Would schools be turned off by sending a letter from a prestigious program?

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Hey all, I’m from California applying to a competitive surgical sub speciality.

I did one of my away rotations at a top program on the east coast and obtained an LOR from a a well known attending I built a solid connection with.

I’m applying heavily to all Cali programs as my family is from the region. Some of the schools in California take 3-4 letters. Do you think there's any harm in sending a 4th letter from the prestigious school when applying to programs out west? Or should I just stick to sending my 3 west coast letters. Heard that some schools may yield protect if they see themselves as a backup. Obviously don’t want to do that by unnecessarily sending that letter. Conflicted on what to do.

 

[DO2015CA]

Wut?

depending on specialty, they are a small field. A prestigious person in the field is always a good thing. We all meet each other in conferences in small specialties/subspecialties anyway. No one will view it as you are suspecting

 

[operaman]

Send it. The name at the bottom of the letter means 1000x more than what’s said in the letter.

I had multiple interviewers tell me a particular letter was the reason they interviewed me, and it was 2 short sentences long. The name at the bottom is what really matters.

 

[VincentAdultman]

In surgical subs (particularly mine) LORs matter. And they matter quite a bit more if it’s a good letter from a big name. Honestly it seems like a no brainer to me to send it. I know you want to stay West but this is one of the big reasons to do away at big time programs, no?

 

[JuicedToTheSocks]

Send it. The name at the bottom of the letter means 1000x more than what’s said in the letter.

I had multiple interviewers tell me a particular letter was the reason they interviewed me, and it was 2 short sentences long. The name at the bottom is what really matters.

Really? Makes me regret not getting a big name letter.

 

[Lost in Translation]

Hey all, I’m from California applying to a competitive surgical sub speciality.

I did one of my away rotations at a top program on the east coast and obtained an LOR from a a well known attending I built a solid connection with.

I’m applying heavily to all Cali programs as my family is from the region. Some of the schools in California take 3-4 letters. Do you think there's any harm in sending a 4th letter from the prestigious school when applying to programs out west? Or should I just stick to sending my 3 west coast letters. Heard that some schools may yield protect if they see themselves as a backup. Obviously don’t want to do that by unnecessarily sending that letter. Conflicted on what to do.

Yield protect? In a competitive surgical subspecialty? Doesn’t exist. Use the letter that you’ve earned; don’t take any interview for granted.