Should I use my undergraduate health committee letter?

[bigbodybenz]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping to seek advice on whether I should go through my undergraduate health committee and get a letter from them when applying to medical schools as a reapplicant for the upcoming cycle. While I assume the answer would normally be yes, there are some contextual issues that I want to discuss before making my final decision. I'll give context for myself, as an applicant, and my health committee.

For myself:
I am preparing to reapply after receiving 3 II this past cycle with 1 WL and waiting to hear back from the other 2 schools. Although I know this cycle is not over, I have to decide relatively soon whether to proceed with my undergraduate health committee for the upcoming cycle, as I did this past cycle, or to forgo their letter (per their requirements). As for my stats, I applied as an ORM, 3.76 cGPA, 3.73 sGPA, ~518 MCAT, ~800 paid clinical hours, ~250 volunteer hours, ~200 tutoring/teaching hours, and ~500 research hours. I have since strengthened parts of my application during my gap year (mostly research).

For my health committee:
My health committee not only writes me a letter, but packages ALL my letters of recommendation into one packet (I still gather my independent recommendation letters on my own). This is all and well, but my issue is that they are very untimely with the completion of this packet. For reference, my letter packet reached schools during the middle of September this past cycle, which is considered early for them. I completed all my secondaries by late July (within 2 weeks of receiving them). I know many others who had their packet submitted even later. With how competitive medical school applications are, I know that timing is a huge factor in gaining interviews and subsequent acceptances. Not only that, but seeking a letter from them is quite expensive as well.

As for my questions:
Should I seek another letter from them for this upcoming cycle? How much of a detriment is completing my application in mid-September? If I choose to not use the committee letter, I know that I will have to explain why for some schools; is explaining their late submission a good enough response? Are there any other applicants out there that applied without their health committee and experienced success?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and answer if you do.

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[LizzyM]

I suspect that many adcoms have no idea that the undergrad school charges for the letter. I am usually a big proponent of the committee letter but in this case, I think that you can say that the cost and the mid-September release of the committee letter led to your decision to forego it.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

How expensive is it?

I sympathize with you about any office that places a charge for letters. Not that many university administrators give enough protected time and money to subsidize the effort made to offer this service. That said, if they have all of your letters already and none of them need updating, it should be easier to get those letters sent for you. Find out and let them argue to you that they are worth the cost, given your past experience with them. If anything, view this like you were a customer (I cringe at that thought). If they lost your trust despite paying them to deliver for you the last time, why pay again?

You should be able to explain this if asked, but more importantly, you need a plan to get your letters to the schools sooner.

 

[bigbodybenz]

How expensive is it?

I sympathize with you about any office that places a charge for letters. Not that many university administrators give enough protected time and money to subsidize the effort made to offer this service. That said, if they have all of your letters already and none of them need updating, it should be easier to get those letters sent for you. Find out and let them argue to you that they are worth the cost, given your past experience with them. If anything, view this like you were a customer (I cringe at that thought). If they lost your trust despite paying them to deliver for you the last time, why pay again?

You should be able to explain this if asked, but more importantly, you need a plan to get your letters to the schools sooner.

To be honest, it's not very expensive with respect to the total cost of applying to medical schools, but still a decent chunk of change in my eyes (it's 200$). I will definitely plan to meet with the head of the committee to ask if my letters can be sent sooner, but they usually stick to their "8-week guarantee" where they promise to send the committee packet 8 weeks after your primary is verified. For me this cycle, because my transcripts came out on 6/10, my primary wasn't complete until mid-June and was verified mid-July. In every instance of talking with around ~50ish pre-medical students that applied in previous cycles and this cycle, not a single packet was ever sent out before the 8-week guarantee date. Because of that, I'm not hopeful that they will send my letter sooner, despite it being written out already.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

it's 200$

Yikes! And advisors complain about how much PREview and Casper cost the students...