Question about recommendations.

[PsychStudent]

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Generally, who are the best people to write recommendations for med school? Someone just mentioned to me the other day that you're supposed to have a science professor write your recommendations, which really surprised me. I'm just taking chem now (while I finish my psych MS), and the class is several hundred people, so I haven't really gotten a chance to know the professor. Should I go to her office hours even though I'm doing really well in the class? I'm pretty much in the dark about this recommendation thing. Thanks so much!

 

[clsr2nrvna]

that's kinda the trick with all of this. I finished my masters in psych last december, and i've always gone to smaller schools. I'm currently taking my science prereqs at a large university, and my CHEM 121 class is 220 ppl!!! Hopefully next semester my class will be a bit smaller, as i plan on MCATs & applying next august! I'd be interested in any responses that are a bit more helpful...

KATiE

 

[MollyMalone]

Yes, definitely go to office hours even if you are doing well (if you possibly can, of course).

This was my strategy: I chose the class I thought I would want a recommendation from and went to see that professor the first week. I laid everything out on the table about how I was applying to medical school and would like to know what I could do to faciliate getting an excellent LOR. The professor was very receptive and told me what he looked for in students. Basically, I came to class, sat in front, did well on exams, and went to office hours. Since I was not having a lot of trouble with the material, I took the time to think of questions that maybe went a little beyond the scope of what we were covering. This led to some interesting conversations and the professor was able to recommend some additional reading which we were then able to discuss. At the end of the class, I made a special appointment, brought in my CV, transcripts, Interfolio information, etc., and made myself available for any questions he might have as far as the letter went.

Sure, it took a little extra energy and time investment, but it worked really, really well for me and I'd recommend that course of action to anyone, even if you have the luxury of a smaller class. I thought it was well worth it and I ultimately enjoyed it a lot and learned quite a bit.

Hope that helps!

 

[relentless11]

I agree that going to office hours is good, academically and for purposes of the professor getting to know you. However like any relationship, don't try too hard to get a letter. Just be yourself, be considerate, and confident. If the professor is nice person, then a letter would be no problem.

Remember though, the best letters come from people who know you well, rather than just a letter from a certain subject area. Therefore if you end up thinking that this chem professor is unable to write you a STRONG letter of rec, then forget it. Wait till Physics, OChem, and whatever other science classes you take. Like with all things as a pre-med...don't try to rush!

 

[PsychStudent]

Thanks to everyone who's responded thus far! It sounds like it's a necessity to have one of the recommenders be a professor. Are there any other must-haves? Who are the best types of people to write a letter? Thanks so much!

 

[Law2Doc]

Thanks to everyone who's responded thus far! It sounds like it's a necessity to have one of the recommenders be a professor. Are there any other must-haves? Who are the best types of people to write a letter? Thanks so much!

You are likely going to need more than ONE professor -- you should take a look at the admission websites of some of the schools you are interested in or pick up a book on med school admissions for the requirements.
And yes, go to office hours. This is very much a ritual, a game. You need LORs from professors who know you, and very few people hang with the profs socially. Thus in the prereqs, you will find that the office hours are filled with people who are doing well and bound for med school, not people who actually have legitimate need for help. Similarly, the person running down to talk to the professor after class is probably also a premed, playing the game, who made up a question expressly for that purpose. The goal is to see the prof enough throughout the course that he knows your name, so that when you hit him up for a LOR, he wont stare at you blankly and say who the heck are you. some profs will write a LOR anyhow, but it's frequently a better one if he thinks he knows you. The one caveat is that in some cases it's the grad student/TA who writes the first draft of the letter, so sometimes you need to get yourself known by them as well. Good luck.

 

[kate_g]

you will find that the office hours are filled with people who are doing well and bound for med school, not people who actually have legitimate need for help.

Having been on the other side of this relationship, I have to say that I hate that this is the way the "game" has to be played. I understand you have to do it - the med school establishment has somehow decided that glowing letters from professors who have no good reason to know you exist is the gold standard for admission to med school - but as a TA my job and my desire was to give help to people who needed it, and the prof and I had to wade through hordes of people acting like pre-meds (pardon the slur) to find them. Of course, the more we try to ignore you, the more persistent you have to be in order to establish that special "top 1% of students" relationship and get your letter...

Ugh. Like I said, I understand there's no choice, and on an individual basis all the pre-meds I encountered earnestly wanted to do well and were generally nice people. Sorry to hijack, just venting... 🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

Having been on the other side of this relationship, I have to say that I hate that this is the way the "game" has to be played. I understand you have to do it - the med school establishment has somehow decided that glowing letters from professors who have no good reason to know you exist is the gold standard for admission to med school - but as a TA my job and my desire was to give help to people who needed it, and the prof and I had to wade through hordes of people acting like pre-meds (pardon the slur) to find them. Of course, the more we try to ignore you, the more persistent you have to be in order to establish that special "top 1% of students" relationship and get your letter...

Ugh. Like I said, I understand there's no choice, and on an individual basis all the pre-meds I encountered earnestly wanted to do well and were generally nice people. Sorry to hijack, just venting... 🙂

Totally agree with you. But you can't hate the players -- they didn't make up the rules of the game. The road to medicine is full of these silly games.

 

[relentless11]

Ugh. Like I said, I understand there's no choice, and on an individual basis all the pre-meds I encountered earnestly wanted to do well and were generally nice people. Sorry to hijack, just venting... 🙂

I can sympathize with this. Although I never really associated or sociallized with the pre-meds, I found their constant effort to impress the professor quite frustrating. But as Law2Doc said, thats the reality of things. You don't have to be like them to succeed, but it is apart of the game, so you shouldn't let it get to you either..haha.

On a side note, my school has a vet school....so there may be more pre-vets than pre-meds sometimes. Man if you thought pre-meds were bad...you should meet these people. 😉

The one caveat is that in some cases it's the grad student/TA who writes the first draft of the letter, so sometimes you need to get yourself known by them as well. Good luck.

Yea, this seems to be the case for the larger classes too. However as non-trads, has anyone considered taking a graduate level science class? I mean obviously take it when you are ready (e.g., have the pre-reqs). I don't recall seeing a school requireing the letter to be from a science professor who taught an undergrad science class. Graduate level classes tend to be smaller, and the relationship between student and professor to be a lot better. Hope that helps!

 

[montessori2md]

Help me too!

I have my orgo prof, who is awesome, knows me, and will write a great letter. Then there is physics, where my prof got stuck with 100 extra students, has never taught the course, and is generally cranky about how much work we are -I went to his office hours, but it feels very artificial, as I could just as easily talk to my TA, lab instructor, the physics tutor, instead of wasting his time. Then there is bio, which has several hundred students, and the instructor does not take questions and basically (though she's a good speaker) precisely regurgitates our Campbell text (consequently, I'm being a terrible premed and skipping that class a lot).

My question as a non trad is this: the schools I'm applying too basically all take the committee letter, the commitee is willing to consider a nonscience prof from Ohio State (where I got my BA) as a letter. Am I shooting myself in the foot more to ask the unhappy physics prof for the letter, or for asking someone to write a letter for me who is not a science professor or seen me in 5 years? Should I just ignore both those choices and go to:

Other letters:
Supervisor at hospital where I volunteer
My boss (I'm a teacher)
Maybe an MD I'm shadowing
Roll the dice w/ faculty next semester

my commitee asks for 3 letters, doesn't want more than 4 letters (+ interview, and a series of essays, including peer review), so, like a lot of nontrads, I'm uncertain who I should ask, and my advisor is being sort of vague about his preferences.