Pseudo Committee Letter

[Chromium Surfer]

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Hi everyone I was hoping for some insight regarding a question I have regarding letters of recommendation.

Both of my science professors who will write good solid letters for me require all students to go through the pre-health office of our university.

I know that many schools require 3 LOR's. But our pre-health office recommends amount of letters that is more than the standard 2 science and 1 non science I have seen.

They also don't write a committee letter but rather just compile all the letters into one single file that is then sent to AMCAS.

Since I have to use the pre-health office in order to get letters of recommendation from my science professors would using them and having 7 letters in the one single file be detrimental to my application in anyway?

Also I think I remember reading somewhere that schools like mayo have a strict requirement of having only 3 letters, is there an exception to this in my case?

also tagging @gonnif @gyngyn and @Goro since you all are the experts.

Thank you so much for you time! 🙂

 

[Goro]

Don't use the committee, but the individual letter writers.

Hi everyone I was hoping for some insight regarding a question I have regarding letters of recommendation.

Both of my science professors who will write good solid letters for me require all students to go through the pre-health office of our university.

I know that many schools require 3 LOR's. But our pre-health office recommends amount of letters that is more than the standard 2 science and 1 non science I have seen.

They also don't write a committee letter but rather just compile all the letters into one single file that is then sent to AMCAS.

Since I have to use the pre-health office in order to get letters of recommendation from my science professors would using them and having 7 letters in the one single file be detrimental to my application in anyway?

Also I think I remember reading somewhere that schools like mayo have a strict requirement of having only 3 letters, is there an exception to this in my case?

also tagging @gonnif @gyngyn and @Goro since you all are the experts.

Thank you so much for you time! 🙂

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Don't use the committee, but the individual letter writers.

I would if I could, but our professor who is a big wig on campus and known for writing great letters requires that we use the prehealth office. He doesnt like using AMCAS or other sites 🙁

 

[Goro]

I don't know how to solve this conundrum, except for asking alumni who have successfully made it into med school...find out what they did.

I would if I could, but our professor who is a big wig on campus and known for writing great letters requires that we use the prehealth office. He doesnt like using AMCAS or other sites 🙁

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I don't know how to solve this conundrum, except for asking alumni who have successfully made it into med school...find out what they did.

Okay, I will try that! Is the issue just because of having 7 letters in the single file? If I was able to get the pre-health office to be content with 5 letters would that alleviate any concerns?

 

[Goro]

What I worry about is when a school says "3 LORs max", how your package would be received. As one committee LOR, or five????

Okay, I will try that! Is the issue just because of having 7 letters in the single file? If I was able to get the pre-health office to be content with 5 letters would that alleviate any concerns?

 

[Chromium Surfer]

What I worry about is when a school says "3 LORs max", how your package would be received. As one committee LOR, or five????

Oh okay I get what you are saying now, that was another worry of mine as well! hopefully gonnif can chime in on here as well!

 

[Chromium Surfer]

You have no issue! There are three letter types recognized by AMCAS and thus by the schools (see below) you need to have either

Committee Letter or Letter Packet, where you follow the requirements of the UG institution and it is acceptable by virtually all medical schools
OR
Individual Letters , where you follow the requirements of each indivdual medical school

The number of letters in a letter packet is immaterial, It is not under the requirements of indivdual letters

Section 6 of the AMCAS® application: Letters of Evaluation
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.

YOU ROCK gonnif. Thank you so much

 

[Chromium Surfer]

its my indepth knowledge and long experience in the field. That or I spent 30 seconds on google!

Touché 😛