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

[mauberley]

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so i'm still waiting on one of my letters of rec still. should i wait until that last letter gets in and deliver all my letters all at once (I'm using Interfolio)...or should I just deliver what I have now and just deliver that last one when it gets here?

If you haven't designated receiving schools for your letters yet, I don't see the harm in delivering what you have now. Even if you have already designated schools, there's probably little reason not to deliver.

 

[Cinematographer]

Quick question after reading the OP:

Is is OK is my non-science LOR is not from a non-science professor? Say, the director of the tutoring center I worked for, or a volunteer coordinator that knows me well?

I graduated last year, but took my last non-science class about two years ago, so you can imagine it being akward to approach a professor with an LOR request after such a long time.

 

[mauberley]

Quick question after reading the OP:

Is is OK is my non-science LOR is not from a non-science professor? Say, the director of the tutoring center I worked for, or a volunteer coordinator that knows me well?

I graduated last year, but took my last non-science class about two years ago, so you can imagine it being akward to approach a professor with an LOR request after such a long time.

I would follow up directly with the schools you're applying to just to make sure, but I would think you're fine. (I only had science professors as far as actual course instructor letters go.) When you contact the schools, make sure to indicate who you intend to substitute for the non-science professor letter.

 

[Soulstice]

I am a freshman who just finished up a health policy class. I did well in the class and was on good terms with the professor. How do I ask this professor to write me a letter of recommendation for med school? I mean.. I'd rather ask the professor now, before he/she forgets me in two years, but then how can I do this without violating the confidentiality agreement?

Can I ask my professor to save the letter for when I apply to other medical schools?

 

[ibelieve87]

One of my letter writers asked me today if I wanted him to wait to submit my letter until after my MCAT score comes back. (June 28). He said that when he has written letters in the past, sometimes it's helpful to address the score...be it good or not-so-good. So for example, if my MCAT score doesn't end up being where I want it to be, he could briefly say something about how that score might be lower than expected, but my GPA and other qualities are much more reflective of my potential (or something to that effect). I was sort of thinking it would be best for my letters to "stand alone" and not have anything about the MCAT in there, but now I'm not sure. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

Thanks!!

 

[mauberley]

I am a freshman who just finished up a health policy class. I did well in the class and was on good terms with the professor. How do I ask this professor to write me a letter of recommendation for med school? I mean.. I'd rather ask the professor now, before he/she forgets me in two years, but then how can I do this without violating the confidentiality agreement?

Can I ask my professor to save the letter for when I apply to other medical schools?

Certainly you could. Another option is to use Interfolio to hold onto your letter (you can let your subscription expire, but they hold onto any letters you've stored in case you decide to come back). No, I don't work for them. 🙂

 

[urd0rkk]

what is the general maximum school want to receive?
I have 7 letters, and I dont know how to arrange them... kinda annoying right now trying to figure out the right permutation/combinations...

i have:
2 science letters
1 humanity
1 research mentor (faculty sponsor)
1 volunteer clinical (doctor)
1 volunteer non-clinical
1 nurse (from volunteer clinical)
😕

Can someone help me figure out a way to organize creating the best way to submit letters? I guess I feel more unsure since im not sure what the cap is on letters for most schools...
Advice needed! Thank you!

 

[Soulstice]

Certainly you could. Another option is to use Interfolio to hold onto your letter (you can let your subscription expire, but they hold onto any letters you've stored in case you decide to come back). No, I don't work for them. 🙂

Generally, are professors accommodating of requests to hold letters for the future, or to post up their letters to something like Interfolio?

 

[mauberley]

Generally, are professors accommodating of requests to hold letters for the future, or to post up their letters to something like Interfolio?

I'm not aware of anyone having issues with using Interfolio, as it offers a means for securing confidential letters of recommendation. I don't know what professors' responses to holding onto a letter would be, but I'd be of the opinion that they'd probably lose it somehow. 🙂

 

[hello0]

I know this may be a dumb/neurotic question, but does the order you input your letter writers on the AMCAS app affect the order in which the letters are read by admissions committees? I know certain letters will be better than others so ideally it would be nice to have those first in case they don't read them all...dumb I know but this app process makes me CURAZYYY

 

[citrusguy2010]

ok this may just be me but i don't really see any pros or cons of assigning letters to designated schools already...any one have strong reasoning as to why i should or should not assign letters?

 

[mauberley]

I know this may be a dumb/neurotic question, but does the order you input your letter writers on the AMCAS app affect the order in which the letters are read by admissions committees? I know certain letters will be better than others so ideally it would be nice to have those first in case they don't read them all...dumb I know but this app process makes me CURAZYYY

I don't know the answer to your question, but I would agree that you're likely stressing out over something not worth the energy. 🙂

 

[mauberley]

ok this may just be me but i don't really see any pros or cons of assigning letters to designated schools already...any one have strong reasoning as to why i should or should not assign letters?

If you already know the schools you want to send specific letters to and you know they don't have any timing requirements (i.e. "don't send anything until we ask"), then anything you can do now is one fewer thing you need to worry about later.

 

[common man]

One of my letter writers asked me today if I wanted him to wait to submit my letter until after my MCAT score comes back. (June 28). He said that when he has written letters in the past, sometimes it's helpful to address the score...be it good or not-so-good. So for example, if my MCAT score doesn't end up being where I want it to be, he could briefly say something about how that score might be lower than expected, but my GPA and other qualities are much more reflective of my potential (or something to that effect). I was sort of thinking it would be best for my letters to "stand alone" and not have anything about the MCAT in there, but now I'm not sure. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

i'm interested in this as well. should the letter of rec talk about gpa & mcat or should it stay afresh from those? my scores won't come back until mid august. i expect to score 35+ on the mcat (to offset a lower gpa). that'll be concrete evidence that i am a smart guy - that the letter writer can cite (grades are ok but nothing phenomenal). or perhaps they don't need the mcat if the letter is supposed to be afresh.

 

[latrala2300]

Is there a point where too many letter hurt? I have six really strong ones from professors/volunteer coordinators in different areas, and would hate to not use them. So if somewhere in the school website they have a stated max, and I send them too many, would that be an issue?

I'm applying to 30+ schools and really don't feel like visiting each of their websites.

 

[Ilikepi]

I'm a non-trad that hasn't taken many non-science classes since I've been back. I was going to have a packet sent, but I only had non-science (three) professors for it. I recently talked with my one non-science professor and they are willing to write me a letter as well, so my packet will now have four letters (plus a cover letter from the pre-med committee chair). I also have letters from a former work supervisor and my advisor from my previous degree, since some schools like Penn St. require this.

I feel like I'm getting near the point where I would have too many letters, but I don't have any from my volunteering. Would it be a good or bad thing to include one from the volunteer coordinator at my hospital?

Also, my non-science professor asked for input on what I would like them to include in the letter. I think my academic ability will already be well spoken for, and I don't want this to be more of the same nor do I want it to just fill the requirement. Is there something that I should ask them to include that they may be in a better position to discuss, coming from a different background? Like interpersonal skills, something of that sort?

 

[mauberley]

Is there a point where too many letter hurt? I have six really strong ones from professors/volunteer coordinators in different areas, and would hate to not use them. So if somewhere in the school website they have a stated max, and I send them too many, would that be an issue?

I'm applying to 30+ schools and really don't feel like visiting each of their websites.

The best course of action if you really want to be sure is to do what you don't feel like doing.

My opinion is that going against the stated directions would definitely be a mark against you. If there aren't any stated limits, then I would only provide enough letters to meet the minimum requirements while also providing a holistic representation of my positive qualities. I hesitate to speculate on a hard-and-fast "maximum" but only caution that this is likely an aspect of your application subject to the law of diminishing returns.

 

[sundaymorning7]

I asked a professor if he would cosign on a letter from a GSI and he said he would ask the GSI to print the letter with the following statement at the bottom:

"This letter written by (my GSI) is co-signed by (my Professor)
instructor in charge of the course attesting to its authenticity only."


Is this going to be a red flag or is this common? I did not have a relationship with any science professors other than the one I am already getting, so I am desperate for the second letter, but don't want to ruin my chances with this.

 

[edge of desire]

Hi,
if you have a committee letter from your school + 5 other letters (2 academic, 2 research, and 1 work related) and you're applying md only (not md/phd)-- does that count at 5 letters total or 6? I"m concerned b/c some schools say that they won't allow you more than 5.

Thanks!!!

 

[mauberley]

Hi,
if you have a committee letter from your school + 5 other letters (2 academic, 2 research, and 1 work related) and you're applying md only (not md/phd)-- does that count at 5 letters total or 6? I"m concerned b/c some schools say that they won't allow you more than 5.

Thanks!!!

If your school is collecting your five other letters together with your committee letter for distribution as a single unit, I would say that counts as one. Otherwise, six.

 

[edge of desire]

hi mauberley!

thanks for the quick response. yes, they distribute all of them together. i'm just concerned some schools might think i'm trying to over compensate if they open up my committee PACKET and there's already 5 Letters + the committee one. on amcas, I just entered 1 letter under my committee name. The alternative I guess is to have only 4 letters in the packet and do 1 of them alone on amcas? would that make it more likely to count as 6 though? seems like counting it all as 1 is hard to believe...but if you say so, then i can believe you.

 

[mauberley]

hi mauberley!

thanks for the quick response. yes, they distribute all of them together. i'm just concerned some schools might think i'm trying to over compensate if they open up my committee PACKET and there's already 5 Letters + the committee one. on amcas, I just entered 1 letter under my committee name. The alternative I guess is to have only 4 letters in the packet and do 1 of them alone on amcas? would that make it more likely to count as 6 though? seems like counting it all as 1 is hard to believe...but if you say so, then i can believe you.

It's honestly just my opinion. I'd probably contact a few schools and ask them what their policies are, just to get an idea of what the general feeling might be.

 

[drdeezy]

.

 

[drdeezy]

.

 

[n3xa]

My PI had a pretty good reason for not responding immediately via email. You could always call and leave a message. Just be nice and acknowledge that you know he's a busy man etc. etc.

 

[Mac Blade]

I have a similar relationship with my current PI. We get along very well in the lab, and he's not afraid to lay a lot of responsibility on me. When I send him an e-mail that necessitates a quick reply, he always responds within hours. When I send him a question that is less urgent, I never hear back and end up calling him. I would assume this is a similar situation. Your PI is probably very busy, read the e-mail and thought, "Hey, I'll be sure to do that and get back to drdeezy ASAP." Then, he probably got distracted by another message and simply forgot. There's no way that he could be mad at you unless he has some sort of very strange passive aggressive personality.

 

[flatearth22]

With my PI emailing never got anywhere but sending a text almost always got a quick response. Worth a shot...

 

[drdeezy]

.

 

[Sammich117]

I have a LOR situation that is driving me CRAZY and I would like some feedback on it:

I worked in a lab for two years and did significant work that resulted in a major poster, couple software products that the lab is using, and data for a paper (not yet published). My PI thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread and I was really looking forward to his LOR. I asked him for one over a year before applying to med schools and he said he would be glad to write one. I guess he got busy and didn't write it. I asked him again months later and once again he said he would write me a great one but didn't follow through once again. I quit the lab prior to graduation on a very very friendly and positive note. I asked him once again for a letter (this time via email) and this time I got no reply. I asked again a week later (also via email because I am not in town) and have still not heard back from him.

He is in charge of a big lab (>25 people) but has *ALWAYS* replied to my emails except these last two times. I plan on listing his lab as a significant experience and plan to talk about my work in my personal statement. Therefore, not having a letter from him will be strange omission and might raise red flags at research-intensive schools (I am only applying MD). I am considering changing the focus of my PS on this experience I don't get a LOR from him; is this too extreme?

I am just afraid that I upset him by leaving (despite a super friendly last meeting with him). If I don't include a LOR from him, what's the change that medical schools will attempt to contact him through the new contact information section on the AMCAS application? I think all my other letters are solid but I am very concerned about this one. Any suggestions are appreciated.

My PI had a pretty good reason for not responding immediately via email. You could always call and leave a message. Just be nice and acknowledge that you know he's a busy man etc. etc.

I have a similar relationship with my current PI. We get along very well in the lab, and he's not afraid to lay a lot of responsibility on me. When I send him an e-mail that necessitates a quick reply, he always responds within hours. When I send him a question that is less urgent, I never hear back and end up calling him. I would assume this is a similar situation. Your PI is probably very busy, read the e-mail and thought, "Hey, I'll be sure to do that and get back to drdeezy ASAP." Then, he probably got distracted by another message and simply forgot. There's no way that he could be mad at you unless he has some sort of very strange passive aggressive personality.

With my PI emailing never got anywhere but sending a text almost always got a quick response. Worth a shot...

I am thinking of calling right now. Wish me luck!

Merging with appropriate thread

 

[Sammich117]

Hi,
if you have a committee letter from your school + 5 other letters (2 academic, 2 research, and 1 work related) and you're applying md only (not md/phd)-- does that count at 5 letters total or 6? I"m concerned b/c some schools say that they won't allow you more than 5.

Thanks!!!

If your school is collecting your five other letters together with your committee letter for distribution as a single unit, I would say that counts as one. Otherwise, six.

hi mauberley!

thanks for the quick response. yes, they distribute all of them together. i'm just concerned some schools might think i'm trying to over compensate if they open up my committee PACKET and there's already 5 Letters + the committee one. on amcas, I just entered 1 letter under my committee name. The alternative I guess is to have only 4 letters in the packet and do 1 of them alone on amcas? would that make it more likely to count as 6 though? seems like counting it all as 1 is hard to believe...but if you say so, then i can believe you.

It's honestly just my opinion. I'd probably contact a few schools and ask them what their policies are, just to get an idea of what the general feeling might be.

Merging with appropriate thread

 

[Whatyousay]

Some schools require that you have a letter of rec from a professor in your specific major. If you're a double major, does that mean that you would need a letter of rec from a professor in both departments, or would having a letter from one department fill that requirement?

I technically have letters from both departments, but I'm pretty sure that one of the letters is fairly generic, and I'm looking to replace it with a letter from my workplace supervisor. I'm at 5 letters right now, so it's not a matter of simply keeping adding the additional letter from work (since the schools I'm looking at have a max of 5 LOR). I'm confident that the other 4 letters are fairly good, so I don't want to exclude them. It wouldn't kill me if I couldn't include the supervisor's letter, but it would obviously help more than the generic letter.

 

[joeshmo27]

OK, so almost every school seems to say they require 1)a letter from your institution's pre-med committee, OR 2)individual letters composed of blah blah blah science, non-science, etc.

So, if my undergrad institution is collecting my letters, interviewing me, then writing a composite letter I appear to satisfy the school's requirements.

But, I've recently discovered that UCSF requires letters from 2 instructors, regardless of a committee letter, and Harvard's website makes no mention of a committee letter overriding their requirements.

So, does anyone know for sure which schools are difficult like these two when it comes to LORs?

Thanks.

 

[bluetwosky]

The committee letter usually includes letters of recommendations from your individual instructors. Harvard's the only one I know with a stringent LOR rule - which is having a letter from every lab you've worked in...

 

[juliedi]

I believe NYMC had pretty stringent LOR requirements, but I can't remember specifically what they were. (Some help I am, I know.)

But for the most part, if you have 2 letters from science professors and 1 from a non-science prof OR a committee letter (which usually includes these) you should be fine at the majority of schools.

 

[smarts1]

How do they expect us to get letters from all the labs we've worked in? What if all someone did in one lab was make solutions and autoclave stuff?

 

[rihdus]

How can LOR's be on official letterhead & signed if they are submitted online in the form of a PDF?

 

[mauberley]

How can LOR's be on official letterhead & signed if they are submitted online in the form of a PDF?

Graphics.

 

[Sammich117]

OK, so almost every school seems to say they require 1)a letter from your institution's pre-med committee, OR 2)individual letters composed of blah blah blah science, non-science, etc.

So, if my undergrad institution is collecting my letters, interviewing me, then writing a composite letter I appear to satisfy the school's requirements.

But, I've recently discovered that UCSF requires letters from 2 instructors, regardless of a committee letter, and Harvard's website makes no mention of a committee letter overriding their requirements.

So, does anyone know for sure which schools are difficult like these two when it comes to LORs?

Thanks.

The committee letter usually includes letters of recommendations from your individual instructors. Harvard's the only one I know with a stringent LOR rule - which is having a letter from every lab you've worked in...

I believe NYMC had pretty stringent LOR requirements, but I can't remember specifically what they were. (Some help I am, I know.)

But for the most part, if you have 2 letters from science professors and 1 from a non-science prof OR a committee letter (which usually includes these) you should be fine at the majority of schools.

If your PI's LOR is included in the committee letter, does that satisfy Harvard's LOR rules? Probably a silly question, seems kind of silly to send the same LOR twice.. lol

How do they expect us to get letters from all the labs we've worked in? What if all someone did in one lab was make solutions and autoclave stuff?

Moving to LOR Questions thread

 

[TommyPickles]

Now I'm guessing that this question may have been answered before, but I could still use some help. My school has a committee and will be writing the based off of individual letters I received from faculty members. On the AMCAS application, should I include the information about every letter of recommendation? Or should I just fill in the information about my school doing the committee letter. Hope this made sense.

 

[mauberley]

Now I'm guessing that this question may have been answered before, but I could still use some help. My school has a committee and will be writing the based off of individual letters I received from faculty members. On the AMCAS application, should I include the information about every letter of recommendation? Or should I just fill in the information about my school doing the committee letter. Hope this made sense.

You would create a single LOE entry for your committee letter and input primary author/contact information for the head of the committee or suitable representative. It is not necessary to input information for individual letters that may be included in the packet by your committee.

 

[libraryismyhome]

You are not required to assign letters of evaluation/recommendation to a medical school prior to submission. Note that letter assignments, once submitted, can not be changed.

(1) This is a statement I copied from AMCAS, and I don't know what to do if one of my faculties who promised me to write me a letter and suddenly decided to not to write me one cause hes busy with other stuff.

(2) Some schools require a letter from "non-science faculty." Does the English instructor who taught ENC 102 count as a non-science faculty?

 

[latrala2300]

so one of my evaluators sent my letter to TMDSAS, but in the "to:" form, they wrote AMCAS. should I have them rewrite it? would it look bad for me on TMDSAS?

 

[Melomare17]

so i can choose not to include 1-2 people for now and submit my application and just update it later??

 

[latrala2300]

so i can choose not to include 1-2 people for now and submit my application and just update it later??

Yup. You can add letters later but not remove them.

 

[mauberley]

You are not required to assign letters of evaluation/recommendation to a medical school prior to submission. Note that letter assignments, once submitted, can not be changed.

(1) This is a statement I copied from AMCAS, and I don't know what to do if one of my faculties who promised me to write me a letter and suddenly decided to not to write me one cause hes busy with other stuff.

(2) Some schools require a letter from "non-science faculty." Does the English instructor who taught ENC 102 count as a non-science faculty?

1) You can create an entry now but assign no schools. When the faculty member in question does write the letter and submit, then go ahead and assign schools.

However, keep in mind that when you complete your secondary applications, you will, in all cases I believe, have to indicate who is providing your letters. Most likely once you send in your secondaries, if you have indicated this faculty member will provide one of the letters composing your secondary application and he or she has not sent it, your application will not be considered complete. At that point, you'd have to follow up with individual schools to see what could be done, I would imagine. So once you start completing secondary apps, I would not include this faculty member's letter unless the letter was already received by AMCAS at this time.

2) Yes.

so one of my evaluators sent my letter to TMDSAS, but in the "to:" form, they wrote AMCAS. should I have them rewrite it? would it look bad for me on TMDSAS?

Maybe. I suppose if we're hewing to the confidentiality assumption, there's no way you'd know your letter writer made a mistake and you wouldn't be held accountable for that. If it's been sent already, I'd consider it water under the bridge and move onto other things to worry about. 🙂

so i can choose not to include 1-2 people for now and submit my application and just update it later??

Yes.

 

[libraryismyhome]

1) You can create an entry now but assign no schools. When the faculty member in question does write the letter and submit, then go ahead and assign schools.

However, keep in mind that when you complete your secondary applications, you will, in all cases I believe, have to indicate who is providing your letters. Most likely once you send in your secondaries, if you have indicated this faculty member will provide one of the letters composing your secondary application and he or she has not sent it, your application will not be considered complete. At that point, you'd have to follow up with individual schools to see what could be done, I would imagine. So once you start completing secondary apps, I would not include this faculty member's letter unless the letter was already received by AMCAS at this time.
.

Thank you, but I am slightly confused. So after I submit the primary, I can still assign this questionable guy's letter to schools once I receive it from him?

 

[sector9]

Thank you, but I am slightly confused. So after I submit the primary, I can still assign this questionable guy's letter to schools once I receive it from him?

Yes. Did you skip the step where you thoroughly research your question before posting? AMCAS has a FAQ
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/148168/amcas_2010_faqs-17.15.html
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/148172/amcas_2010_faqs-17.17.html
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/148166/amcas_2010_faqs-17.14.html

 

[libraryismyhome]

Yes. Did you skip the step where you thoroughly research your question before posting? AMCAS has a FAQ
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/148168/amcas_2010_faqs-17.15.html
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/148172/amcas_2010_faqs-17.17.html
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/148166/amcas_2010_faqs-17.14.html

arggghhh sorry... 😀

 

[MilkIsGood]

how long does it take for amcas and tmdsas to receive the LOR from virtualevals. Since it's online, I assumed it'd be automatic, but mine still hasnt showed up yet on my status pages

 

[Melomare17]

arggghhh sorry... 😀

when you resubmit you don't have to re-pay for the app rigght??