Recommendation Letter Question

[JohnDoeDDS]

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Hi guys. Quick question. Do I need a letter of recommendation from my whole department for dental school. Or can I select two or three recommendation letters from individual professors and mail that out?

I would much rather choose a professor to write it for me as opposed to having every professor write a little something. Please let me know ASAP. Thanks everyone.

 

[xylashellx]

if youre school has a committee do that. this means that your committee sends out a questionare type of thing to many teachers and they fill it out. the head of the group ends up writing you your letter. (it helps if you know this person personally as well). along with that you have the committee letter sent with your other letters of rec (dentist, volunteer work boss, etc.) so they all come in one easy packet. when you ask someone for a letter of rec you give them the committee adress. i had a group letter written by the head of my department and also had 4 other letters from other people (denists, boss, etc.)

dont know if everyone did this or if every committee is the same but this is how it went at LMU. hope this helps.

 

[howui3]

If you don't have a commitee, then ask individual professors for a letter of rec. That's how I did it.

Make sure to check the requirements for each school you are thinking of applying. Some want 2 from science, others want another one form a dentist, so check to make sure.

Good luck.

 

[marinojones]

ok great....so must you have letters sent to aadsas directly from your professors, or do you have them sent to you and then you can send them all together in one envelope? and if a dentist LOR is needed, where do they have their letter sent for you...directly to each school, or to aadsas and they have the dentists' sent? 👍

 

[tinman831]

ok great....so must you have letters sent to aadsas directly from your professors, or do you have them sent to you and then you can send them all together in one envelope? and if a dentist LOR is needed, where do they have their letter sent for you...directly to each school, or to aadsas and they have the dentists' sent? 👍

Only a few schools allow you to send LORs directly to the school. You have to contact the school to make sure. If you want to mail the letters to schools yourself, make sure the letters are sealed by the writer (whether they are from a professor or dentist) and they can mail it directly to the school or you can mail them yourself.

If you want to go through AADSAS, all your professors/dentists would write a letter and mail it directly to AADSAS, where they will forward the letters to schools.

 

[Galen1]

Only a few schools allow you to send LORs directly to the school. You have to contact the school to make sure. If you want to mail the letters to schools yourself, make sure the letters are sealed by the writer (whether they are from a professor or dentist) and they can mail it directly to the school or you can mail them yourself.

If you want to go through AADSAS, all your professors/dentists would write a letter and mail it directly to AADSAS, where they will forward the letters to schools.

The best thing to do is to gather all the letters in fully addressed, sealed and signed envelopes from the Professors (preferably in their department's letterhead) and then stick them in a big package and send them by courier to AADSAS to make sure they get them. It's better than having 3 or 4 letters out there floating around as snail mail...

 

[JohnDoeDDS]

my school has a comitee I think. Some kids are doing that. But I would prefer to get it form individual professors. I guess thats fine right? I also will have one from a dentist that I shadowed and am still shadowing now!

So you guys think thats fine if I dont have one by the comitee? It is not a requirement is it?

 

[Galen1]

I got in fine without a commitee letter, it doesn't affect anything. Just make sure you get at least 3 letters in from profs + 1 from the dentist you're shadowing with. Good luck!

 

[JohnDoeDDS]

awesom! Thanks.

 

[Chrono1984]

My school has a committee as well. We actually have to interview with a handful of them. Its good practice for real interviewing and they find out more about you for the letter. They also require 3 additional LORs that they incoroporate into the committee evaluation.

 

[syn_apse]

adios amigos 😴

 

[floydthefish]

If you don't have a commitee, then ask individual professors for a letter of rec. That's how I did it.

Make sure to check the requirements for each school you are thinking of applying. Some want 2 from science, others want another one form a dentist, so check to make sure.

Good luck.

I doubt I'll have a letter of rec from a dentist. I'm working full-time and taking prereq classes in the evenings and weekends. No time for volunteering, that's for sure. My GPA is >3.8 and I have a Masters Degree in a different field. Does anyone think this will be a problem?