*~*~*~*Official Letters of Recommendation Questions Thread 2011-2012*~*~*~*

[Jesse87]

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The newest thread i found was 08 so I'm asking again. Since AMCAS has an LOR section, do you submit LORS with your primary, or upon receiving secondaries? I have heard to wait til secondaries are received to save money, but I'm not sure.

Thanks!

 

[Isoprop]

Any time. As long as you give them the cover sheet or has your AAMC ID on it, it'll just match up.

If they submitted the letters before you completed your app, then when you select your schools, you select the LORs to send. If you already submitted your primary, you can go back and select the LORs later as they come in (for ex: if they submitted it after you submitted your primary, you log into AMCAS and add the letter to whatever schools).

comprende?

 

[barcoderider]

MCAT scores? seriously? WOW.

Yeah, it is kind of odd, now that I think about it. I did well so I was happy to share my scores, but why should that influence their letters?

Several of my interviewers commented that all of my letters were really good, so I guess it worked out.

 

[Jesse87]

Ok thanks, but is the LOR actually part of the primary?

 

[Isoprop]

Sorta. You don't need them to complete your primary, but you submit them to the AAMC who will submit them to the schools.

Everytime you change (eg add) an LOR, you have to "resubmit" your primary, but that just really means the AAMC just made a change to where letters are going.

 

[Jesse87]

ok thanks!

 

[MrJ]

I've been curious about this too. Can you submit your primary and still receive secondaries without having sent in LORs?

 

[mauberley]

I've been curious about this too. Can you submit your primary and still receive secondaries without having sent in LORs?

Yes.

 

[Sammich117]

The newest thread i found was 08 so I'm asking again. Since AMCAS has an LOR section, do you submit LORS with your primary, or upon receiving secondaries? I have heard to wait til secondaries are received to save money, but I'm not sure.

Thanks!

There's actually an Official LOR Question thread for this app cycle. Merging this thread with that one.

Any time. As long as you give them the cover sheet or has your AAMC ID on it, it'll just match up.

If they submitted the letters before you completed your app, then when you select your schools, you select the LORs to send. If you already submitted your primary, you can go back and select the LORs later as they come in (for ex: if they submitted it after you submitted your primary, you log into AMCAS and add the letter to whatever schools).

comprende?

Ok thanks, but is the LOR actually part of the primary?

Sorta. You don't need them to complete your primary, but you submit them to the AAMC who will submit them to the schools.

Everytime you change (eg add) an LOR, you have to "resubmit" your primary, but that just really means the AAMC just made a change to where letters are going.

ok thanks!

I've been curious about this too. Can you submit your primary and still receive secondaries without having sent in LORs?

Yes.

 

[Sammich117]

I'm asking my orgo professor an LOR. He's retiring and therefore decided to ask him to to write me one before he left. He asked me send along a copy of my PS along with my CV and transcript. However, since I'm not applying this cycle, I haven't yet written a formal PS.

Is it common for most professors to do this?

At least in my experience, yes, especially if you don't already have a lengthy relationship with your professor. In lieu of your formal PS, drafting a statement (doesn't have to be pitch-perfect) covering the same topics would suffice.

3/4 of the professors I asked for a letter wanted my PS, transcripts, and MCAT scores. It's pretty standard, even if they know you well.

It's never too early to start on that PS!

Only my graduate research PI asked for my PS. Everyone else (especially early in my premed career) asked for a CV, one or two asked for grades but most told them not to give them transcripts etc but pretty much everyone wanted a CV/resume.

The physician I'm shadowing told me I needed to give him the same thing when I needed my LoR from him.

I was asked to give the professors I wanted a LOR from a resume.

However I have a health committee who organizes all of my letters into one unified letter with additional comments, and they had my PS and CV.

MCAT scores? seriously? WOW.

I just sent CV, PS, and a brief letter to the writer of "ideas" they can talk about. Didn't want my letter writers to all say the same thing.

I just asked nicely and sent my resume.

Yeah, it is kind of odd, now that I think about it. I did well so I was happy to share my scores, but why should that influence their letters?

Several of my interviewers commented that all of my letters were really good, so I guess it worked out.

Merging related threads

 

[MrJ]

Thanks!

Sorry if this seems kind of redundant, but are there ANY schools that do use LORs as a basis for sending out secondaries? or asked another way, are there any schools that look at LORs before your application is complete(primaries + secondaries + LORs)?

I'm being a little obsessive over this because I'm waiting on a letter that won't be ready by the time I want to apply by mid-June. I wouldn't want to delay my application to wait for the letter, but it seems like it won't be a problem. Awesome 🙂

 

[Sammich117]

I'm graduating community college this month and I was wondering if it's a good idea to request letters of recommendation. I will be applying to medical school in 2012. I read on here that committee letters are recommended, but if I'm going to a new university will they not know me well enough? Would medical schools see it bad as just having letters instead of a whole packet from the school (I'm assuming that's what it is). I would want to ask my physics teacher and me tutoring supervisor. Would I have to store these somewhere? I don't really understand how it works. I once saw someone mention a web site they could be uploaded to. What should I do?

You can request the letter you want, and have it stored on Interfolio in case you need it. However, it would be better to get LOR from your four year school. Also, if your four year has a pre-med committee, medical schools generally require that you use it. At the very least, it would look bad if you did not.

Merging with LOR thread

 

[mauberley]

Sorry if this seems kind of redundant, but are there ANY schools that do use LORs as a basis for sending out secondaries? or asked another way, are there any schools that look at LORs before your application is complete(primaries + secondaries + LORs)?

I'm being a little obsessive over this because I'm waiting on a letter that won't be ready by the time I want to apply by mid-June. I wouldn't want to delay my application to wait for the letter, but it seems like it won't be a problem. Awesome 🙂

To my knowledge, no.

 

[sexycani]

how does a school know that a particular professor who is writing an LOR taught you a particular course? do they just rely on the prof saying it explicitly in the letter?

also, how do they then determine if it's a science/non-science letter?

 

[4thQTHailMary]

Thread will probably be merged, but has anyone had any luck printing the letter request form? I keep getting a cfm file that will not open in either firefox or IE. Getting pretty irritated by it because I have 2 MD's that are apparently ready to send my letters in yet I can't give them the form because I can't access it

 

[lisi326]

I believe .cfm's open in Adobe. But convert it to pdf before you send it to the docs.

 

[WhizoMD]

I know we don't have to submit the letters with the primary. But, do we have to create entries for the letters in amcas before submission?

 

[Sammich117]

Thread will probably be merged, but has anyone had any luck printing the letter request form? I keep getting a cfm file that will not open in either firefox or IE. Getting pretty irritated by it because I have 2 MD's that are apparently ready to send my letters in yet I can't give them the form because I can't access it

Then why not just put it where it goes?

Merging with LOR Question thread.

 

[4thQTHailMary]

Then why not just put it where it goes?

Merging with LOR Question thread.

Because I knew it would get buried in this thread and not receive much attention, and as I suspected, it did. As to the other poster, no, they will not open in adobe.

EDIT: I stand corrected OP; you were right. I guess the problem was I didn't have adobe reader installed on my new macbook pro (look at me). Bravo :clappinghands:

 

[mauberley]

Because I knew it would get buried in this thread and not receive much attention, and as I suspected, it did.

I feel sad now.

 

[mauberley]

Because I knew it would get buried in this thread and not receive much attention, and as I suspected, it did.

I don't want to belabor the point any more than it needs to, but look, I know that a lot of people do their best to be helpful in this forum. This can be a daunting process for a lot of people, and for many people, SDN is their only crutch through this process. Many of us who went through the application cycle ourselves are only too happy to be of service to those of you about to embark on a yearlong journey of pain and misery, in the hope that we can make it somewhat easier.

All that's asked in return is that you try to be kind and courteous. That means abiding by the gentlemen's rules of limiting your questions to the appropriate threads and, most importantly, using the search function to see if your question has been answered already. If you were asking a question that no one had answered before, I'd understand your frustration. But your question was answered a couple of times already:

I am trying to print out the letter request form, but what I download is a document in .cfm which I don't know what program to use to open it. Is there no pdf version to print out?

Configure your browser to directly open PDFs in whatever viewing application you use.

so i am trying to print the letter request form... im on firefox 3.5

BUT it wont let me

when i click print letter request form link it opens a pop up that says please wait... this may take up to 2 minutes... but it never finishes loading and then there is a pop up for a file download generatePDF.cfm...

which if u open it up it just opens in firefox or whatever browser and then the download box pops up again...

how does the pdf actually get generated? and or how can i print the form?

Try to "open with" using Adobe Acrobat or Reader the file generatePDF.cfm - should open it up. Then save as a .pdf as something descriptive.

If what Pons suggested doesn't work, configure your browser to automatically open any PDFs using whatever PDF viewer you use.

I really bear you no ill will. It's a trying process and you're only trying to get an answer to your problem. Just be mindful that the people who are responding to questions here are really trying their best to be helpful and a brush-off like you did in your original post isn't going to sit very well.

I'm glad you were able to resolve your problem and I wish you the best of luck on your applications.

 

[vb1]

For the non-science faculty, would it be okay to get a LOR from a graduate student (PhD candidate)?

 

[mauberley]

For the non-science faculty, would it be okay to get a LOR from a graduate student (PhD candidate)?

I don't have direct experience with this, but here are some previous responses to this question or related questions:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=659375
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=602626

It seems like you should try to get the letter cosigned by a faculty member (PhD-holding).

 

[vb1]

I don't have direct experience with this, but here are some previous responses to this question or related questions:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=659375
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=602626

It seems like you should try to get the letter cosigned by a faculty member (PhD-holding).

Thanks for the references. In my case he was the professor for the history course I took, not a TA. Should I have his supervisor/mentor sign it as well?

 

[mauberley]

Thanks for the references. In my case he was the professor for the history course I took, not a TA. Should I have his supervisor/mentor sign it as well?

It couldn't hurt.

 

[jkm07]

For the non-science faculty, would it be okay to get a LOR from a graduate student (PhD candidate)?

I have my non-science letter from a PhD candidate/graduate student who taught a Spanish language course I was in. I'm guessing medical schools didn't have a problem with it..(I'm now a re-applicant, but had three interviews last cycle).

My guess is that TAs are the sole instructors for the beginning Spanish language courses at my university. The professor just manages the curriculum and that's about it. I don't recall seeing the professor once in my time there..
If this is similar to your case, then I would make it clear to the med schools that the TA was the one doing all the teaching and stuff like that.

 

[theWUbear]

My school will be uploading a committee letter and all my letters to AMCAS. Does this mean I should select "letter packet" or "individual letters" for writing letter information, in addition to the "committee letter" button, for all the letters?

 

[DrSmday]

this may have been asked before... but for how long after the date written are LOR's valid? I know that with time they will lose their value to adcom but when do they absolutely "expire", so to speak?

 

[mauberley]

My school will be uploading a committee letter and all my letters to AMCAS. Does this mean I should select "letter packet" or "individual letters" for writing letter information, in addition to the "committee letter" button, for all the letters?

You should check with your school to see how they're packaging it. If you still have questions, stop back here.

this may have been asked before... but for how long after the date written are LOR's valid? I know that with time they will lose their value to adcom but when do they absolutely "expire", so to speak?

I don't think there's an official expiration date, but check with individual schools to see what their guidelines are.

 

[r1b0s0m3]

I took two classes with a professor and got B in both of them. Will the grades have an effect on my letter if I ask him for a LOR? Out of all my professors he knows me the best but I was wondering if the grades will have an effect.

thanks

 

[vanillabear55]

If he knows you that well and can recommend you, the actual 'letter' part should be solid from him.

However, I know for the letters that my premed committee wants, theres a form part, where they circle what grade you got, what percentage of the class you ranked in...things like this.

Do you have to have something like that filled out as well?

 

[Isoprop]

sometimes. if the prof compares you to other students in the class, hey may note that you performed just "above average"

and sometimes a lukewarm LOR is just as bad as a bad LOR.

 

[mauberley]

As with all people you approach for a letter of recommendation, you should ask if they feel comfortable providing you a strong letter.

 

[r1b0s0m3]

If he knows you that well and can recommend you, the actual 'letter' part should be solid from him.

However, I know for the letters that my premed committee wants, theres a form part, where they circle what grade you got, what percentage of the class you ranked in...things like this.

Do you have to have something like that filled out as well?

Yes there is a part where the professor has to write what grade I got in the class and my rank in class as well. I think he can write a good letter for me because I kept telling him about my progress and kept asking him questions about the class as well as MCAT.
But I'm not sure if the grade and the rank part will have an effect :/

 

[CougarMD]

Merging related threads.

I took two classes with a professor and got B in both of them. Will the grades have an effect on my letter if I ask him for a LOR? Out of all my professors he knows me the best but I was wondering if the grades will have an effect.

thanks

If he knows you that well and can recommend you, the actual 'letter' part should be solid from him.

However, I know for the letters that my premed committee wants, theres a form part, where they circle what grade you got, what percentage of the class you ranked in...things like this.

Do you have to have something like that filled out as well?

sometimes. if the prof compares you to other students in the class, hey may note that you performed just "above average"

and sometimes a lukewarm LOR is just as bad as a bad LOR.

As with all people you approach for a letter of recommendation, you should ask if they feel comfortable providing you a strong letter.

Yes there is a part where the professor has to write what grade I got in the class and my rank in class as well. I think he can write a good letter for me because I kept telling him about my progress and kept asking him questions about the class as well as MCAT.
But I'm not sure if the grade and the rank part will have an effect :/

 

[Laiba]

Okay so I'm planning to apply to medical schools this june or july the latest. I will be ordering the MSAR soon but for now im worried about how its going to work out with me regarding LORs.

What is the requirement? is it 2 science 1 non science letter?
I graduated like a year ago and i dont think any of my professors even remember me. well some non science ones do...but with big science classes...tehre was no interaction...plus ive been out of school for a year.
What should I do? Also..i dont have such a good science gpa...so most science classes I have a B average. that combined with them not knowing me well wont translate into such a good letter of recommendation. What should i do? I did a bit of research but that too was a while back and im not comfortable asking him to write me one.

what other options do i have? do you HAVE to get letters from professors? who else can it be?

any ideas please??

 

[Sammich117]

Merging related threads

 

[WTTL]

I had planned to shadow my family physician and then get a LOR from him since we are cool. Today, it seems like his hospital doesn't allow shadowing which was a bummer, but he will still write me a letter.

Is this letter + volunteer experience enough to show clinical experience? Should I find another physician to shadow? Do the applications specifically ask for experiences shadowing a physician? Thanks

 

[deleted357625]

if you think he will write a good one then that'll be good

 

[docelh]

I did a reasonable search on the forums, and found nothing.

Anyway, second-semester biology course ended, and I asked the professor for a letter even though I won't be applying until next year. I've heard conflicting advice on this. Some schools tell their students to get it immediately after the course, while others say to wait until you apply.

I decided to get my letters after the course for a few reasons. First, they remember me better. Second, they might not be around next year for various reasons like job instability (if they're adjunct), sabbaticals (tenure), personal tragedy. And also, given the fact that people have to re-apply, they probably use dated academic recommendation letters.

how are you guys addressing this?

 

[kfcsmith]

One of the medical schools I am applying mandates a letter of commendation from a non-science class instructor. Unfortunately, none of my former humanity/social science class professors seem to be keen on doing it. Wonder if a letter from my language (French) class instructor would carry the weight? Appreciate views from you all.

 

[Hoya2009]

As long as he writes English well and has a good relationship with you, so as to write you a strong letter, I don't think it matters what non-science he taught you. I had a language letter, it worked out OK.
Def watch the English thing, though. I had a Portuguese class with a professor from the Amazon, and I'm not sure that she could mail a letter in English, let along write one!

 

[Sammich117]

Merging related threads

 

[Sammich117]

One of the medical schools I am applying mandates a letter of commendation from a non-science class instructor. Unfortunately, none of my former humanity/social science class professors seem to be keen on doing it. Wonder if a letter from my language (French) class instructor would carry the weight? Appreciate views from you all.

As long as he writes English well and has a good relationship with you, so as to write you a strong letter, I don't think it matters what non-science he taught you. I had a language letter, it worked out OK.
Def watch the English thing, though. I had a Portuguese class with a professor from the Amazon, and I'm not sure that she could mail a letter in English, let along write one!

Merging related threads

 

[WTTL]

Thanks torshi. I would like to hear more comments as well

 

[mauberley]

I did a reasonable search on the forums, and found nothing.

Anyway, second-semester biology course ended, and I asked the professor for a letter even though I won't be applying until next year. I've heard conflicting advice on this. Some schools tell their students to get it immediately after the course, while others say to wait until you apply.

I decided to get my letters after the course for a few reasons. First, they remember me better. Second, they might not be around next year for various reasons like job instability (if they're adjunct), sabbaticals (tenure), personal tragedy. And also, given the fact that people have to re-apply, they probably use dated academic recommendation letters.

how are you guys addressing this?

I solicited letters from my professors a year after I had taken their classes. They were quite happy to do so. If you do plan on asking for letters early, use Interfolio to store your letters until it's time to apply.

 

[windsor4216]

So I've been trying to ask my former PI for a letter of reccomendation... (I stopped working officially in the lab last quarter because he's awesome and told me to take my last quarter of senior year off from research...and also the lab is really really slow right now after putting out a few papers). We've always been on good terms and joke around a lot. I've worked in this lab since June, so a good 10 months and I was even able to get my name on a publication! However, every time I send him an email about other medical school related things and then ask him at the end about writing me a letter, he seems to ignore my request. I'm really confused because he previously wrote me a letter for a scholarship and even let me read it. Would it be strange to not have a letter from the lab that published me? What's going on?? I know my other three letters will be really good, so should I just forget about this one? I literally feel like crying about this...

 

[docelh]

So I've been trying to ask my former PI for a letter of reccomendation... (I stopped working officially in the lab last quarter because he's awesome and told me to take my last quarter of senior year off from research...and also the lab is really really slow right now after putting out a few papers). We've always been on good terms and joke around a lot. I've worked in this lab since June, so a good 10 months and I was even able to get my name on a publication! However, every time I send him an email about other medical school related things and then ask him at the end about writing me a letter, he seems to ignore my request. I'm really confused because he previously wrote me a letter for a scholarship and even let me read it. Would it be strange to not have a letter from the lab that published me? What's going on?? I know my other three letters will be really good, so should I just forget about this one? I literally feel like crying about this...

dude, where is your class and manners? You should have asked him/her in person. You would have gotten a direct answer (yes or no), and it would have been polite and respectful.

 

[tabascosauce]

hello friend

just keep pressing him on it in a cordial manner.

i like to say 'could u enthusiastically write me a lor?'

please dont cry over this. there are a lot of heartbreaks in this world and this is not one of them. my god, BE STRONG. this shouldnt shake u.

 

[TheRealAngeleno]

Maybe you should try meeting him in person and ask him? One of my LOR writers didn't respond to my initial email but when I met him in person he was very supportive and was happy to write me a LOR. Your professor is very busy and might've just missed your email.