Rec letter help!

[XOXO123]

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Struggling a little bit with who to ask for my second science letter, as well as other non-academic letters. Committee letters are not offered at my school. This is my current plan:

-non science professor: haven't decided exactly which one I will pick but I feel I have several strong options within my major (public health). could get more than 1 but that doesn't seem necessary?

-science #1: a bio professor who taught me once in a very large class where he likely did not know I existed and then more recently in a small higher level bio seminar where he got to know me well and from which I think he can write a strong letter.

-DO/shadowing letter: besides being necessary for DO schools, I honestly think this letter will be glowing. I know shadowing letters are often thought of as meaningless on here but I shadowed with this DO frequently over the summer in the ED, got to know him well, and he offered a letter before I could even ask. this guy believes in my potential more than I do lol

Questions:

-the above makes 4, and it seem like most places don't want anymore than maybe 5/6 max, if they even want more than the 3 academic at all. I could potentially get solid letters from an MD I did a simulation internship with, someone involved in the volunteering I do (non-clinical), and club sport coaches who know me very well. Are any of these helpful/necessary/interesting or just white noise? Is it dependent on how good they are?

-for DO schools though, who count public health in sGPA, would that count as a science letter meaning I need a different non-science letter than that for MD schools? or am I overthinking this

-for science #2, how would it look to use a professor from a microbio class that is taught through our nursing school? the prof is an MD herself, but the class is definitely not as high level as those taught in the bio dept. do adcoms even notice this stuff? I worry that my sGPA is not the strongest and that not using letters from prereq classes reinforces that. this teacher knows me somewhat better than other science options, and my class grade is better.

wow so many questions sorry! I am a little panicky tonight and thought I would just get it all out there haha

 

[RedPanda55]

1. The more letters the better. You can choose which letters to send to which schools on your AMCAS or if you think they're all going to be good then send them all and the schools will choose the letters they find more relevant to them (I sent like 7 LOR's including a committee letter from a combination of advisors, professors, doctors I actually worked with (Scribe), coaches, and volunteer coordinators)

2. You're overthinking it.

3. Science number 1 is fine and so is number 2. They don't need to be MD's and it doesn't matter what class it is (Could be gen chem or bio for all they care)... as long as you did well in their course and think they know you well enough to write a good letter for you.

Finally, get the DO letter only if you're applying to DO schools, but, I'd reconsider sending it to MD schools (They'll question why you got a letter from a DO and not an MD if you're applying MD). Overall I'd avoid it for MD just because it will still more likely than not be a bunch of fluff (Great worker, asked questions, etc...) unless you know for sure that they know you better than that. For example, for the two letters I received from doctors; I had worked with one for well over 600-700 hours as a scribe, the other was an advisor for a class I had/soccer coach/pediatrician (yes all three haha!) that I shadowed therefore he knew me very well from many different perspectives.

 

[XOXO123]

thanks for the help @RedPanda55 ! I am applying to both MDs and DOs so will be getting the letter from the DO I shadowed regardless. I didn't shadow him specifically because he was a DO, he was just an ER doc I got set up with and when I arrived I noticed the letters on his badge haha. Will MD schools really find this that strange?

 

[MCATISEZ]

I recommend just asking them all and collecting them in Interfolio. Then use whichever ones you please (the ones you’d think are the best) to satisfy each schools requirement.

I say this because people tend to be slow getting them in and having extras to fall back on in the case someone flakes out or takes forever to submit it will put your mind at ease and ensure you are complete at your schools early.


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[RedPanda55]

thanks for the help @RedPanda55 ! I am applying to both MDs and DOs so will be getting the letter from the DO I shadowed regardless. I didn't shadow him specifically because he was a DO, he was just an ER doc I got set up with and when I arrived I noticed the letters on his badge haha. Will MD schools really find this that strange?

Definitely recommended for your DO schools then! Also, I'm obviously not an adcom or anything so I can't really say, but if I was for an MD school, I would stop and think to myself for a second why this person got a DO letter rather than an MD letter if they're applying to an MD school (Especially if you don't have another MD letter) but then I'd also check to see if there was any reason you chose to apply to our MD school knowing that you've spent a great deal of time with a DO (I'd check your application to see if you mentioned this at all too). These are just some minor caution zones I'd think about if I was an adcom.

 

[XOXO123]

@LizzyM @Goro @gyngyn @HomeSkool would any of you mind weighing in on if sending a letter written by a DO to an MD school is a stupid thing to do? Maybe I was being naive in thinking that doctors are doctors and it wouldn't really matter what the letters next to the name were.

 

[LizzyM]

Frankly, what we want to know about you that we get from LORs will not be provided from a shadowing letter. Whether MD or DO, most are a complete waste of our time. We want to know if you are strong academically, if you contribute to class discussion, if you are a team player in group work, if you write and speak well, and if you have had experience with the scientific method (PI letters). Most docs will not be able to comment on those attributes.

 

[Goro]

@LizzyM @Goro @gyngyn @HomeSkool would any of you mind weighing in on if sending a letter written by a DO to an MD school is a stupid thing to do? Maybe I was being naive in thinking that doctors are doctors and it wouldn't really matter what the letters next to the name were.

No, it's not. But while DO schools (and a few MD schools ) want you to have a clinician LOR to show your due diligence. we find that doctors are incapable of writing a letter of evaluation, which is what we want. Most MD or DO LORs are fluff.

 

[MCATISEZ]

Struggling a little bit with who to ask for my second science letter, as well as other non-academic letters. Committee letters are not offered at my school. This is my current plan:

-non science professor: haven't decided exactly which one I will pick but I feel I have several strong options within my major (public health). could get more than 1 but that doesn't seem necessary?

-science #1: a bio professor who taught me once in a very large class where he likely did not know I existed and then more recently in a small higher level bio seminar where he got to know me well and from which I think he can write a strong letter.

-DO/shadowing letter: besides being necessary for DO schools, I honestly think this letter will be glowing. I know shadowing letters are often thought of as meaningless on here but I shadowed with this DO frequently over the summer in the ED, got to know him well, and he offered a letter before I could even ask. this guy believes in my potential more than I do lol

Questions:

-the above makes 4, and it seem like most places don't want anymore than maybe 5/6 max, if they even want more than the 3 academic at all. I could potentially get solid letters from an MD I did a simulation internship with, someone involved in the volunteering I do (non-clinical), and club sport coaches who know me very well. Are any of these helpful/necessary/interesting or just white noise? Is it dependent on how good they are?

-for DO schools though, who count public health in sGPA, would that count as a science letter meaning I need a different non-science letter than that for MD schools? or am I overthinking this

-for science #2, how would it look to use a professor from a microbio class that is taught through our nursing school? the prof is an MD herself, but the class is definitely not as high level as those taught in the bio dept. do adcoms even notice this stuff? I worry that my sGPA is not the strongest and that not using letters from prereq classes reinforces that. this teacher knows me somewhat better than other science options, and my class grade is better.

wow so many questions sorry! I am a little panicky tonight and thought I would just get it all out there haha

I sent a DO LOR to MD schools. But only to those that explicitly said they value shadowing letters. From what I could tell, they were well received.

For the most part, though, it seems as if a shadowing LOR is mostly relevant to DO schools to make sure students have done their due diligence.


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