Should I get an extra reference letter???

[MGoBlue13]

I have a question for ya'll.

So my applications have been complete for a LONG time. I've had some interviews at good schools, but so far none of the schools that interest me most, such as Penn, Harvard, Duke, Hopkins, etc., have given me interviews.

My stats are very good, and so are my EC's. However, I did not send a reference letter from any professors that I did research with. Would it help my application alot if I were to seek out a recommendation from a professor that I was published with?

And I've already sent all of my secondaries with my original reference letters in.... how should I send in the new ones?

Thanks ya'll, and good luck.

M

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[Adcadet]

you sent in your LORs with your secondary? Did you see them? I thought med schools liked to think that they were confidential and not read by the applicant.

 

[MGoBlue13]

I meant to say that I had them sent at the time of my secondary.... damn, if I had seen them, maybe I could have weeded out the bad ones.

 

[siempre595]

I just asked for an additional rec from the prof i do research with, mostly because I needed a character reference for one school and all my letters were academic. I provided a bunch of envelopes and stamps and begged him to send it directly to all 16 schools. Luckily he's super nice and wrote the letter within about two days and mailed it out to every place. i think that's the quickest and most direct way to get it there. I haven't had interviews yet, but I've heard from the med students in my lab that many felt that letters from research profs were extremely helpful in their admission. So i'd say you should get one and give it a try. The schools you're talking about are huge on reserach (as I'm sure you know), so it's only going to help you if the letter is good. Plus it shows you remain interested.

 

[siempre595]

I just asked for an additional rec from the prof i do research with, mostly because I needed a character reference for one school and all my letters were academic. Luckily he's super nice and wrote the letter within about two days and mailed it out to every place (at my expense, but it's worth it). i think that's the quickest and most direct way to get it there. I haven't had interviews yet, but I've heard from the med students in my lab that many felt that letters from research profs were extremely helpful in their admission. So i'd say you should get one and give it a try. The schools you're talking about are huge on reserach (as I'm sure you know), so it's only going to help you if the letter is good. Plus it shows you remain interested.