Specifically hoping to get an adcom perspective on this so asking @LizzyM @Goro @Moko (let me know if there's any other adcoms on here). Gonna be vague since I don't want to get identified.
Applying this cycle and trying to sort out my LORs for schools. I have a clinical letter from a physician, 2 glowing letters from research PIs and 2 other activities that are more service/volunteer oriented:
Both activities had a lot of impact, activity A was at a hospital, working with a particular underserved patient population (think homeless etc.). Devised/piloted a protocol that greatly improved outcomes and was implemented in a bunch of other hospitals in the area. The LOR here is from an admin, and it wasn't necessarily a super clinical activity. I labeled it non clinical.
Activity B was a service program I founded for underserved communities, which was sponsored by a big name and expanded nationally. I saw my LOR from this, it's very strong and also 3x the hours from activity A. It's also a MME.
In choosing LOR's, I am always choosing B over A if there's a LOR limit, but if there's no limit, I have:
1 prof
2 PIs
1 service
1 physician
This already totals 5 - should I be including the LOR from A? I think it will be strong, but every school seems to say "We don't have a limit, but quality > quantity". Will not having a LOR from a activity with a lot of impact be a red flag? Especially when I provided all the contact details and my contact will gladly verify everything.
Applying this cycle and trying to sort out my LORs for schools. I have a clinical letter from a physician, 2 glowing letters from research PIs and 2 other activities that are more service/volunteer oriented:
Both activities had a lot of impact, activity A was at a hospital, working with a particular underserved patient population (think homeless etc.). Devised/piloted a protocol that greatly improved outcomes and was implemented in a bunch of other hospitals in the area. The LOR here is from an admin, and it wasn't necessarily a super clinical activity. I labeled it non clinical.
Activity B was a service program I founded for underserved communities, which was sponsored by a big name and expanded nationally. I saw my LOR from this, it's very strong and also 3x the hours from activity A. It's also a MME.
In choosing LOR's, I am always choosing B over A if there's a LOR limit, but if there's no limit, I have:
1 prof
2 PIs
1 service
1 physician
This already totals 5 - should I be including the LOR from A? I think it will be strong, but every school seems to say "We don't have a limit, but quality > quantity". Will not having a LOR from a activity with a lot of impact be a red flag? Especially when I provided all the contact details and my contact will gladly verify everything.
