rec letter question~

[jujubug]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hope you guys are doing well =]

I'm applying for the 2009 cycle...thinking of rec's these days..
Will be taking by DAT in April..

About the rec, I am currently doing a research in a lab but I am simultaneously getting credit for it. I spend about 12 hours per week and at the end of quarter, I will be handing in a paper and my PI will grade it.

I have developed a good relationship with the PI...I was wondering whether he can be counted as one of three/two scientific professors for the rec letter requirement..cause I read from USC's website that I need "lecture-based" class professors.

Thanks!!!!

 

[TheWiredNerv]

Even if USC doesn't count it, I would still get a letter of rec from someone who knows you very well.

 

[jujubug]

so for other schools though, this is okay to be considered?? because I heard schools don't see the research class as a real class??

thank u!!

 

[Hysteria24]

For most schools I’d say you would be ok. They just want a professor to evaluate you. I do know that USC is strict with their request for a “lecture-based” professor. At my interview they passed out sheets to everyone with what they still needed in order to complete their file. The guy next to me needed an additional two letters from science professors because the ones he had were from lab classes. Seems a bit counterintuitive to me, since a professor in a lab class probably gets to know the students better, but oh well.

 

[cobalt31]

I'm confused about letters of rec to dental school too. I'll be getting a commitee letter from my school based off of 2 lab professors in chemistry (my major) and an english professor. where can i find what kinds of recommendation requirements schools have? I looked in the ADEA dental guide but they don't even mention recommendations in there. Some schools I hear also require letters from dentists. If these are the only 3 recs im planning on getting, does that mean i should scratch off any school with requirements above that? does the fact that im getting a committee letter soften more specific requirements that may only be for people who can't get committee letters?

 

[firecracked]

I'm confused about letters of rec to dental school too. I'll be getting a commitee letter from my school based off of 2 lab professors in chemistry (my major) and an english professor. where can i find what kinds of recommendation requirements schools have? I looked in the ADEA dental guide but they don't even mention recommendations in there. Some schools I hear also require letters from dentists. If these are the only 3 recs im planning on getting, does that mean i should scratch off any school with requirements above that? does the fact that im getting a committee letter soften more specific requirements that may only be for people who can't get committee letters?

If you go to each school's website, they'll have their LOR requirements listed. I think schools actually prefer committee letters. I believe on your application there is space for 4 LORs, you have space to add a letter from a dentist.

You may ask your school about how many letters you can submit for your committee letter. My school recommends at least 5 LORs from various professors for their committee letter, so I have space to get letters from all the various professors dental schools ask for.

 

[tamkhan]

Some schools are finicky about LORs, others are not. Some will specifically require LORs from a Chemistry of Biology professor, others will just need 'science' professors to put in a good word for you.
For most schools, you will be fine if you get a letter from a research PI.

 

[whlee84]

This has been a useful thread...got a few questions myself.

I know 4 is the max # of letters we can send. I am definitely getting one letter from a dentist I shadowed, and one letter from a doctor I worked for. This leaves me with 2 letters from academic professors. Do you think I'll be fine with these letters? I don't plan to get a committee letter, so it'll be from 2 individual science professors.

(I noticed that schools have certain preferences on what letters to get from specific individuals...how strict are they with this?)

 

[tamkhan]

The limit of 4 is with AADSAS; this means that you can send more letters to schools if you wish. You can use services like http://interfolio.com/ to get this done.

4 letters are enough, in my opinion. I only had 3 (one from a dentist and 2 from science professors). If a school asks for a specific LOR (Chem or Bio), they usually are strict about it.

 

[Hysteria24]

This has been a useful thread...got a few questions myself.

I know 4 is the max # of letters we can send. I am definitely getting one letter from a dentist I shadowed, and one letter from a doctor I worked for. This leaves me with 2 letters from academic professors. Do you think I'll be fine with these letters? I don't plan to get a committee letter, so it'll be from 2 individual science professors.

(I noticed that schools have certain preferences on what letters to get from specific individuals...how strict are they with this?)

4 letters are definitely enough (according to a couple admissions people). They stated that if the first couple are all in agreement, then there is really no point to read the rest.

Just be careful that you fulfill all the requirements for the different schools. Based on all the schools I was applying to I needed over six separate letters to fulfill all the schools requests. Here is some more discussion on that matter and ways around it including interfolo:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=389882

 

[jujubug]

Thanks For All Your Input!! =]

 

[dr bojangles]

yes, definitely check with each school.
i'm doing at least 2 from science professors. not sure about liberal arts rec. i'm actually in grad school so i actually dont have any liberal arts courses anymore. i might also try from my PI, and maybe my dentist i shadow. i think i should be fine.

 

[cobalt31]

yes, definitely check with each school.
i'm doing at least 2 from science professors. not sure about liberal arts rec. i'm actually in grad school so i actually dont have any liberal arts courses anymore. i might also try from my PI, and maybe my dentist i shadow. i think i should be fine.

It's annoying that I have to go to each schools website to see their letter of recommendation protocol. Each school is different! Why on earth does the ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools not include this? It would be ever so useful. Is there no compilation anywhere of this information?

boo!

 

[CMistry]

Is the PI a PhD? I'm not sure how much schools really care about that but my school's pre-health committee made us make sure they were. Otherwise I say YEAH definitely get a reference from someone who knows you well!! It will be a much better recommendation than the typical "He got an A in my class" rec!

-Cyrus

 

[tinman831]

Just FYI, most schools require either a committee letter or X number of LORs. You don't need both.

 

[Aiyah]

I got a committee letter which included my LORs from 5 profs that I had asked. I think most schools require at least 2 science and then the 1 dentist or 1 other.

I actually got an LOR from the professor whose lab I was interning in. The internship was listed as a class with units on my transcript, but he didn't lecture me so it wasn't a "lecture-based prof" and that letter was still accepted as a science one.

If you are applying to a shorter list of schools, like maybe 5-10, you might consider calling each.

Good luck!

 

[UW09]

I don't see how you can get around the system because aadsas sends all the letters to all the school. So lets say I need 6 letters to satisfy all the requirements for all the school. I send four to aadsas (max) and they send ALL the letters to ALL the school which means I will have to send the 2 extra letters to the specific school (the ones that have a weird requirement) meaning that school would get six letters (I dont think they d be to happy about getting six letters). Some schools specifically ask you to go through aadsas which becomes problematic.

I always thought that you could select which of the 4 letters to send to which school but I was told that aadsas sends all 4 letters to all schools you apply to. Anyone know a way to get around this... without a school receiving 6+ letters?

 

[axum]

I don't see how you can get around the system because aadsas sends all the letters to all the school. So lets say I need 6 letters to satisfy all the requirements for all the school. I send four to aadsas (max) and they send ALL the letters to ALL the school which means I will have to send the 2 extra letters to the specific school (the ones that have a weird requirement) meaning that school would get six letters (I dont think they d be to happy about getting six letters). Some schools specifically ask you to go through aadsas which becomes problematic.

I always thought that you could select which of the 4 letters to send to which school but I was told that aadsas sends all 4 letters to all schools you apply to. Anyone know a way to get around this... without a school receiving 6+ letters?

then you have to send out all of your letters to each school separately through LOE. I did that at UW. it didnt end up costing too much. I think its about $4 per different address, no matter how many letters you send.

 

[UW09]

then you have to send out all of your letters to each school separately through LOE. I did that at UW. it didnt end up costing too much. I think its about $4 per different address, no matter how many letters you send.

I personally would prefer to send my letters separately to each school through loe serivces but a couple of schools require you to use aadsas.

 

[axum]

I personally would prefer to send my letters separately to each school through loe serivces but a couple of schools require you to use aadsas.

right. thats when you have to decide whether you really want to apply and potentially attend those schools.

However, I do know a student who is UW class of 2011 that sent letters through AADSAS and LOE simultaneously, just to make sure that schools received them. The schools that he applied to received the letters 2x, most likely, but he was still accepted. He did have ridiculously high DAT scores and GPA, though, so I would be vary of doing that if you are not in the same boat.

Having applied and been accepted to several schools this year, my advice would be to go over your list of schools and really narrow it down to where you truly truly truly want to go if you have the stats to get in. From there, maybe you could knock off some of those schools that are picky about letters. You have to remember that in the long run, you will be getting a DDS/DMD degree from any school that you attend.

Is ASDOH the school that is messing up your plan to use LOE?

 

[slick90210]

Hey regarding LOR, If i knew the dean of clinical dentistry at UWO (canadian university) should i get one from him?

This may seem like a no brainer "of course you should" type of question but the fact is, would schools be curious how I have such a relationship but didn't get into that school, considering that is the situation?

 

[sushi320]

This might be a dumb question. But was thinking of handing in my application around the end of june. Can I still have rec letters sent to the schools after the Application is sent? Cause i was hoping to do some volunteering/lab work over the summer to get the rest of my rec... I mean they don't look at your rec letters till they evaluate your applications right? and that doesn't happen right after you hand it in?

 

[already954]

jujubug,

I was in the exact same position that you were in. I had close to 1000 hrs of research with my PI and still it was not accepted as a science letter at all schools. However I was asked at every interview about my research. Your PI letter will really help you stand out in an interview.

I sugges that you try to use your PI's letter as a science letter, bu have a letter from another lecture based professor prepared as a backup in case a school won't count it. Then if they ask for another letter you can send it immediately.

 

[dr bojangles]

This might be a dumb question. But was thinking of handing in my application around the end of june. Can I still have rec letters sent to the schools after the Application is sent? Cause i was hoping to do some volunteering/lab work over the summer to get the rest of my rec... I mean they don't look at your rec letters till they evaluate your applications right? and that doesn't happen right after you hand it in?

yes LORs can be sent after the AADSAS app is sent. AADSAS will send out your app once all is verified (transcripts, etc......~4 weeks), and they will send it regardless of receiving your LORs. i think they understand that once you ask your recommenders for letters, its kinda out of your hands. the ball is in the court of the recommenders to send it to AADSAS (if you're pushy! ), and then AADSAS will forward those onto the schools if your app was sent already.

 

[sushi320]

I thought that the LOR was suppose to be sent directly to the schools(i heard you can even do it by email now). Are they suppose to be sent to AASDAS?

 

[whlee84]

So I have 4 LOR that is being sent via AASDAS. Somewhere I read that a 5th LOR can be sent in addition to these 4 LOR...how can I send this one? It can't be done electronically, so should I just mail a paper copy directly to the schools?? Or can the 5th LOR be sent through AASDAS as well??

Thanks.

 

[Hysteria24]

So I have 4 LOR that is being sent via AASDAS. Somewhere I read that a 5th LOR can be sent in addition to these 4 LOR...how can I send this one? It can't be done electronically, so should I just mail a paper copy directly to the schools?? Or can the 5th LOR be sent through AASDAS as well??

Thanks.

A 5th letter cannot be sent to AADSAS. Call the school you want to send it to and let them know. If they'll accept it (many will), they will require your letter writer to send it directly to them.

 

[DrYanKu]

when are the LOR's due? are they due along with the AMCAS application or secondary? I am totally clueless, please someone help me.

 

[Bruinlove]

when are the LOR's due? are they due along with the AMCAS application or secondary? I am totally clueless, please someone help me.

This is pre-dental forum.

 

[MrLebowski]

Thanks for resurfacing this thread somehow. I've been nearing cardiac arrest contemplating whether my PI's letter will count as a science prof, and this at least gives me some peace of mind.

I have one from my PI, one from a bio lelcture prof, one from a dentist, and another from another bio prof that won't be in until mid-July.

Would I be safe to say I can rest somewhat assured that most schools who require 2 science profs, with the notable/ridiculously bafflingly frustrating exception of USC, will be cool with what I have in my file right now?

That'd be nice, because I think my AADSAS is about to be done processing, and in that case only USC's file would be incomplete.

Thanks for your wisdom.

 

[Bruinlove]

Thanks for resurfacing this thread somehow. I've been nearing cardiac arrest contemplating whether my PI's letter will count as a science prof, and this at least gives me some peace of mind.

I have one from my PI, one from a bio lelcture prof, one from a dentist, and another from another bio prof that won't be in until mid-July.

Would I be safe to say I can rest somewhat assured that most schools who require 2 science profs, with the notable/ridiculously bafflingly frustrating exception of USC, will be cool with what I have in my file right now?

That'd be nice, because I think my AADSAS is about to be done processing, and in that case only USC's file would be incomplete.

Thanks for your wisdom.

I have read some posts saying that schools like Columbia give out interviews to those with only 2 letters from science prof.

And I think someone said USC does the same thing, but gives you a list of missing materials on the interview day, so you can submit them before admission.

 

[aparmatic]

is it possible to send one LOR from a dentist, a committee letter, and one LOR from a science professor to AADSAS? the committe letter would be based on the letters from the 2 dentists and the science prof-- would it be redundant to send the committee letter along with two letters which it was based on?

thanks!