Reference letter Help!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

matrix570

Full Member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
48
Reaction score
0
Hey guys I'm applying to all the private dental school this year, and I need to know...

1. AADSAS says I can send 4 letters of recommendation. So, is it 2 letters from sci-profs and 2 from anyone?

2. I heard Columbia requires 3 Sci prof letters, what other schools require
3 prof letters too?

3. how many letters do I need from people who are not professors? is it different depending on schools too?
 
I think the general requirement is 2 sci professors and 1 dentist. It differs for some schools like some say 1 sci, 1 dentist, 1 other, etc but I actually haven't checked up on that yet so I'll be keeping an eye on people's replies too 😀
 
I applied to 19 schools and most of them required 2 science and 1 dentist. I don't think any required other classes(such as humanities, etc). Some schools required a third science lor, so I just asked another prof for a letter and mailed out all 4 to AADSAS. I was safe with these 4(3 sci + 1 dentist) with all the schools I applied to.
 
Can you remember which schools required more than 2 sci-prof letters??
 
Best bet is to call up the schools and ask if they don't have their info on their website.
 
Can you remember which schools required more than 2 sci-prof letters??

Sorry I don't remember them. I didn't really research much about LoR, which was a mistake. Luckily, everything I had was enough. If you have free time now, just try to get another one to be safe. The prof might write you a good one and give another perspective about you that the others haven't covered. The maximum that AADSAS allows is 4 LoR(or a committee letter).
 
Let's say I sent all 3 sci prof-letters to AADSAS. But most schools require only 2 prof-letters. Then how would they know which ones to choose out of those 3?

I called my friends and he said Columbia requires more than 3..but he said there are a few more schools ...
 
That's a good question. I'm not sure what they do with the extra one. I guess they have either the choice of reading all of them or just selecting the first 2 they see. It all depends on them. But I think they would read them all. Many of my friends did this, so don't be afraid if a prof's letter may be weaker than the others. I would recommend sending 3 science, but only do so if you have time. If not, just research those schools that require 3 and mail it to them.
 
I don't think the schools mind getting an extra letter---they know most schools only accept things through AADSAS. Just be aware that some schools require specific science letters ( I don't know if you applied to any of these schools but an example is WVU). I had 5 letters sent to some schools.

This is because I initially applied to 10 schools in late september then added another 10 later that had different requirements and had to send a bunch of letters out by hand. Also, my dentist was not an interenet / scan/ email person so they asked if they could just mail 20 copies instead of posting online. It should be fine. I think most schools say that you CAN send more recommendations if you feel it will help but that it won't necessarily do anything.

Good luck!
 
Top