Sending 4 LORS

[bowlofmushypeas]

Alright, so I know this was addressed in one thread but the responses were pretty controversial.

If a program asks for "3 letters" -- i.e., not minimum of 3 or only 3, how bad is it to just send 4? It's hard to decide between 2 of mine and as a naturally indecisive person, I'm hoping I can just send 4 for peace of mind. In the other thread, one person mentioned that this is perceived by programs to be a negative since it's more work for readers and is perceived as not being able to follow directions. For what it's worth, I'm applying peds.

Help me decide. Please. Applications are awful. Couples matching is awful. They should just let us all in.

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[Stellar Clouds]

You'll be fine sending 4. If you were applying ortho, I would tell you to only send 3 if that's what the website states...ortho goes above and beyond to weed out applicants, pediatrics not so much.

 

[bowlofmushypeas]

bump

 

[MS87]

if it doesn't say "no more than 3" you're fine

 

[Sir Gillies]

Where did you read that programs want only 3 letters. I thought the more the better. I'm applying to plastics and general surgery, any ideas of where I should check?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bowlofmushypeas]

Where did you read that programs want only 3 letters. I thought the more the better. I'm applying to plastics and general surgery, any ideas of where I should check?

Thanks in advance!

I checked the program websites. For peds, certain programs specify that they want chairman/departmental letters so we're supposed to check the sites to figure out which ones want that. As I started doing it, I noticed that programs either say at least 3, at least 2, or they'll say, 3 letters. None I've come across actually say no more than 3.

 

[MS87]

I checked the program websites. For peds, certain programs specify that they want chairman/departmental letters so we're supposed to check the sites to figure out which ones want that. As I started doing it, I noticed that programs either say at least 3, at least 2, or they'll say, 3 letters. None I've come across actually say no more than 3.

So what's the worst that could happen if the website doesn't say no more than 3 and you send the ERAS maximum of 4???

 

[Raryn]

I checked the program websites. For peds, certain programs specify that they want chairman/departmental letters so we're supposed to check the sites to figure out which ones want that. As I started doing it, I noticed that programs either say at least 3, at least 2, or they'll say, 3 letters. None I've come across actually say no more than 3.

Just send your chairman letter+3 others to every program. Even if they don't explicitly say it on their website, every program will be used to the normal of the departmental/chairman letter (at least from AMGs).

 

[bowlofmushypeas]

Just send your chairman letter+3 others to every program. Even if they don't explicitly say it on their website, every program will be used to the normal of the departmental/chairman letter (at least from AMGs).

Well I'm avoiding sending the chairman letter except to places that require it since peds is tending that way which I realize is different from med, surg, etc. I'm thinking of sending 4 attending lors

 

[FloatOn]

Follow-up question to OP's: is it okay if all 4 of our letters are from faculty in our specialty, e.g. all 4 from peds? Or do programs like seeing variety, i.e. 2-3 in our specialty and 1-2 from any faculty of our choice? Thanks!

 

[NotAProgDirector]

It's fine either way. In some fields (like surgery), surgical letters are preferred. You really can't go wrong having all 4 letters from your chosen specialty.

 

[mvenus929]

Follow-up question to OP's: is it okay if all 4 of our letters are from faculty in our specialty, e.g. all 4 from peds? Or do programs like seeing variety, i.e. 2-3 in our specialty and 1-2 from any faculty of our choice? Thanks!

It depends on the specialty, but you won't ever be faulted for having only letters in your specialty of choice. Some programs like if you include letters from those outside the field (Peds is one), but other prefer only letters from the field (I get the impression that Surgery and IM are like this).