PCOM Dean's LOR

[circulus vitios]

I'm not applying until 2013, but could someone help my understand the LOR requirements? I found a lot of posts from a few years back stating that PCOM requires a Dean's LOR. On PCOM's website I find this:

For your file to be considered complete, a letter of recommendation must be sent from one of the following sources:

• pre-health advisor/committee (undergraduate, post-baccalaureate or graduate is acceptable)
• academic advisor, dean or department chair from the undergraduate degree-granting institution
  (Please note that this is the only required letter, however, we will accept additional letters from other sources).
• Although not required, a letter of recommendation from an osteopathic physician is strongly encouraged.
• Official current MCAT scores must be on file. Self reported scores on the AACOMAS application are not considered official.

From this, it seems I only need one LOR (in addition to a DO LOR + the regular science & non-science LORs) from either (not one from each of) the pre-med committee/advisor (which my school doesn't have), the Dean, the department chair, or my academic advisor?

Am I misreading this or is this a recent policy change?

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[cabinbuilder]

I'm not applying until 2013, but could someone help my understand the LOR requirements? I found a lot of posts from a few years back stating that PCOM requires a Dean's LOR. On PCOM's website I find this:

From this, it seems I only need one LOR (in addition to a DO LOR + the regular science & non-science LORs) from either (not one from each of) the pre-med committee/advisor (which my school doesn't have), the Dean, the department chair, or my academic advisor?

Am I misreading this or is this a recent policy change?

1.You should at least have an advisor at your undergrad institute. A word of caution. Be sure the person you ask for a letter has faith that you will get in and will write in your favor (my advisor in college did not ever believe I would be a doctor)

2. I suggest you ask 2-3 individulas for LOR's because not everyone is on top of their game and you don't want to be left hanging with nothing if the one person you asked is slow, unorganized, unprepared, lazy, too busy, or just forgets.

3. Do not hesitate to ask that person you perceive as being "too busy". A physician friend of mine once told me that the busiest people are the most organized and will always make time for a cause they believe in. Remember that.

4. I would also suggest a letter from an Osteopathic physician to ensure that you have shown initiative to learn about the DO philosphy and not just talk the talk.

Hope that helps.

 

[poopyhead]

From this, it seems I only need one LOR (in addition to a DO LOR + the regular science & non-science LORs) from either (not one from each of) the pre-med committee/advisor (which my school doesn't have), the Dean, the department chair, or my academic advisor?

No, this isn't a recent thing. It tripped me up as well, since I was a non-trad applicant. If your school doesn't have a committee (or you didn't bother to get to know them), then you need a "Dean's LoR" instead.

This Dean's LOR is one of those checklist-type requirements that usually make no sense. PCOM will accept a "Request for Letter of Good Standing/Dean’s Appraisal." See if your school has this service. It is simply a generic "this student graduated in good standing" and reveals no useful insight into the applicant.

IIRC, PCOM doesn't actually require LoRs from individual professors, and in fact, these LoRs can't replace the Dean's LoR. Also, the DO LoR is recommended, but not required.

 

[dbizzy]

Yeah this was definitely a pain in the ass for me as well since it lagged my application from being considered for an interview for months before I realized why.

All I did was request for a letter from the dean that stated that I had graduated from my undergraduate institution and was in good standing with the university. No less, no more. It's really a vague, and IMO useless LOR requirement, but one you absolutely need in order to move forward with your app.

 

[circulus vitios]

But I can use a letter from my academic adviser in place of the dean's letter, right? I'd rather get a letter from my adviser because I have taken a few classes with him and he does know me a bit, whereas I've never met the dean before.

edit: By "my academic adviser" I mean my academic adviser for my major. There is no pre-med/pre-health committee/adviser at my school.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Let me just hijack for a second. Say I'm doing a post-bacc. I'm not getting any degree out of this. Will the dean from this place suffice?