Undergrad premedical adviser letter after two gap years?

[lifeofmedicine]

Normally, most schools recommend getting the premedical advisor/committee letter.

However, I am taking two gap years and feel that the premed adviser did not know me well and I did not know him well. I also already have other recommendations lined up from my undergrad years and have recommendations from my gap years.

Would it look bad if I didn't get a letter from my undergrad premed adviser?

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[Terror Billy]

It will make life a lot easier IMO if you go with the premed advisor/committee letter. You should contact them and see if you can set up an interview so they can get to know you more. I know that with certain schools if you don't use the undergrad school letter service they have some odd requirements that might make the process a bit harder.

 

[flyboy3]

A committee letter is really good to have in your app. Even if the advisor didn't get to know you very well, they will generally make some stock comments about your qualification as a med student. This is essentially another box check, and unless you did some really weird things in undergrad, it is basically a letter saying the committee didn't think you were a problem student.

 

[DBC03]

I'm sure schools do this differently, but our school collects the letters we have requested from our professors and keeps a digital copy. They have some requirements for who you should ask to write the letters (rather than a packet), but you would include any extra letters you have gathered yourself. As the others said above, if you are within the time frame that your committee requires for writing a letter, it is actually a LOT easier than sending letters to each school individually and it will look a little sketchy to some schools if you don't go with the committee letter. I'm a little jealous as I was too old to get a letter with my packet. Many students don't get to know their pre-med advisor during school, so it's fine if you start a relationship now. Often they will have a few requirements to write the packet (my school requires an interview and you have to fill out some paperwork - but you save a lot of time in the long run by not having to go through each med school's letter requirements). I would definitely consider using the service if it is available. It's really an excellent opportunity even though it may feel like just one more hoop to jump through right now.