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

[mauberley]

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

Correct.

 

[ibelieve87]

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.

Does anyone have experience with this? I didn't get a response to my original question...pretty please? 😕

 

[Melomare17]

Correct.

do you have to wait 4-6 weeks again after resubmitting though?!?

 

[mauberley]

do you have to wait 4-6 weeks again after resubmitting though?!?

No; if you're already in line for verification, it doesn't put you to the back of the line; if you've already been processed, resubmitting doesn't mean you need to be processed again (the wait time is because of the coursework verification).

 

[johnwandering]

I'm currently waitlisted at 3 schools and am wanting to send them a new letter of recommendation I received from my research supervisor.

I asked the medical schools, and they said that my letters have to be sent through AMCAS. How do I do this?
The only way I can think of doing this is by creating a new amcas application. But if I send letters through an application now, it will be for the 2011 cycle, and I do not want to start a new application at this point.


I have at this point asked my university to resend my composite letter to the respective schools directly. Will this be enough?

 

[mauberley]

I asked the medical schools, and they said that my letters have to be sent through AMCAS. How do I do this?
The only way I can think of doing this is by creating a new amcas application. But if I send letters through an application now, it will be for the 2011 cycle, and I do not want to start a new application at this point.


I have at this point asked my university to resend my composite letter to the respective schools directly. Will this be enough?

The 2011 AMCAS login is still available. Can you try adding a new LOE and sending it that way? Of course, that seems rather roundabout, but if that's what the schools said... *shrug*

 

[johnwandering]

So that means I have to create a whole new application just for this?

Holy smokes. I just called my university and no one knows WTF is going on.

Has no one here sent a new LOR to through AMCAS letter service?

 

[halethsonofhama]

I have its the same process as how you sent your original letters.

Open up your old AMCAS application, goto the LOR section, add the new letter with the appropriate info, Print up the letter ID page, goto 'home' and click submit application, give the letter ID to your guy and they send it straight to AMCAS. Its a lot of steps but its straight forward.

Also, I doubt a letter of rec will do much good for you now.

 

[mauberley]

So that means I have to create a whole new application just for this?

Holy smokes. I just called my university and no one knows WTF is going on.

Has no one here sent a new LOR to through AMCAS letter service?

Both myself and haleth pointed out that you use your OLD app. You do not need to create a new one.

 

[johnwandering]

Sorry~

for some reason I thought that the "2011 application" was referring to this year's, because you know... it's 2011.
But I really didn't know what to do when I got there. Who would think u have to resubmit your entire application?

Thanks guys

 

[Schizotypy]

nvm!

 

[Lolig Varoonk]

If some of my letters are not ready yet, should I go ahead and create an entry for it in Amcas and submit my application. Or should I submit my application first without creating an entry for it, and then create an entry for it afterwards? All comments are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[mauberley]

If some of my letters are not ready yet, should I go ahead and create an entry for it in Amcas and submit my application. Or should I submit my application first without creating an entry for it, and then create an entry for it afterwards? All comments are appreciated. Thank you.

I don't think it matters.

 

[hello0]

For those of you that are/have used Interfolio, how long does it usually take for your letters to become available on your AMCAS app after you submit a delivery?

 

[mauberley]

For those of you that are/have used Interfolio, how long does it usually take for your letters to become available on your AMCAS app after you submit a delivery?

Two days for me.

 

[Schizotypy]

Two days for me.

Yep. I've had about 5 Interfolio -> AMCAS deliveries, all were ready to go in 2 days.

 

[PlatypusMD]

So here's the story:

A little more than one year ago, I took O-chem 1 with an awesome professor and ranked at the very top of his class. I went to office hours quite frequently, so he got to knew me. At the end of the semester, he (not me) brought up the idea of writing a letter of recommendation for me, and I said that it'd be great but I asked to wait till application time (derp). Well, it's application time now and time's beginning to fly. So Here's the timeline of my request for letter of rec:

May 14: initial email to professor asking to meet up in the next few weeks
May 17: email from professor apologizing for delayed response and to touch base next week
May 18: I email him say no prob; give me some times that works for him when he gets the chance

...waiting...waiting...

June 02: still no response; follow up email sent to him asking for meeting

...no response still...


What to do now? I was really counting on him to write me a strong LoR. I currently have 4 LoRs pending: math prof, bio prof, volunteer coordinator, and supervisor

I really need that 3rd academic letter :-/ but I don't have any other great options. Should I drop by his office? Should I just assume he's too busy and try finding someone else? Could my 3rd academic letter be non-science, treating the math one as a psuedo-science instead...?

Help please 🙁

 

[hello0]

Awesome...do you think it'd be ok to submit my app tonight while the delivery is still processing? I know we don't need all our letters/MCAT to submit but I dunno if it would mess anything up to submit mid-delivery

 

[latrala2300]

Awesome...do you think it'd be ok to submit my app tonight while the delivery is still processing? I know we don't need all our letters/MCAT to submit but I dunno if it would mess anything up to submit mid-delivery

You may go ahead and submit without expecting hiccups from the action; letter-processing is a separate, independent process. Good luck!

 

[benzenesociety]

At my institution, we compile up to 5 letters for premed advisor, and then after an interview, a committee letter is compiled. For recommenders, this is what I have:

1. Bio professor (part of a research team with other bio professor, will talk about my research work)
2. Bio professor (a more personal letter)
3. Non-science professor (Volunteer Coordinator, took an independent study related to service in the community)
4. Family doctor I've shadowed, and had discussions about healthcare; this doctor got me started in research from high school
5. Director of a selective honors program I've been involved with since my freshman year

This array of letters will paint a fairly complete picture of my ECs and personality; however, will it be too weak in terms of portraying me as a student? I have a cGPA and BCPM GPA in the 3.8-4.0 range and a 3X MCAT; how essential is a letter that says, "__________ took my _______ class, he/she came by my office and showed a good understanding of the material and was a good student."?

 

[urd0rkk]

Hey guys,

So i was getting a bit confused on these terms and perhaps its been used a bit loosely in the AMCAS Instructions manual:

when they refer to 1 letter entry, does this translate into 1 letter for schools? So for example, if a school says they would only like a maximum of 5 letters, that doesn't necessarily mean 5 letter ENTRIES as mentioned in AMCAS Manual (where 1 letter entry=1 Committee letter or 1 letter packet or 1 individual letter)?

5 letters Maximum means 5 INDIVIDUAL letters? or can we indeed send 5 Letter PACKETS?

In the case that schools want a varying Maximum of letters, does that mean then that we need to send our letters in fragments into AMCAS from our career center, or will our designation of letters on the primaries make AMCAS separate the letters into the combos we want? My intuitions tell me the former is probably the correct, but more expensive way...

Thank you!!!

 

[KLycos]

1 entry for the packet only, according to my undergraduate institution..and they know what they're talking about. if your packet has all the letters needed then you're good with only the only entry.

 

[gettheleadout]

Merging with Official LOR Questions Thread.

 

[Rumbledy]

Been searching for answers all over this forum, but maybe it'll be easier to just ask it here...

1. Does AMCAS require a ranking grid? My school provides a letter had that contains a ranking grid. It's a grid that ranks students based on different qualities.

2. How do I waive my rights, if I send letters directly to AMCAS? Is there a waiver form like the one provided by my school?

 

[mauberley]

Been searching for answers all over this forum, but maybe it'll be easier to just ask it here...

1. Does AMCAS require a ranking grid? My school provides a letter had that contains a ranking grid. It's a grid that ranks students based on different qualities.

2. How do I waive my rights, if I send letters directly to AMCAS? Is there a waiver form like the one provided by my school?

1) No.
2) It's implied from the AMCAS privacy policy concerning letters of evaluation.

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/63226/faq_amcasletters.html:

Under no circumstances will AMCAS provide applicants access to letters of evaluation.

 

[Prateek]

So here's the story:

A little more than one year ago, I took O-chem 1 with an awesome professor and ranked at the very top of his class. I went to office hours quite frequently, so he got to knew me. At the end of the semester, he (not me) brought up the idea of writing a letter of recommendation for me, and I said that it'd be great but I asked to wait till application time (derp). Well, it's application time now and time's beginning to fly. So Here's the timeline of my request for letter of rec:

May 14: initial email to professor asking to meet up in the next few weeks
May 17: email from professor apologizing for delayed response and to touch base next week
May 18: I email him say no prob; give me some times that works for him when he gets the chance

...waiting...waiting...

June 02: still no response; follow up email sent to him asking for meeting

...no response still...


What to do now? I was really counting on him to write me a strong LoR. I currently have 4 LoRs pending: math prof, bio prof, volunteer coordinator, and supervisor

I really need that 3rd academic letter :-/ but I don't have any other great options. Should I drop by his office? Should I just assume he's too busy and try finding someone else? Could my 3rd academic letter be non-science, treating the math one as a psuedo-science instead...?

Help please 🙁

Definitely stop by his office in my opinion. That would be my next step

 

[TheRealAngeleno]

Sorry if this question has already been asked. But I plan on asking my volunteer coordinator for a LOR sometime later, perhaps around August since she is out of the country atm. Could I still input her information as an LOE? Thanks.

 

[CheekyFellow]

Kind of random, but how do you guys usually thank your letter writers. A simple thank you in person? Or perhaps a card? Vacation package?

 

[Schizotypy]

I really need that 3rd academic letter :-/ but I don't have any other great options. Should I drop by his office? Should I just assume he's too busy and try finding someone else? Could my 3rd academic letter be non-science, treating the math one as a psuedo-science instead...?

Help please 🙁

I recently had a scare and thought my second science letter wasn't going to come in (I have 2 bio letters, a stats letter, and 2 humanities letters). During that scare I contacted a bunch of schools asking if a Stats/Math letter would be ok as a science letter and almost all of them said no (only a couple said yes).

I guess I'm confused what you mean by 3rd academic letter; you usually need 2 science and a non-science. It seems to me math SHOULD count as a science letter and non-science should be humanities/social science, but I don't make up the rules. 😛 But basically I wouldn't ride on that math letter counting as a science letter; get the ochem letter. Stop by his office/call/do whatever it takes.

 

[Bruiner]

Hi everyone,

Forgive me if this has already been asked, but do you think that a letter co-signed by 2 professors will look better or worse than a letter just written by 1 professor? I am asking because I took a course that was separated into 2 sections, and I got to know both professors really well, but I don't want each of the professors to write me separate letters for the same course...so do you think it'll be okay to have them co-sign one letter? Or should I just pick one letter writer?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Numba1Plumma]

Is there any recent document that anyone has made where it specifically lists all the requirements regarding letters for each particular school?

 

[mauberley]

Is there any recent document that anyone has made where it specifically lists all the requirements regarding letters for each particular school?

This was posted not too long ago, but it comes without traceability of authorship and the usual caveats should apply.

 

[latrala2300]

Hi everyone,

Forgive me if this has already been asked, but do you think that a letter co-signed by 2 professors will look better or worse than a letter just written by 1 professor? I am asking because I took a course that was separated into 2 sections, and I got to know both professors really well, but I don't want each of the professors to write me separate letters for the same course...so do you think it'll be okay to have them co-sign one letter? Or should I just pick one letter writer?

Thanks for your help!

Since having one signature is the norm, don't think that "only" having one looks bad. Two sigs on one letter wouldn't weaken your application, so I don't see a downside.

 

[Slowpoke]

That is great that you got to know both professors well and perhaps they both contributed to the letter. I would be more curious to know if that letter would be able to count as 2.

I can't see how an Adcom would interpret this as bad, agree with latara.

 

[capn jazz]

That is great that you got to know both professors well and perhaps they both contributed to the letter. I would be more curious to know if that letter would be able to count as 2.

I can't see how an Adcom would interpret this as bad, agree with latara.

how would a *single* letter count as two? that doesn't make sense.

 

[Bruiner]

Thanks for your replies everyone! 🙂 I'm just asking because I know both professors well and I initially had only asked one, who agreed to write the letter. But then I realized that since I knew both well, it might strengthen my letter even more if there's another professor who includes a paragraph in the same letter as well...

The reason why I think it could be bad is because I'm afraid adcoms might think it's less "personalized" or they may think that I asked 2 professors to write on my behalf because I didn't know one professor well enough.

Thoughts on this reasoning?

 

[Bruiner]

Hi guys,

I made a thread about this, but then I discovered this thread, so I figured I might ask everyone here as well.

I took a course that was broken into 2 sections that were each taught by a different professor. I got to know both professors very well. I asked one professor to write me a letter, and he agreed. Then I thought that maybe having both professors write me a letter would be even better, but I didn't want them to write me separate letters on the same course...so I asked them to write one letter and co-sign together.

Would admissions commitees look down on this? Or would this be even better than having just 1 professor write the letter? The reason I ask is because I'm afraid commitees may think I didn't know each individual professor well enough, and so I "got them to co-sign together." But I also was thinking that since it's 2 professors instead of 1, it may have even more weight.

What do you guys think?

 

[mauberley]

Hi guys,

I made a thread about this, but then I discovered this thread, so I figured I might ask everyone here as well.

I took a course that was broken into 2 sections that were each taught by a different professor. I got to know both professors very well. I asked one professor to write me a letter, and he agreed. Then I thought that maybe having both professors write me a letter would be even better, but I didn't want them to write me separate letters on the same course...so I asked them to write one letter and co-sign together.

Would admissions commitees look down on this? Or would this be even better than having just 1 professor write the letter? The reason I ask is because I'm afraid commitees may think I didn't know each individual professor well enough, and so I "got them to co-sign together." But I also was thinking that since it's 2 professors instead of 1, it may have even more weight.

What do you guys think?

I don't think one can reasonably predict what someone might infer from your letter being co-signed. That having been said, I think that having them write the same letter seems sensible if they co-taught the course, but not knowing more about the nature of the course you took or the division of responsibility between the two instructors, I wouldn't know what to make of it. Generally, though, I don't think that having two professors write a single letter makes it any stronger than it might have been if either of them wrote it individually.

 

[Antaar]

This might seem like a dumb question, but what do schools define as a professor in terms of who can a letter? A lot of the school websites I visited say something along the lines of "science professor," "non-science professor," or just "professor."

At my college, there are different tracks to obtain professorship - clinical professors, research professors, professor of philosophy, adjunct professor, etc...

Does it matter which of these titles a letter writer falls under? or am I just thinking about this too much?

 

[mauberley]

This might seem like a dumb question, but what do schools define as a professor in terms of who can a letter? A lot of the school websites I visited say something along the lines of "science professor," "non-science professor," or just "professor."

At my college, there are different tracks to obtain professorship - clinical professors, research professors, professor of philosophy, adjunct professor, etc...

Does it matter which of these titles a letter writer falls under? or am I just thinking about this too much?

Yes, you are thinking about this too much. 🙂

"Science professor" == professor who taught you in a biology, chemistry, physics, or math course. "Non-science professor" == professor who taught you in a course that is not one of biology, chemistry, physics, or math. The variations of professors you listed--clinical, research, philosophy, adjunct--are distracting you. They're irrelevant for this purpose, not to mention that these are not all mutually exclusive categorizations.

 

[Bruiner]

I don't think one can reasonably predict what someone might infer from your letter being co-signed. That having been said, I think that having them write the same letter seems sensible if they co-taught the course, but not knowing more about the nature of the course you took or the division of responsibility between the two instructors, I wouldn't know what to make of it. Generally, though, I don't think that having two professors write a single letter makes it any stronger than it might have been if either of them wrote it individually.

Thanks for your reply mauberley. I took a course with one of the professors a year and a half ago. And the course that I just took with both of them was split into 2 separate sections (about 2 different topics but both falling under the category of "behavioral neuroscience"). The reason why I asked both was because the professor I took a course with 1.5 yrs ago might be able to comment more on my performance in that class in addition to my performance in the co-taught class.

I just thought that having 2 professors co-sign a letter might give it more credit...I guess I was thinking along the lines of how a TA writing a letter is worse than a TA co-signing with a professor. Am I thinking of this the wrong way?

Do you think I should just have one professor write it?

 

[mauberley]

Thanks for your reply mauberley. I took a course with one of the professors a year and a half ago. And the course that I just took with both of them was split into 2 separate sections (about 2 different topics but both falling under the category of "behavioral neuroscience"). The reason why I asked both was because the professor I took a course with 1.5 yrs ago might be able to comment more on my performance in that class in addition to my performance in the co-taught class.

I just thought that having 2 professors co-sign a letter might give it more credit...I guess I was thinking along the lines of how a TA writing a letter is worse than a TA co-signing with a professor. Am I thinking of this the wrong way?

Do you think I should just have one professor write it?

The reason why one has a TA co-sign with a professor is because of the difference in assumed qualifications (for example, one hopefully has not been TAing for decades). It's not simply "two names are better than one."

Personally, I would have just solicited a letter from the professor who taught you both in this present course and in the past course. Since it seems like you've already asked your two current professors to co-write a letter, it strikes me as bad form to change your mind at this point--and in the end I doubt this is really going to make that much of an impact on how your application is received, anyway.

 

[latrala2300]

Thanks for your replies everyone! 🙂 I'm just asking because I know both professors well and I initially had only asked one, who agreed to write the letter. But then I realized that since I knew both well, it might strengthen my letter even more if there's another professor who includes a paragraph in the same letter as well...

The reason why I think it could be bad is because I'm afraid adcoms might think it's less "personalized" or they may think that I asked 2 professors to write on my behalf because I didn't know one professor well enough.

Thoughts on this reasoning?

I think you're being too paranoid. Just request your professors to individually outline how they knew you as part of one contiguous course, and you're good to go!

After you're done, upload a video somewhere titled "Two Profs, One Rec" for future Bruiners.

 

[Cinematographer]

To anyone that has used interfolio:

How does this service work with TMDSAS? From interfolio's website I understand how the AMCAS LOR transfer work, but I have no idea about TMDSAS' LOR system.

Do I simply have my LOR writer send his LOR to Interfolio, and from there I have the option to select TMDSAS as a recipient?

 

[Slowpoke]

how would a *single* letter count as two? that doesn't make sense.

You have one single letter, yes. But it is composed by two different professors (who from what it seems contributed to the letter). Sounds like a mini-committee letter.

 

[cowsgomuon]

Thanks for your replies everyone! 🙂 I'm just asking because I know both professors well and I initially had only asked one, who agreed to write the letter. But then I realized that since I knew both well, it might strengthen my letter even more if there's another professor who includes a paragraph in the same letter as well...

The reason why I think it could be bad is because I'm afraid adcoms might think it's less "personalized" or they may think that I asked 2 professors to write on my behalf because I didn't know one professor well enough.

Thoughts on this reasoning?

Don't freak out 🙂 I'm doing the exact same thing, and the professors who are jointly writing my letter say they've done it before. I assume that adcoms don't look down on it, as long as you have a legitimate reason for one letter instead of two (which it sounds like you do). For me, I'm doing research jointly with two labs. I know one of the PIs better in a research context, and the other PI taught me in a class. So, one joint letter makes much more sense, and my premed office said it would be fine as long as they both signed it.

 

[ladeedahh]

Sorry if this has already been asked, but do advisor/committe letters count toward the maximum number of accepted letters?

 

[gettheleadout]

Hi everyone,

Forgive me if this has already been asked, but do you think that a letter co-signed by 2 professors will look better or worse than a letter just written by 1 professor? I am asking because I took a course that was separated into 2 sections, and I got to know both professors really well, but I don't want each of the professors to write me separate letters for the same course...so do you think it'll be okay to have them co-sign one letter? Or should I just pick one letter writer?

Thanks for your help!

Since having one signature is the norm, don't think that "only" having one looks bad. Two sigs on one letter wouldn't weaken your application, so I don't see a downside.

That is great that you got to know both professors well and perhaps they both contributed to the letter. I would be more curious to know if that letter would be able to count as 2.

I can't see how an Adcom would interpret this as bad, agree with latara.

how would a *single* letter count as two? that doesn't make sense.

Thanks for your replies everyone! 🙂 I'm just asking because I know both professors well and I initially had only asked one, who agreed to write the letter. But then I realized that since I knew both well, it might strengthen my letter even more if there's another professor who includes a paragraph in the same letter as well...

The reason why I think it could be bad is because I'm afraid adcoms might think it's less "personalized" or they may think that I asked 2 professors to write on my behalf because I didn't know one professor well enough.

Thoughts on this reasoning?

I think you're being too paranoid. Just request your professors to individually outline how they knew you as part of one contiguous course, and you're good to go!

After you're done, upload a video somewhere titled "Two Profs, One Rec" for future Bruiners.

You have one single letter, yes. But it is composed by two different professors (who from what it seems contributed to the letter). Sounds like a mini-committee letter.

Don't freak out 🙂 I'm doing the exact same thing, and the professors who are jointly writing my letter say they've done it before. I assume that adcoms don't look down on it, as long as you have a legitimate reason for one letter instead of two (which it sounds like you do). For me, I'm doing research jointly with two labs. I know one of the PIs better in a research context, and the other PI taught me in a class. So, one joint letter makes much more sense, and my premed office said it would be fine as long as they both signed it.

Merging with Official LOR Questions Thread.

 

[Bruiner]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their replies to my question regarding 2 professors co-signing on one letter.

You guys are all extremely supportive, and I'm glad you were able to help me out. From what it sounds like, it'll be no problem getting them to co-sign a letter together. 🙂

Thanks once again!

 

[Numba1Plumma]

Would you guys recommend sending the letters to the schools after your AMCAS has been verified or right when you send it in for verification?

Does it really make a difference with regard to when you get your secondaries?

All my letters are in but I am still deciding on which letters to send where so I would like to decide that later.

Another question that's sort of off topic is how does the secondary process work? You submit your AMCAS and it gets verified but how do you get access to the secondaries? Do the schools just email you after you assign them via AMCAS? But to assign schools, don't you need to send letters to the schools?