Question about Letter of recommendation

[syedj94]

Hi!
I had a few question regarding the submission of letter of recommendations to the Dental application.
I am going to be applying next year, and suppose I found someone who is willing to write a letter for me this year. Is it possible to attach letters in the AADSAS application a year before actually applying? If not, how would I go about this? Would I have to use interfolio? Also, the max is 4 letters, so is it better to have 2 dentists, one science prof and one non science prof? Or is it better to have one committee letter and one dentist? I believe my school only requires one dentist.
Thanks!

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[ThatsMyFlossify]

I'm not sure about how this generally works, but I know that my undergrad's pre-professional office has a system set-up where they hold on to your letters until you go to apply. When I fill out the AADSAS application, I get in touch with them and they are the ones that actually send them to the schools. I'd check with your advising office and see if they offer something similar.

 

[Glimmer1991]

As a general rule of thumb, get letters from....

1 dentist + 1 bio + 1 chem + 1 whoever

Some schools have "random" letter requirements that don't mesh with other schools. In those instances, the school will often just let you send them the letter separately.

Interfolio is definitely an option, or maybe your committee will hold onto it.

As far as AADSAS is concerned, a committee letter only counts as ONE letter, regardless of how many actual letters it is made up of. So yes, 1 committee+1 dentist letter should be sufficient.

 

[syedj94]

Thanks for the replies. But suppose I have to opportunity to get a letter right now, and I am almost sure I won't be able to get a letter from this person in the future. In this case, they would write the letter right now, but where would the have to send it? The school I want to apply to doesn't care if you get the letter from the school committee or from a prof. In this case, I would really like to avoid the committee, and just get a letter from a prof. So my main concern is, how will I be able to apply with a letter that I received a year earlier?

 

[Glimmer1991]

You're gonna be applying to more than one school, right?

Just keep them with Interfolio for now until you decide what you're going to want to do. Unless your committee has some major issues (such as not doing the letters until August or something), I wouldn't avoid it.

Interfolio keeps your letters for multiple years.

 

[hl808]

I also have a question regarding LOR's:

I will be applying to as many schools as I can this upcoming cycle but realized that I am limited because of my LOR's. Some schools (like Columbia) require 3 academic LOR's while others require a dentist and a community service supervisor (ASDOH) and other various combinations. I was planning on doing 2 science professors, 1 dentist, and my supervisor at an oral pathology department at a dental school but would 3 academic letters + dentist be a better option?

I contacted Loma Linda because they require a letter from a religious leader and they told me that can be sent separately from AADSAS but I know many schools only accept LOR's through AADSAS. With that said, is it even possible for someone to actually apply (with all credentials/prereqs met) to all 60+ dental schools?

I'm sure other people have had this LOR dilemma and was wondering if there is a solution to different schools wanting different letters?