Should I Bypass the Committee ?

[aspiring20]

I am applying this coming cycle, and I am thinking about skipping the committee letter. I graduated a few years ago and now live far far away from my alma mater, a ranked LAC.

The problem is, the LAC is pretty well known among medical schools, so I am wondering if it is wise to skip the committee letter.

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[Euxox]

I am applying this coming cycle, and I am thinking about skipping the committee letter. I graduated a few years ago and now live far far away from my alma mater, a ranked LAC.

The problem is, the LAC is pretty well known among medical schools, so I am wondering if it is wise to skip the committee letter.

Why don't you want the committee letter? If you come from a well-known school, it should hold a good deal of weight with adcoms. Are you afraid that your committee won't give you a strong recommendation?

 

[ChemNerd07]

I skipped on it. Our 'pre med' advisor is known for writing bad 'committee' letters. We don't really have a committee here though.

 

[aspiring20]

Why don't you want the committee letter? If you come from a well-known school, it should hold a good deal of weight with adcoms. Are you afraid that your committee won't give you a strong recommendation?

precisely.

i have a 3.6 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA (3.2 from alma mater, raised it to a 3.3 via postbacc) and a 35 MCAT. i have good ECs, but nothing to show for my 2 years of scientific research. i am also leaning towards DO.

my school doesn't consider postbacc work in its committee letter, so they'll be writing a letter based on a 3.2 sGPA instead of a 3.3 sGPA.

besides, i can get up to six individual letters on my own, and i really do not want to deal with my school's committee.

 

[Euxox]

precisely.

i have a 3.6 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA (3.2 from alma mater, raised it to a 3.3 via postbacc) and a 35 MCAT. i have good ECs, but nothing to show for my 2 years of scientific research. i am also leaning towards DO.

my school doesn't consider postbacc work in its committee letter, so they'll be writing a letter based on a 3.2 sGPA instead of a 3.3 sGPA.

besides, i can get up to six individual letters on my own, and i really do not want to deal with my school's committee.

I don't think there is a huge difference between a 3.2 and a 3.3. And even if your committee only mentions your undergrad GPA, your postbacc GPA will be clearly visible on your primary application, so the GPA thing is probably a non-issue.

I would recommend calling up your premed committee and ask them how they view your application. If they say that you need to take another year to raise your GPA because it is too low, then they will probably write you a weak recommendation, so you might want to avoid the letter. But it is entirely possible that they will decide that your ECs and MCAT make up for your GPA and that you might be a competitive applicant. In that case you might as well get the committee letter.

 

[aspiring20]

I think you should call up your premed committee and ask them how they view your application. If they say that you need to take another year to raise your GPA because it is too low, then they will probably write you a weak recommendation, so you might want to avoid the letter. But it is entirely possible that they will decide that your ECs and MCAT make up for your GPA and that you might be a competitive applicant. In that case you might as well get the committee letter. So I would recommend calling them before making a decision.

like most committees, mine ranks applicant on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest. 3 is actually called "recommend", but those that get this level of evaluation typically have well less than 50% of getting into a single school. given the sheer volume of 3.8+ 36+ spectacular research candidates at my school, i am not going to risk my future

 

[VisceralFlame]

A committee letter is not a necessity, but some of the secondaries will ask you to explain why you chose not to get one (if your school offers them). Not a big deal, but be ready to answer that if you don't get one

 

[aspiring20]

A committee letter is not a necessity, but some of the secondaries will ask you to explain why you chose not to get one (if your school offers them). Not a big deal, but be ready to answer that if you don't get one

got it

 

[Narmerguy]

I was asked about my lack of a committee letter at one of my interviews, and the interviewer actually contacted my school's premed committee to wonder why I didn't seek them out for a letter. I don't know if this is common practice for that school, I doubt it, but clearly it is done.

 

[theseeker4]

like most committees, mine ranks applicant on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest. 3 is actually called "recommend", but those that get this level of evaluation typically have well less than 50% of getting into a single school. given the sheer volume of 3.8+ 36+ spectacular research candidates at my school, i am not going to risk my future

What is the percentage of students from your school that apply without a committee letter and are admitted? Citing the 50% stat without the other data makes that stat pretty meaningless. Not getting the committee letter won't be an automatic kiss of death, and it may matter even less for DO schools, but know that you are risking hurting your application by not having one, just as a poor committee recommendation will hurt your application. Carefully weigh the risks and benefits of each option against one another to decide which will give you the better chance of admission. You could also meet with the committee and discuss what level of recommendation they will be providing, and base whether you want to use their letter on what they say.......

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I am applying this coming cycle, and I am thinking about skipping the committee letter. I graduated a few years ago and now live far far away from my alma mater, a ranked LAC.

The problem is, the LAC is pretty well known among medical schools, so I am wondering if it is wise to skip the committee letter.

Is there a way for you to use the committee and decline to go with them if they don't offer you a strong letter? That seems like the best choice IMO

 

[aspiring20]

Is there a way for you to use the committee and decline to go with them if they don't offer you a strong letter? That seems like the best choice IMO

someone else has told me this option, but can i actually do it? once i meet with the committee, aren't i automatically committed to using the letter?

i never knew that you can just walk away AFTER meeting with a committee.

 

[aspiring20]

I was asked about my lack of a committee letter at one of my interviews, and the interviewer actually contacted my school's premed committee to wonder why I didn't seek them out for a letter. I don't know if this is common practice for that school, I doubt it, but clearly it is done.

haha, looking at the schools you interviewed at, it is no wonder that they would be picky down to the last detail. i am not even in the same tier as you are as an applicant, and i doubt the schools i'll be looking at won't care much.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

someone else has told me this option, but can i actually do it? once i meet with the committee, aren't i automatically committed to using the letter?

i never knew that you can just walk away AFTER meeting with a committee.

You should email them ASAP and find out- I presume it's different for different colleges
If they say no, and they say that they can't provide you a strong letter, then you may have to make an excuse about how the timing is off so you can't use the committee. It sucks to "lie" but you really want to put your best foot forward and if they don't give you the option of refusing to use the committee then I wouldn't know what else to do. But I have heard it is good to use the committees

 

[Narmerguy]

haha, looking at the schools you interviewed at, it is no wonder that they would be picky down to the last detail. i am not even in the same tier as you are as an applicant, and i doubt the schools i'll be looking at won't care much.

I don't know your application, but I bet many schools will still consider you worth doing their due diligence. In fact, where the MCAT scores don't pop out at them, the committee letter could give them the potential to see how the applicant is greater than their scores may at first glance suggest...

However, that's no guarantee. I'm certainly not suggesting that it's always in an applicant's best interest to get the letter. In fact, if I could go back and do this again, I probably still wouldn't have gotten a letter, though this isn't because I think the letter would have hurt me. I entered the application season with the mindset that if a school was going to reject me for not having the letter, so be it. I was prepared to accept the consequences. So long as you have a good explanation ready when asked why you don't have it, and so long as you are convinced that you'll be fine without it, and so long as you're willing to accept the consequences that come with it, I think some people are fine without it.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

I've been wondering about this too given my extremely low GPA. is it usually an automatic death sentence getting a committee letter with a low GPA? now I'm worried lol

 

[aspiring20]

I've been wondering about this too given my extremely low GPA. is it usually an automatic death sentence getting a committee letter with a low GPA? now I'm worried lol

it wont be a death sentence, but you probably shouldn't expect a strong committee letter with a low GPA when your peers all have 3.8+, especially if your committee compares you to your peers

 

[compstomper]

I am applying this coming cycle, and I am thinking about skipping the committee letter. I graduated a few years ago and now live far far away from my alma mater, a ranked LAC.

The problem is, the LAC is pretty well known among medical schools, so I am wondering if it is wise to skip the committee letter.

While I can only add my own experience to the mix, I think it'll serve as fair warning to others. I have friends from a few schools who had their applications delayed due to the fact that the committees were late in submitting their letters to AMCAS, so much so that some people were ready in June, but didn't get their committee letter until August/September. In light of this, if you know that your own committee has a history of submitting late letters, then please consider the opportunity cost of having a late application. I myself did forgo a committee letter (precisely due to the aforementioned reason/fear), and ended up with fairly good results. I'm not sure I would have been as successful if my letter was delayed for various reasons by the committee.

 

[Zelda840]

I didn't get my committee letter until the end of October. If I don't get in this cycle, I'm definitely just going with the individual letters for the next go-round.

 

[PreMedOrDead]

I didn't read any other comments in this thread, but:

Being several years out of your undergrad is plenty of time to list that you did not obtain a committee letter because it had been too long a period of time for them to provide an accurate representation of you. If you think that other recommendations will provide better accounts and stronger backing of your application, without a doubt bypass your committee letter altogether and only use those.

Good luck.

 

[annawmc]

I didn't read any other comments in this thread, but:

Being several years out of your undergrad is plenty of time to list that you did not obtain a committee letter because it had been too long a period of time for them to provide an accurate representation of you. If you think that other recommendations will provide better accounts and stronger backing of your application, without a doubt bypass your committee letter altogether and only use those.

Good luck.

^ This. I applied this cycle having graduated a few years ago. I had other recommendations that more accurately reflected what I had done since graduating and were stronger letters than a committee letter would have been at this point. I didn't have a single person ask me why I didn't get a committee letter, and I have multiple acceptances (with average stats) so it couldn't have hurt me too bad. Focus on getting great letters instead from people who know you as you are now.