When to Ask for Letters of Rec. (LOR)

[HaloTop]

Hi all,
I'm wrapping up my freshman year in undergrad in a few weeks. I am wondering when I should start asking my professors for rec. letters? I know I will need to submit them to AMCAS, but how does this process work? I know the letters are supposed to remain unreadable to me, so do I need to wait until my application cycle to start soliciting letters for AMCAS?

Just unsure how this process usually takes place, any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

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[eigen]

The spring before you apply to feel people out, and officially around April/May of your application year.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

The spring before you apply to feel people out, and officially around April/May of your application year.

Unless you’re talking about a full year before, this is too late esp. if getting a committee letter.

They should ideally be asked for no later than dec of the year before you apply. So if you apply in 2023, you should ask by dec 2022 at the latest

Always give a substantial buffer. Even at an Ivy, plenty of friends were complete late because faculty submitted letters too late since they asked in April or May of the app cycle

 

[eigen]

This is heavily school dependent, but I've never personally run across one that starts that early.

I run the committee letter process at my school, and the earliest I would possibly want someone to reach out is January of the year they're applying. This is similar in timing to committee letter processes of other schools I know where I keep in touch with their committee folks. If someone reaches out the fall before their application, I'll tell them to get back in touch in the early spring.

So yes, check with your school, but Dec 2022 for a June 2023 app is more likely (IMO) to get people to forget they need to submit for you than be helpful. This is especially true as you want someone writing something that includes (relatively) recent stuff. If I started writing a letter for a student in December when they asked me, I'd miss talking about everything they do in their application spring, which for most students is a substantial amount.

General guidance for an individual letter is 6 weeks or so of lead time before the letter needs to be submitted. And given that (in general) letters don't need to arrive until end of June at the absolute earliest (more likely mid-end of July), asking in December is way jumping the boat.

Consider, as a point of comparison, Princeton's committee letter process. They send letters to medical schools in July-August. They request that you ask for letters of rec in April, and have them to the HPA office by June 1 to schedule interviews. Overview & Timeline | Health Professions Advising.

 

[OchemOficionado]

I waited until Feb of the year I applied to start asking my letter writers.