Question on LORs

[ceftazidime]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, I was wondering what the benefit is of "waiving" vs "not waiving" your right to see the letter of recommendation. Do residency programs value a waived letter moreso than one that's non-waived?

 

[Blade28]

A better question is, will the letter writer treat you the same if he/she knows you're going to be "screening" their recommendation before submitting to ERAS?

Think about it.

 

[ceftazidime]

I have thought about that... If the letter-writer knows you're screening it, they're not going to write any negative comments because they would know that you're obviously not going to even submit it. This wouldn't hold them back from writing highly positive remarks though. So I really don't see why anyone would choose not to screen their letters, unless the residency program discourages that sort of thing. So... back to my original question, do residency programs discourage students from screening their own LORs?

 

[Blade28]

You're thinking about it a little backwards.

If you don't waive your right to view the letter, how can the letter-writer be honest knowing you'll read the recommendation first?

It's like writing "anonymous" evals that aren't really anonymous. That discourages honesty.

If you don't trust your letter writer to write you a strong recommendation, you need to ask someone else.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Frankly, I don't trust letters that aren't written under a waiver.

That doesn't mean I don't think students have some way of finding out whether letters are positive or not, but it adds more fuel to my belief that we I do see a letter with some negative things that there really is a problem.

Why give committees some other reason to doubt the veracity of the letters?

 

[Llenroc]

I retained access to all my letters for medical school and residency, and had successful outcomes both times. 👍

There's a lot of weasels out there, especially at academic medical centers. There's a reason why you have a civil right to those letters, and I wouldn't waive them so casually as most institutions pressure their students to do.

 

[Top Gun]

Okay, here's a practical reason to not waive your right to see the letters. In the event you do not match, and you max out on the number of ERAS applications you can send through the scramble, it would be easier to gain access to your letters in order to fax them. Unless, of course, anyone knows a way of getting around this.

 

[Top Gun]

Note, what I stated above would apply more to IMG's. For American med students, it wouldn't be so much of a problem since their Dean's office has the letters on file and can fax them to the different programs.