Rec letter question for those of ya'll already IN

[ATX04UT]

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Hey--
I posted this in the pre-dental forum already but I wanted to ask ya'll since you guys are already accepted...I am having a hard time getting my dentist to get on the ball about sending in my rec letter. I feel like I am bothering him now. ( I have asked him several times and went into his office and he said NEXT WEEK everytime)..its sept and everything is sent to the schools except this Dentist Letter. Will this hurt my chances of being accepted to dental school (or only hurt me to the schools that actually require a dentist to recommend you)?

I know we have to have shadow experience..I figure if they ask me about it, I can just give them his phone number and address and give the office managers phone number, right?? Would that be sufficient?

I am freaking out about this...I don't see why it is so hard to write a letter and put it in the mail. If I were a dentist and some kid volunteered 100 hours in my office, I would more than happy to write a letter...not keep putting the kid on the poor backburner...

Any advice or thoughts about me actually getting in without a DDS letter from you all ?
WHY ME!

 

[Rob2005]

Maybe this dentist keeps putting it off because he thinks he is expected to write a rather long letter. Just tell him a short paragraph will be sufficient. As long as it's positive, you'll be fine. My dentist was lazy and literally only wrote short three lines, but hey, here I am in dental school. It's my opinion that a positive recommendation letter can't help you much, as they are a dime a dozen, but negative ones can be deadly.

Rob

Hey--
I posted this in the pre-dental forum already but I wanted to ask ya'll since you guys are already accepted...I am having a hard time getting my dentist to get on the ball about sending in my rec letter. I feel like I am bothering him now. ( I have asked him several times and went into his office and he said NEXT WEEK everytime)..its sept and everything is sent to the schools except this Dentist Letter. Will this hurt my chances of being accepted to dental school (or only hurt me to the schools that actually require a dentist to recommend you)?

I know we have to have shadow experience..I figure if they ask me about it, I can just give them his phone number and address and give the office managers phone number, right?? Would that be sufficient?

I am freaking out about this...I don't see why it is so hard to write a letter and put it in the mail. If I were a dentist and some kid volunteered 100 hours in my office, I would more than happy to write a letter...not keep putting the kid on the poor backburner...

Any advice or thoughts about me actually getting in without a DDS letter from you all ?
WHY ME!

 

[toothpixie]

Hi ATX04UT--
you may have already done all of the following, but just in case:
maybe you can provide ur dentist with a copy of your personal statement-- i did that for all those i asked for an LOR. it might help get the gears rolling... sometimes even providing a list for your dentist of all the things you feel you learned from them might get them to get on the ball if they happen to be suffering from writer's block. does your school happen to have a health professions office of some sort? For those who were being late about providing LORs for their students/mentees, my school's health professions office sent out letters urging them to complete their LORs by a certain date in order not to jeopardize their student/mentee's chances.
I really hope it all works out for you soon!
Sincerely, Sujain

 

[The Musketeer]

Yes, I agree with toothpixie, just give him as much information as possible so that he has most of the guidelines already laid out. I think this will help him construct the LOR easier as well as the ability to write a more detail LOR that includes your attributes outside of the dental office.

Hi ATX04UT--
you may have already done all of the following, but just in case:
maybe you can provide ur dentist with a copy of your personal statement-- i did that for all those i asked for an LOR. it might help get the gears rolling... sometimes even providing a list for your dentist of all the things you feel you learned from them might get them to get on the ball if they happen to be suffering from writer's block. does your school happen to have a health professions office of some sort? For those who were being late about providing LORs for their students/mentees, my school's health professions office sent out letters urging them to complete their LORs by a certain date in order not to jeopardize their student/mentee's chances.
I really hope it all works out for you soon!
Sincerely, Sujain