When to ask for Letter of Recommendation?

[supercomp]

Do you typically ask for letter of recommendation right after rotation is over? Or more closer to the application time (september)?

What is the best way to ask for it? My rotation is over so I won't be seeing my attending anymore, so I guess email would be way to go?

Any tips would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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[153445]

Definitely now so that they won't forget you. You can even ask if they would be willing to write a prelim draft now rather than later and fill in the gaps after you drop off your personal statement / CV this summer. Email is usually fine if you already have a strong rapport with the attending. Don't forget to ask if they would write you a GOOD letter.

 

[HarryRosenMD]

Hi...

If you feel that the attending has a positive view of you... then ask for a letter of recc. Be honest and ask if he/she feels that you are worthy of a strong letter. That way, you can gauge where you stand in terms of which letters will stand out.
However... attendings are quite busy - and tend to forget things like LOR they had agreed to write. Ask for an email to keep in touch. Shortly after the rotation (a week or so) - email a letter simply to thank the team, and to mention the positives of the rotation. Then... check with your school within several weeks to ensure that the letter arrived. If not... email the attending again to give a friendly reminder. I say within several weeks as you do not want the attending to faintly recall you. Hope that helps.

 

[fakin' the funk]

You should definitely ask at the end of your rotation. No reason to wait.

There are a couple ways this can go:
1) attending says no, or says he/she can't write a strong letter
2) attending says yes, and wants to or can write it promptly. Establish with this attending that when it comes to be ERAS time, you'll send them the ERAS LOR cover sheet and any updated info they should add into the letter (research, grades, etc).
3) attending says yes, and says they'll write it later, at ERAS time. Make sure this person will actually remember you in several months!

Good luck!

 

[roja]

One extra word of advice:

I know its awkward (because I have done it) but a really solid piece of advice that was given to me and others was when you ask for a LOR do not just ask: Would you write me a LOR?

You want to ask: Would you feel comfortable writing me an excellent/outstanding LOR?

The reason is many people will write a mediocre LOR and you will never know. I have seen many med students think that because someone wrote them a letter it would be outstanding and I have read many many many mediocre LOR's. I have also seen on or two horrible ones.

Asking this way will make sure that you will get an outstanding letter. most people don't want to write mediocre LOR's but feel uncomfortable saying to someone: well, I can write you a LOR but it won't be outstanding. (remember, attendings are just people with MD after thier nam). So although its uncomfortable, ask it this way. (I did this for one of my attendings and he said: I'll write you a strong letter, but it won't be outstanding) I chose to go with another attending who agreed and wrote an awesome letter.

 

[Acherona]

One extra word of advice:

I know its awkward (because I have done it) but a really solid piece of advice that was given to me and others was when you ask for a LOR do not just ask: Would you write me a LOR?

You want to ask: Would you feel comfortable writing me an excellent/outstanding LOR?

yea but what do you do if you aren't outstanding? I certainly don't think I'm outstanding and only a few students actually are, by definition. I feel I would never get any letter at all if I asked this way.

My problem is I never get to know attendings well enough to ask. On every rotation it's like brief interactions with multiple attendings. I don't understand how anyone gets any letters. I'm on a rotation now where I had planned to ask for a letter but now I realize there is no one person I feel would have anything to say except something based on a couple encounters. Doesn't anyone else have this problem?

 

[roja]

You can say excellent. What you want to emphasize is that it will be a really really strong LOR. Your attending will know how you ar edoing, even if you only interact some. They will talk to your residents etc and get an idea. Its one of those known things.

 

[lankysudanese]

Your attending will know how you ar edoing, even if you only interact some. They will talk to your residents etc and get an idea. Its one of those known things.

see that is what bugs me. how strong is a LOR going to be, if it is built on "an idea created from the residents' opinion". i know that attendings are busy, but the good ones make an effort to initiate some interactions, do some teaching, and provide some feedback so that you can get a sense of whether or not they will write you a strong LOR. just my opinion.

 

[gbwillner]

My 2c as a fourth year....

1) don't bother asking for letters early in your cores. You probably sucked, and the attending probably won't remember you anyway.

2)DO get a letter from a sub-I. Especially if it is in the field you want to go into.

3) Always shoot for the most reputable faculty member you can. A letter coming from Dr. Famous is always better than from Dr. Newguy.

4) Always make sure you ask someone you got to know well and vice-versa. You should ask if they will be willing to write you a strong letter (or excellent, or whatever), but you should already know the answre to this question. If you do not, probably you should find someone else.

5) best time to ask is end of 3rd year/beginning of 4th year.

 

[lankysudanese]

3) Always shoot for the most reputable faculty member you can. A letter coming from Dr. Famous is always better than from Dr. Newguy.

i've actually been advised to do the exact opposite. our dean of student affairs said that a letter from Dr. Newguy saying that you were the best med student that he has seen (with examples of your stellar performance) counts much more than a letter from Dr. Famous, who only interacted with you 4-5 times (b/c he is busy being famous) and ends up writing the same letter for 4-5 other people in your class. it is probably also much harder to impress Dr. Famous than it is to impress Dr. Newguy

 

[domer621]

i've actually been advised to do the exact opposite. our dean of student affairs said that a letter from Dr. Newguy saying that you were the best med student that he has seen (with examples of your stellar performance) counts much more than a letter from Dr. Famous, who only interacted with you 4-5 times (b/c he is busy being famous) and ends up writing the same letter for 4-5 other people in your class. it is probably also much harder to impress Dr. Famous than it is to impress Dr. Newguy

But a letter from Dr. Famous saying that you were the best med student that he has seen (with examples of your stellar performance) counts much more than a letter from Dr. Newguy saying that you were the best med student that he has seen (with examples of your stellar performance).

 

[gbwillner]

But a letter from Dr. Famous saying that you were the best med student that he has seen (with examples of your stellar performance) counts much more than a letter from Dr. Newguy saying that you were the best med student that he has seen (with examples of your stellar performance).

Exactly. Obviously a mediocre letter is no good. As I said before, make sure you knew the person well. As a fourth year you will have plenty of opportunities to work one-on-one with senior faculty as a sub-I or in your non-primary care specialty. Kissing the right butt can go a long way.

Oh, another thing- if you know you want to go to a particular institution in a fairly competitive specialty/residency place, it ALWAYS helps to get a letter from a faculty member who went there and was successful. When you interview people will ask you "How's Dr. Insideman?" Bam- instant credibility and trust on your LOR, and a good topic of conversation with PDs.

 

[supercomp]

Thanks for excellent input guys. I ended up asking my attending for letter about 2 weeks ago. He hasn't written one yet according our school's letter collection service but its only been two weeks 🙂

Anyways, today I was talking to forth year about what do you usually give to professor to help them write a letter. He mentioned that in addition to whole bunch of stuff, he also gave personal statement and print out of all comments made in 3rd year.

I didnt realize that I had to give print out of 3rd year comments from other people. I obviously dont have my personal statement ready now so I didn't include that in the packet.

What do you guys think? Should I go back and give printout for 3rd year comments made by other people? or Should I just let it slide just the way it is? I don't wanna piss off my attending by giving extra stuff if he is already in middle of writing the letter or has already written one.

Thanks

 

[AmoryBlaine]

You can say excellent. What you want to emphasize is that it will be a really really strong LOR. Your attending will know how you ar edoing, even if you only interact some. They will talk to your residents etc and get an idea. Its one of those known things.

I think the word I used was "strong" such that my question became, "Dr. X, would you feel comfortable writing me a strong LOR?"

I don't agree with the person who said to avoid letters from your core rotations. Sure we all sucked but by sucking slightly less that your colleagues or sucking slightly less often you may have really made an impression on an attending.

The ideal LOR would come from an attending who you know personally, with whom you have published a major paper, and with whom you have worked clinically for >1 month. Since only 2% of us will have this sort of thing in our back pocket we have to go with more generic letters.

Attendings see tons of students, and at academic med centers work with tons of residents. If I were a PD I imagine I would be perfectly happy to get a fairly generic letter saying "all signs point to Student X becoming a competant, trouble-free resident."

 

[gonius]

when is that latest time that a LOR can be turned in? (in time to count for the application)

 

[TypicalTuesday]

when is that latest time that a LOR can be turned in? (in time to count for the application)

Bumping this question since I am a 4th year and was told today that one of my letter writers will be out of town and won't get it done until after sep. 1st.

Is this too late and should I ask another attending (I have few options at this poin) or is it ok to get the letter submitted in the middle/late September?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.