Question about Letters of Recommendation

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RamsFan1991

NYU College of Dentistry, Class of 2019
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Hi guys!

Hope the application process is going steady for everyone. I actually have a question regarding LoR. My #1 choice is my in-state school, VCU School of Dentistry, but before I call them to ask them this following question, I was wondering if I could get some clarification from you guys.

The F.A.Q. portion of their website states that they require three LoR, "two of which must be from science professors." Great, because the Chairman and Vice Chair of VCU's Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, also both science professors and some of the world's renowned researchers in Pharmacology, are writing letters of recommendations on my behalf for my two summers of research which led to two publications. However, I know some dental schools specifically require these same "professors" who write your recommendations to have actually taught you instead of simply holding the title of professor. My third letter is from my dentist I shadowed obviously and my fourth is from a professor that actually has taught me, my Bacteriology professor.

Being that both the Chair and Vice Chair are writing these letters and their letters could potentially hold huge weight for my application, should I be really worried that VCU would not accept my application because I only had one professor who actually taught me write a letter of recommendation on my behalf? As I said, I am going to call to clarify this, but I was just curious if I could an answer here. Thanks for reading.
 
Maybe you could seek a science professor as another letter of recommendation and send the letter from the chairman directly to VCU as a supplemental letter? Just a suggestion. If you think that letter will be good for VCU, but not so much for other schools, it might be worth your time to seek a science professors because like you said some schools might like to have a letter from someone who instructed you.
 
I honestly don't think the exact requirements make a difference... how would they know if they exactly taught you, especially if they write a strong letter on your behalf. The reader will remember what was said about you, not what class they had you in. And they are still "science professors" and i think they probably did teach you something while under their tutelage in lab.
 
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