Rec Letter- Special Case: The Letter Writer Died!

[ronathan]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for some advice here. I got a letter of recommendation from a family friend and colleague of my parents who has known me since I was a child. I asked him for a letter because he is a very well-known scientist, and has had some very highly-placed positions throughout his career. Obviously, this letter was more of a character reference, but it is still one that I would really like to use.

At this point, I have received the letter, and it is uploaded into my AMCAS application. Unfortunately, since then the letter writer has died of cancer. My question is if it is a good idea to still send the letter out to my schools? Would there be any problem with the school not being able to (obviously) contact the letter writer? Is it even ethical for me to use this letter, since the schools cannot contact him to verify the information that he wrote?

Thanks in advance for any help and/or guidance!

Addendum: If anyone reading this thread is associated with a medical school admissions office, has served on an admissions committee, or has any in-depth knowledge of the admissions process (such as a medical school advisor, or someone who works for an admissions counseling company), I would really love to hear your input! Thanks!

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[GellaBella]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for some advice here. I got a letter of recommendation from a family friend and colleague of my parents who has known me since I was a child. I asked him for a letter because he is a very well-known scientist, and has had some very highly-placed positions throughout his career. Obviously, this letter was more of a character reference, but it is still one that I would really like to use.

At this point, I have received the letter, and it is uploaded into my AMCAS application. Unfortunately, since then the letter writer has died of cancer. My question is if it is a good idea to still send the letter out to my schools? Would there be any problem with the school not being able to (obviously) contact the letter writer? Is it even ethical for me to use this letter, since the schools cannot contact him to verify the information that he wrote?

Thanks in advance for any help and/or guidance!

Addendum: If anyone reading this thread is associated with a medical school admissions office, has served on an admissions committee, or has any in-depth knowledge of the admissions process (such as a medical school advisor, or someone who works for an admissions counseling company), I would really love to hear your input! Thanks!

I think it is still okay to use the letter. I know that in my PhD program there were some older heads of laboratories and PhD students in those labs would sometimes ask or be given 5 or 6 LOR for future use...for just this purpose. I'm not sure exactly of the ethics behind it, but I don't think that schools usually contact LOR writers and I can't see how just because a person is no longer here their opinion of you should be weighed any less than someone still alive...but again, I'm not positive.

 

[LizzyM]

Unless a school specifically asks for a character reference, those letters are generally considered useless in identfying a candidate for admission.

The fact that the writer has died doesn't negate the value of the letter. If he had been your PI, I would recommend using the letter.

 

[music2doc]

A bigger concern might be the letter itself. A character reference from a family friend who has known you from childhood doesn't seem like one that will hold a lot of weight (unless he knew adcoms or something along those lines). Maybe LizzyM or another adcom could provide more concrete insight into this, or you could look through some older topics.

This was the concern that came to my mind as I read your post. "Family friends" are generally not good references. In the words of one admissions website, "While [letters from family friends] are nice momentos, they do not serve the needs of the Committee on Admissions." In other words... they're basically saying your letter is cute, but worthless from their perspective.

The exception would be if you had done something significant for this person AND s/he did not say anything referencing your personal/familial relationship with him/her.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I agree that you should not submit a letter from a family friend. My state school explicitly says that you should only send letters from people who have known you professionally or academically, and that character references are not appropriate. I am sorry to hear about the loss of your family friend, though.

 

[isoquin]

Agree with the above. Using a family friend, especially in light of misusing his status, is a bad idea. A good LOR should directly speak to your academic/research/medical achievements and strengths. If you've never worked with this man and are just using this LOR as a name-dropping, it's going to be neutral at best and work against you at worst as a sign of bad judgement. This has nothing to do with the fact he passed away, which won't be verified. Similarly, it is recommended against to have parents write letters of recommendation, even if they oversaw the applicant in a family business.