*~*~*~*Official Letters of Recommendation Questions Thread 2018-2019*~*~*~*

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One of my letter writers that was on my committee wanted to write an individual letter for me regarding my commitment and leadership to serving the underserved populations (who I would like to serve as a physician). Is this okay or would it be odd that I have someone in my committee also writing me an individual letter of rec emphasizing something else?
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This is less about a LOR and more about timing of it. My writer is sending his letter via mail today. How long does that usually take to get processed? He is a mentor who didnt teach me so its not a letter required by any schools so its more of a character/work ethic letter. Are these still useful? The other letters I have are 2 science prof, 1 non science prof, 1 PI (MD/PhD, Tenure Prof), and 1 Lab Coordinator (PhD, Assistant Prof)
 
gonnif said:
The standard recommendation and expectation by adcoms has traditionally been 2 science / 1 non science letters. While some schools might, I said might, let it slide, others will never consider you application complete, therefore never review your application, and you will never be considered for a seat. Since you need to apply to the broadest array of schools, my subtle advice to you is GET A NON-SCIENCE LETTER NOW!
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Does this letter have to be a "non science faculty?" Or does the non-sxience" extend into people like volunteer coordinators who I've worked with/supervised me?
 
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When letters of recommendation are submitted directly to the AAMC, should they be available immediately? I have one letter that was submitted to AAMC directly that was marked as received immediately and one that was supposedly uploaded 2 weeks ago that has not been marked as received.

If they should be available immediately, is there any way to go about figuring out why that one letter that was uploaded 2 weeks ago isn't showing as received? Or do I need to just ask the writer to re-upload it?
 
Is there any way for me to mitigate damage from a late committee letter release? My school has been infamous for releasing the letters as late as September lol. Really hoping that's not the case but I dont know.

Im verified and get my MCAT back on the 3rd of July. Bummer if it is all for nothing since my letter would get released so late.
 
gonnif said:
I wonder why as a member of the committee he/she didnt get this in the letter. Is it something that they have first-hand, direct knowledge of? That is, they are involved with the group is serving or that you are leading?
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Yes, they are the president and founder of the non-profit I volunteered for and eventually led teams and became part of the leadership board (this year) working with underserved orphans in South America. Some of the programs I'm applying too (UCLA PRIME) asked for one of your letter writers to send in a letter discussing your commitment to the underserved and so I thought about sending that letter to other schools as well because the entirety of my app is really focused on the underserved but I don't believe any of my previous writers backed that up.
 
If a school requires a minimum of 3 letters but a max of 5, would it be wiser to submit the strongest 3 letters or full 5 letters out of 8 that you have collected?
 
I have a letter that has no date on it. Should I be concerned? The letter was written recently in early this year.
 
...Does everyone really recommend giving the professor a packet of information as suggested in the original post? With grades, resume, personal statement, etc..

I think it's useless for a professor to comment on outside evidence that they have not personally witnessed. And achievements are already outlined in the medical school application. It might make it seem as though they are searching for material to write about.

Not to mention, I don't yet have an impressive resume and don't want the professor thinking less of me than she does now. I want her recommendation based on what she witnessed of me this year.

This professor said she could indeed write me a strong letter and that I had impressed her this year. I mentioned emailing her a link through Interfolio and she then mentioned having questions for me in that email. She then clarified "for feedback"...I'm assuming this is feedback for her course but am slightly worried that she'll want all the above information. If she asks, can I simply reply that I'd rather she only wrote about her experiences with me?
 
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I'm planning on submitting my application next week, however my school's Health committee doesn't meet until August to write committee letters. Should I just have them submit a letter packet next week instead? Or is it worth it to wait to get the committee letter and possibly delay my secondaries??
 
gonnif said:
I agree that professors should only write experiences they know about directly. However, the professor writing can insist on anything; there is no requirement they write you one. You do not, repeat do not want to antagonize the professor so if they ask for the material, give it to them promptly
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I understand. But what would they do with the information if not attempt to refer to it?
 
Sagebrush said:
When letters of recommendation are submitted directly to the AAMC, should they be available immediately? I have one letter that was submitted to AAMC directly that was marked as received immediately and one that was supposedly uploaded 2 weeks ago that has not been marked as received.

If they should be available immediately, is there any way to go about figuring out why that one letter that was uploaded 2 weeks ago isn't showing as received? Or do I need to just ask the writer to re-upload it?
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Updating for anyone else in the same situation.

I called AAMC, they were quite helpful and looked into it. Apparently the person submitting the letter didn't quite complete the submission. I emailed that person to ask them to resubmit, they emailed back immediately, and the letter is now safely in the hands of the AAMC.
 
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gonnif said:
A strong recommendation would be nice
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Sorry, I meant logistic-wise. Like if this (e.g. letterhead, signature) is missing your letter/application won't be complete.
 
If you are unsure what letters are you going to send for schools with a letter limit, is there no harm in attaching 0 letters when you submit your primary and then adding the letters of choice around secondary submission time?

And

Once your app is verified, how long does it take to process an additional letter of rec?

Thank you!
 
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I have 4 of my 5 letter of recs submitted and received by AMCAS, my fifth letter writer keeps saying he will write his and add to AMCAS but keeps pushing back the date and isn't always responsive. He's my second science professor letter of rec so it is a pretty important letter but now it's June 29 and my primary application is being sent out so I'm starting to get a little worried. What should I do? Should I keep emailing him with updates and wait because he said he will do it? I don't want to try and ask another professor this short notice, but I could if you think that that might be my best option?
 
Thanks so much for clearing up the committee letter plus other letter (such as from PIs) stuff. One teacher I have submitted a LoR to AMCAS but without official letterhead or signature and I can't ask him to resubmit or anything (he's not good at computers and I'm running out of time). Is it chill for me to send this letter, he wrote a very, very strong letter for me (I helped him upload it so I saw it).

Should I just check for which schools explicitly write that all letters must be signed and send to all schools except those?

Also if some schools have a requirement of 4 letters, is it still chill for me send 5? Does it ever hurt my application to send more?

Thanks a ton!!!!!
 
Is it beneficial to designate letters to each school in order to receive a secondary? I was planning to designate letters after receiving the secondary since many schools have specific LOR requirements, but I don't want to limit my chances of getting a secondary.
 
bluejaysandearlgray2.0 said:
I submitted a secondary today, but on the secondary website, it says they haven't received my LORs. My LORs have been uploaded to AMCAS since before I submitted my primary. Does AMCAS wait to send schools LORs until after you submit your secondary? I just assumed they were sent with the primary.
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They are sent with primary. Some schools have a delay due to their individual processing protocols
 
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I am a nontraditional applicant who has been working for 2 years in Clinical Trials, and my colleague (an RN) and my manager (also an RN) each agreed to write me a letter. They both have different perspectives to share since they've seen me in different capacities. Would you recommend I ask them to:

a) create a joint letter with both signing and then I would assign that as an 'individual letter' in AMCAS?
b) write individual letters that I then compile as a 'letter packet' from Kaiser (where I work). Or is the 'letter packet' option only for academic institutions?

Thank you!
 
gonnif said:
A letter from colleague/peer may not be the best to use. I would gave a letter from your supervisor with a cosign from the colleague
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Thank you for your response. I will go with option a) then and have one letter with both of them contributing and signing it. Then I'll have my manager be the one to upload it.
 
I’ve been working with several doctors for over a year and they’re all willing to write me a letter.
Is it frowned upon if I send schools two letters from separate doctors from the same company?

Should I instead ask the doctors to write a joint letter? I feel like individual letters from doctors without co-signing is more genuine tho.

Thank you in advance
 
I am currently waiting for my last letter, a professor who was my student club's sponsor. This professor's letter is not used to fulfill any requirement, but as an additional letter for my recent activity. This letter is unique that the professor will have first-hand comment on my involvement in leadership and involvement in the club, while none of my other letter are focused on this aspect. Unfortunately, the professor is MIA now from my email reminder.

If this letter doesn't come in by the time my app will be complete for adcom review, should I NOT enter this writer into my AMCAS, and only add onto AMCAS if the letter is submitted to Interfolio? I don't want this letter to delay the process the whole app, but I also want to include this letter in my letter packet because I know this will be a strong and uniquely personal letter.
 
So one of my letter holders is going to mail my letter today. AMCAS said it can take up to 15 days to process, does anyone know of that is how long it usually takes?
 
Hi Everyone! So one of my 2nd science professor said yes to writing a letter (verbally) but hasn't responded to my email.... I was thinking to follow up with him and maybe potentially ask another professor, but I'm afraid it might be getting kind of late. I do have a PI letter, who I have taken research credits with (not a traditional class, but I did turn in sth and there were grades assigned). Is it possible/ better to submit PI letter in place of "science faulty who have taught you a class"?

Thank you in advance!
 
I just received an email from one of the schools that I applied to that one of my letters is missing a signature (I specifically reminded this particular writer to sign the letter, I might add :slap:). Anyways, this letter was assigned to every single medical school I applied to - so how do I handle this now? Obviously I have the letter writer resubmit a signed letter, but I'm not sure where to go from there. To the best of my understanding, I can't unassign the letter that has already been sent without a signature. Do I need to resend the letter with the signature to every medical school and send them an email notifying them of the issue with the original letter? Do I just resend the letter to all of the schools without notifying them and hope they'll figure it out? Do I just resend the letter with the signature when a school requests that I do so?

@gonnif any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
gonnif said:
I believe you simply Just have the letter upload to same AMCAS ID and it will be sent automatically as an additional page to existing letter. This is non issue
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Well that's a lot easier of a solution than I was expecting! I was sure it would be quite the ordeal to get the corrected letter out!

Thanks so much for the quick (and really easy) answer!:D
 
gonnif said:
Just to confirm

https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/section-6-letters-evaluation/

Letters of Evaluation: Post Submission
Can I change my letter information after my application has been submitted to AMCAS?
You may add a new letter after your application has been submitted, but you cannot delete or change existing letter entries.

However, your letter writer can update the actual letter document linked to a letter entry by uploading a new version of the letter using the same Letter ID number as the original entry. Medical schools will be able to review the most recent version of the letter. These updates may be necessary if your letter writer needs to make a change to your letter, or if the original letter was not signed or on official letterhead. Do not make a new letter entry in your application for an updated letter.
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Thank you so much for finding this! You're awesome!
 
Can committee letters be updated during an application cycle?
Are students notified regarding this? Ex. An advisor has a change of heart on an applicant after originally submitting a committee LOR and wants to mark them down in professionalism or something.
 
Sagebrush said:
I just received an email from one of the schools that I applied to that one of my letters is missing a signature (I specifically reminded this particular writer to sign the letter, I might add :slap:). Anyways, this letter was assigned to every single medical school I applied to - so how do I handle this now? Obviously I have the letter writer resubmit a signed letter, but I'm not sure where to go from there. To the best of my understanding, I can't unassign the letter that has already been sent without a signature. Do I need to resend the letter with the signature to every medical school and send them an email notifying them of the issue with the original letter? Do I just resend the letter to all of the schools without notifying them and hope they'll figure it out? Do I just resend the letter with the signature when a school requests that I do so?

@gonnif any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Update for anyone else in a similar situation:

Sent the letter writer a very polite (if rather desperate) email and text message apologizing for not making the requirements clear (even though I did :p ) and asking if he could please upload a signed copy to the portal. He did so within 24 hours and all schools have now received a signed copy.

Thanks @gonnif for the advice and for telling me to calm down! :laugh:
 
This is probably variable between schools, but... I understand that for schools with a strict max of ie. three letters of recommendation including letters submitted in a packet, most will still accept a packet that has more than three but won't necessarily read all the letters. Is there a standard way these schools approach choosing which letters to read? For instance, do they just read the first three in the packet?
 
gonnif said:
Where did you get this understanding ? Any letter sent by a premed committee or advisor, whether or not it has a cover or evaluation sheet, and regardless of the number of letters attached is considered a SINGLE letter. (see AMCAS definitions below)

So either you are filling :

-committee/letter packet requirement, where you follow the requirements of the UG schools and all materials attached are a SINGLE letter that fulfills virtually every medical school's requirement
OR
-individual letters where you follow the requirements of the medical school.

These two separate categories do not, repeat, do not overlap


Letter Types
AMCAS accepts three different types of letters. Each letter type is equivalent to one letter entry.

  • Committee Letter: A letter authored by a pre-health committee or pre-health advisor and intended to represent your institution’s evaluation of you. A Committee Letter may or may not include additional letters written in support of your application. This is sometimes called a Composite Letter.
  • Letter Packet: A packet or set of letters assembled and distributed by your institution, often by the institution’s career center. A Letter Packet may include a cover sheet from your pre-health committee or advisor. However, unlike to a Committee Letter, a Letter Packet does not include an evaluative letter from your pre-health committee or advisor.
  • Individual Letter: A letter written by, and representing, a single letter author. If you have already included an Individual Letter within either a Committee Letter or a Letter Packet, do not add a separate entry for that letter.
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I'm referring to schools like Rosalind Franklin, who state this on their website:
Please Note: No more than three individual letters, one committee letter, or one letter packet containing a maximum of three individual letters will be considered in evaluating your application. All letters must be included in your AMCAS application.

Or Tulane:
We prefer no more than 3 LORs. If you have submitted more than 3 LORs, TUSOM can do nothing to edit this as all of the letters will be sent to us. The committee will read what they individually see fit.

I found your post before and it was very helpful to me when at first I was uncertain if I could submit more letters in my packet than the individual letter requirement. (My packet has 6 total, which I'm sending to all schools.) I was just curious about how these specific schools might go about reading the letters. Tulane says they'll "read what they see fit"--wondered if there is a typical approach or if they actually just read the whole packet anyways.
 
gonnif said:
Just to confirm

https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/section-6-letters-evaluation/

Letters of Evaluation: Post Submission
Can I change my letter information after my application has been submitted to AMCAS?
You may add a new letter after your application has been submitted, but you cannot delete or change existing letter entries.

However, your letter writer can update the actual letter document linked to a letter entry by uploading a new version of the letter using the same Letter ID number as the original entry. Medical schools will be able to review the most recent version of the letter. These updates may be necessary if your letter writer needs to make a change to your letter, or if the original letter was not signed or on official letterhead. Do not make a new letter entry in your application for an updated letter.
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If I recently decided to add a supervisor as a letter writer, would it be acceptable to have him upload an unsigned version of the letter to AMCAS and then mail in an identical signed copy? That way medical schools would have the letter on file much faster than waiting for snail mail and processing.
 
How much is it going to hurt me to only send in the bare minimum of letters required? I have 2 science professor letters and 1 from a non-science class which I've been submitting to most schools, but none from my volunteer/work supervisors or PIs from my labs (I did a decent amount of research but never got super involved in either of the labs I worked in).
 
gonnif said:
If yiu have 3 well written letters it wont be an issue
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Great! I was worried I might take a hit regarding my non-academic qualities if I had no one to vouch for my extracurriculars.
 
Two questions I was hoping to get answered:

1. One of my letter writers moved to a new university recently. Would I put their new University in the letter info section or the old one where I worked with them, and would it be OK for that person to use letterhead from their new institution even if it not the one at which I had interaction with them?

2. What does a grad student written/PI cosigned letter look like in terms of how it is written? Would the grad student use first-person "I", etc. and their letterhead, and then the PI just adds a signature at the bottom and nothing else? Or do they say "we"? I just wasn't exactly sure how the formatting of this situation plays out.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!
 
Is it inappropriate/overkill to send some of my letter writers my amcas primary app print out pdf? One asked for my personal statement and CV, and the app goes into all my activities pretty well. I just never heard of anyone doing this..
 
I have...
1 MD, 1 DO
2 Science
1 Clinical (ER director (RN), my boss for 3 years)
1 Volunteer (Fire Chief, volunteer department for 3 years)
I am missing a Non-Science letter... I am working on the non-science but as a non-trad I have not taken a non-science since 2014. I think I can get a letter but it will be near Sep-Nov.
I'm also working on a committee letter, but this will be coming in late as well.

Mostly curious about how much trouble I'm likely to receive being short a Non-Science and getting II's.
 
gonnif said:
I am confused. Are these individual letters you are sending in or part of packet with committee letter?
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I am going to send individual letters. I just figured I should actively work on getting a committee letter and I can add it to my app later.
 
gonnif said:
No, either do one of or the other and have you applied this cycle?
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Thank you for the advice. I submitted AMCAS and AACOMAS on 6/20. AMCAS is working on the 6/18 apps so I should be verified by next Tuesday. AACOMAS was quick turnaround and I have received secondary's for RVU, LECOM, DMU, Nova (I know I know. Last resort as I live 10 mins away) still waiting on KCU and TUNCOM.
1 science LOR is in, my ER director and DO letter will be here in 1-2 days. MD about a week left and my second science said 2 weeks.
 
gonnif said:
Ok slow down.

1) most MD schools do not require nor desire any clinical letter as most are short term shadowing experiences. I presume you were an ER tech and the MD and/or DO were part of your professional work?
2) as a non-trad, most schools have some sort of alternative non-academic letter and/or requirement for an employment letter. You need to read each school's website to see exactly what they say
3) the traditional expectation is 2 science/1 non science but again you need to check each school if that is a requirement. Again, you are a nontraditional so traditional expectations are not as strict
4) please do not delay your application over a committee letter or subject the adcoms to one after all these individual letters.
5) ACCOMAS I believe will send all letters to all schools where as AMCAS you can assign letters individually
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1. The MD and DO letters are from physicians I have worked with for 2-3 years so I have observed them taking care of patients as well as them watching me with patients.
2. I will reach out to other schools about the non-science. I have not taken a non-science since 2014. Nova called me and let me know they require a non-science. They are low on my list though.
3. Copy, I didn't know non-trads could sometimes get different LOR requirements. I could get a third science If you think that might be worth getting.
4. Thanks again for the advice, I will not delay and just drop the idea of the committee letter.
Thanks for the input. The clinical is for the 3 years of employment as an ER tech. I can choose to use it or not but it is a strong letter.
 
I’m a nontrad and I have 6 letters total (2 sci, 2 long-term research, 1 long-term non-clin volunteer, 1 MD after one-year long weekly shadowing). Once I get my school list figured out, I’ll be calling to see if I can get by without a non-science letter.

But my question is, there is a non-sci semi-rigorous class I took a year ago and I scored very high compared to the data released from other students, my final grade was above a 100% after the curve.

I never spoke to the professor but I may be able to get him to write me a short letter just saying how I did very well in his class. Is it even worth it to get that letter, or should I be trying to just waive the requirement?

There’s another class I took more than 5 years ago where I had a litter better relationship with the professor but I doubt he remembers me at this point. He may write a generic letter just to be nice.
 
Apologies if this question has been asked before, but long story short I used to work in a very large lab in undergrad and my PI barely knows me at all. Would a letter from an old grad student that I worked under (who now has her Ph. D., but at the time did not) be appropriate to use? Thanks SDN
 
How do I go about letterheads from a physician who works at a couple different EDs? Should I do a letterhead for the hospital I work with him at?
 
leetskeetskeet said:
Apologies if this question has been asked before, but long story short I used to work in a very large lab in undergrad and my PI barely knows me at all. Would a letter from an old grad student that I worked under (who now has her Ph. D., but at the time did not) be appropriate to use?
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Yes, though if it's a possibility to have the PI cosign the letter, you might explore that option.
 
I'm a non-trad and I did a post-bacc at an institution that is writing me a committee letter. This committee letter is a compilation of 9 individual letters from post-bacc professors, volunteer supervisors, MD I shadowed, a research supervisor, and my previous boss, along with input from my pre-med advisor.

It was suggested to me that I send the committee letter plus a few of the strongest individual letters (according to my advisor some aren't very well written), but I'm worried that will be confusing to adcoms. From a scan of this thread the prevailing wisdom seems to be to send the committee letter only, I'm just looking for some confirmation based on my individual situation.

Should I send the committee letter by itself or send the committee letter and some individual letters?

Thank you!
 
gonnif said:
I presume the committee letter does not have the complete letters attached? With 9 letters already reviewed, evaluated, and written up in committee, how will repeated info be of a great help to an adcom other than to confuse?
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Correct, the 9 letters are not attached with the committee letter. The advice given to me was that sometimes adcoms may want more information about something referenced in the committee letter and having individual letters allows them to look into that. But I agree that it's overly confusing to send both.

Thank you for your input!
 
Replicated here so it's easier to find by future Searchers:
Hey guys, long story short my committee letter author changed and i need to mark the current commitee letter request in AMCAS as "no longer being sent" but i already assigned that letter to all the med schools im applying to. My question is, do i have to contact the schools separately IN ADDITION to marking as "no longer being sent"?
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gonnif said:
You do not have to email schools. They will be notified
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