university, to establish a closer relationship with a few of my professors. In the end, I found 4 people to write for me.

 

[jochi1543]

From what I've heard from other people, NYMC is the most stringent of all schools when it comes to rec letters.

 

[drizzt3117]

Yeah, seems that way. I don't have a letter from my graduate school, and they want one, so it might just not work out. Oh well.

 

[littlealex]

From what I heard, letters of recs from TAs are frawned upon because the TAs do not have extended teaching experience to be able to compare you with previous students.

 

[146233]

From what I heard, letters of recs from TAs are frawned upon because the TAs do not have extended teaching experience to be able to compare you with previous students.

...which, at so many schools, is a fallacy because many profs just lecture and let the TA's do the "teaching" and grading (i.e., getting to the know the students).

*sigh*

 

[voirlesetoiles]

For NYMC, is it three letters (with those requirements) OR premed committee letter?

My school has a premed committee composite letter but the letters I submitted in no way meet those stringent requirements. Advice please!

 

[juliack7]

I am having a problem because I have two non-science letters and one science ( I am an English Major). What should I do?

 

[medstuddude]

jsut dont wast money applying there

 

[jochi1543]

I am having a problem because I have two non-science letters and one science ( I am an English Major). What should I do?

I presume you have had more than one science prof, otherwise it'd be literally impossible for you to have completed the pre-reqs. Try and ask the profs who don't know you very well. My 2nd science letter is definitely mediocre (I got an A+, but the guy knows nothing about me as a person), but you just have to do what it takes to get past the hurdles. Use your non-science letters to compensate for a weak science letter.

 

[alwaysaangel]

When I applied to NYMC last year I submitted 2 science faculty letters, one non-science letter from a TA. Then probably sent a letter from my boss, and one from the doctor who runs the free clinic I work for.

I got an interview and got accepted.

So I guess they must not care sometimes.

 

[87138]

In their blurb about optional LORs, they say this:

Optional Letters

* Letters from employers and/or volunteer clinical and community service experiences can be important. Although not required, letters from such experiences where you have spent significant amounts of time are recommended.
* Employment references and references from volunteer work are excellent but they do not substitute for academic references.
* Additional evaluations do not need to be listed unless you need to verify it has been received when you check your application status online.



Does "additional" mean in addition to a committee LOR and the one optional LOR I plan to send? Or are they telling me that even though they include a spot on the application to list the name of an optional LOR writer, doing so would hold up my application, and it'd be perfectly acceptable to leave it off, but still have the writer send the letter?

 

[drizzt3117]

So, now NYMC says that if you graduated from graduate school prior to 2005, you don't need a graduate letter, so I submitted my app. Hopefully it all works out. I'm not sure why the person I spoke to the first time gave me diff info, but oh well.