question about lors and programs

[liquidshadow22]

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Is it common for programs to call letter writers to discuss applicants? Or does this usually happen only when physicians know each other?

 

[typhoonegator]

We call, but only for people we're really considering seriously, and particularly if there is some sort of strange business in the application or the Dean's letter or something that we want to understand better. Or if the letters are amazing and the Dean's letter is lukewarm, or if one letter is amazing and another seems weak/evasive. I'm certainly more likely to call someone I know well, but that's just human nature. That's partly why it's good to get high-profile letter writers, because people outside your institution are more likely to know them and value their opinion.