What are good reasons???

[SnudgeMuffin]

Why do they require premedical committee recommendation? If I don't want to go through with the committe, what are the good reasons for it? It seems very inconvenient for someone to go back to their undergrad even after they have already graduated just to pay money for them to interview you and write a lame letter on your behalf while you could've saved your travel expenses and ask three professors to write a recommendation for you over the phone or by e-mail? Just want to know if there are any disadvantages to opting out of this traditional route?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

I think med schools look down upon it...they want to know that your undergrad school supports you and can give you a good rec. From what I've heard, only avoid the premed letter if you have to. Maybe you could have profs give the boars recommendations and talk to your dean over the phone. Try explaining that it's inconvenient to travel...I think it would be in your favor to get this letter, since most students applying will have it. Otherwise, just say you graduated a while ago and have current employers write you letters

 

[rajneel1]

you can arrange for the letter writing service over the phone and ask your letter writers over the phone. my friend did that from across teh country. med schools now require that you do it cause it is more convenient for them. they probably just read the composite letter. if you don't do it then you MUST explain why on your secondary!
it is actually to your advantage. do you really want to ask your letter writers to make 20 copies and to mail it to 20 different school on their own???? the service will correct spelling errors, grammatical errors, etc. in your letter. they are professionally arranged and quickly mailed out to each and every school that you want them sent to. they are also good for many years and are kept on file in case you need to reapply or added more schools to apply to. the composite letter writers do a really really good job because they are trained well in writing letters for medical school applicants. many are familiar with medical school admissions and med school deans, etc. so just do it. it makes life so much easier.

 

[kutastha]

I didn't have a premed eval letter. I couldn't get one from USC since they stipulated that I had to satisfy 50% of my premed reqs at USC. I did this at UCSD, so there was no way I was going back down to La Jolla to get a letter from a school I went to 6 years ago. So I just had letters from profs at USC. I didn't apply to any schools that required a committee letter and I don't personally know of any that do. All I've seen are ones that say either the committee letter, or a number of letters from faculty.

Andrew

 

[Skye04]

At my school instead of having a pre-med committee that writes the composite letters for everyone applying, one of the professors that you ask for a recommendation usually also puts together a composite letter made of all of your recommendations. That way the person writing the letter that will be read first by the admissions really knows who you are personally and can probably 'market' you better. I would be wary of a letter-writing service because it seems so impersonal... and you have to PAY!

 

[coop]

some med schools say that if you are from an ugrad that has a committee you MUST use that committee. Some simply recommend/prefer it. I suggest investigating all the schools you want to apply to about their policy before deciding not to do your schools committee.