Will having a letter of recommendation from a clinical professor at a medical school help me get an interview or improve my admissions chances?
Long story short I did some shadowing under a physician alongside M3s doing their family practice rotation. The physician has been teaching clinical rotations for a top university for years and let me know that he wrote me a strong letter of recommendation for grad school. I've done about 60 hours of shadowing with him and will hopefully at least double that by the time I apply to med school. While I obviously know the letter wont hurt me, I'm curious if (and how much) it will help me. I've had a hard time finding information in this area.
Other relevant information about me: My GPA sucks (3.3), I have ADHD and I've worked basically full time throughout undergrad while being in school full time. I'm in grad school now, working slightly less, and doing a masters of Bio in pre-med. I haven't taken my MCAT but I think it'll be about ~510. I took intentionally VERY difficult classes in my undergrad that were specifically designed to emulate med school courses, and did decently well in them. (Think pathophys, cadaver anatomy, and medical physiology. After pathophys I was able to answer about 40% of the USMLE1 questions without having taken the rest of the M1 and M2 curriculum.) I don't think getting through med school will be a problem, but I do think getting in will be due to my GPA. BUT, I have a REALLY good LOR from the clinical professor I shadowed with for two weeks. He knows I'm capable, based on seeing me in a clinical setting alongside M3s and being able to keep up with (and occasionally teach) them. I am currently in grad school and I will be applying for med school in summer 2019 or 2020. If its 2020, I'll likely have a second physician letter very similar to the first, but with a different university affiliation.
1) Will an LOR like that be enough to get me an interview at the university he's affiliated with? Other less-prestigious universities?
2) Would asking him to contact the admission committee recommending that they grant me an interview, based on his belief that I would be a good fit for the university, be appropriate? (He's volunteered that has a very favorable opinion of me and my ability to do well in this field.) He is a professor at that school...
3) Will the letter help in general with attesting to my competence to do well in med school, despite my sub par GPA?
4) Any general advice for my situation?
TLDR: Will having a great letter of recommendation from a clinical professor at a medical school get an interview, even though my grades suck?
Long story short I did some shadowing under a physician alongside M3s doing their family practice rotation. The physician has been teaching clinical rotations for a top university for years and let me know that he wrote me a strong letter of recommendation for grad school. I've done about 60 hours of shadowing with him and will hopefully at least double that by the time I apply to med school. While I obviously know the letter wont hurt me, I'm curious if (and how much) it will help me. I've had a hard time finding information in this area.
Other relevant information about me: My GPA sucks (3.3), I have ADHD and I've worked basically full time throughout undergrad while being in school full time. I'm in grad school now, working slightly less, and doing a masters of Bio in pre-med. I haven't taken my MCAT but I think it'll be about ~510. I took intentionally VERY difficult classes in my undergrad that were specifically designed to emulate med school courses, and did decently well in them. (Think pathophys, cadaver anatomy, and medical physiology. After pathophys I was able to answer about 40% of the USMLE1 questions without having taken the rest of the M1 and M2 curriculum.) I don't think getting through med school will be a problem, but I do think getting in will be due to my GPA. BUT, I have a REALLY good LOR from the clinical professor I shadowed with for two weeks. He knows I'm capable, based on seeing me in a clinical setting alongside M3s and being able to keep up with (and occasionally teach) them. I am currently in grad school and I will be applying for med school in summer 2019 or 2020. If its 2020, I'll likely have a second physician letter very similar to the first, but with a different university affiliation.
1) Will an LOR like that be enough to get me an interview at the university he's affiliated with? Other less-prestigious universities?
2) Would asking him to contact the admission committee recommending that they grant me an interview, based on his belief that I would be a good fit for the university, be appropriate? (He's volunteered that has a very favorable opinion of me and my ability to do well in this field.) He is a professor at that school...
3) Will the letter help in general with attesting to my competence to do well in med school, despite my sub par GPA?
4) Any general advice for my situation?
TLDR: Will having a great letter of recommendation from a clinical professor at a medical school get an interview, even though my grades suck?
