2008-2009 Letter of Recommendation Thread

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Chocolate Bear said:
Statistics in the math dept might be okay, since math is considered science. Biomath sounds like an interdisciplinary class of bio and math, both of which would be science.

You may want to email a school or two (or your pre health office) to ask about math letters, though. I know I've seen schools list Bio, Chem, Physics as examples for the science letter. I don't know if this is an inclusive list, but it couldn't hurt to ask. Anyone else use math letters successfully?
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yea but what about the fact that AACOMAS doesn't count math towards science GPA? might that play a role in counting an LOR from a math professor as a "science" LOR? i realize AACOMAS and LORs are separate, but i dunno, at least something to check up on.
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well for those schools not participating in the pilot program, when they send you the secondary application, there is an instruction on how to submit your recommendations.

if your school have a system where they collect your recommendations for you, you can order your recommendations to be sent to the schools you applied in a packet form. this way you can save time and just send your LORs without receiving your secondaries first.

not sure, but i think interfolio works the same way as the LEO system at my school at the University of Illinois (UIUC).
 
I was just wondering if you guys feel that having both of my science LORs coming from biology will hurt me?
I very well can't request LORs from physics or chemistry professors now...simply because i took those classes too long ago; and the professors have since retired!
i think i just aged myself...but anyways. Anybody else get all their science LORs from one subject?

-matt


PS: i have additional LORs from a sociology teacher, a DO, and lifeguard supervisor.
 
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Both of mine were chemistry - one pchem prof and one ochem prof. No one really cared if they were from the same department.. they cared about what they said.
 
ryserr21 said:
yea but what about the fact that AACOMAS doesn't count math towards science GPA? might that play a role in counting an LOR from a math professor as a "science" LOR? i realize AACOMAS and LORs are separate, but i dunno, at least something to check up on.
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Good point. I still think it could work, but it is worth emailing about.
 
Hey folks,
Does anyone know if it considered beneficial, or prudent, to secure letters of recommendation from employers that are not of healthcare or related fields?
 
vasodilator said:
Hey folks,
Does anyone know if it considered beneficial, or prudent, to secure letters of recommendation from employers that are not of healthcare or related fields?
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Well, as long as it's permitted by the school you are applying to, and it's a strong letter in support of your medical school candidacy, then I don't see why it shouldn't be beneficial to your cause. I had such a letter from a former employer, really not related to the healthcare field, and it was sent all of the schools that I applied to. However, I also submitted other strong letters from academic sources and one from a physician, so... I met the LOR requirements at the schools that I applied to, as far as I know.
 
I changed careers so I thought it was prudent for me to include a LOR from my former employer. Also, I think it's very important to include non-science LORs are in as long as they can attest to certain key skills that are pertinent to medicine ie leadership, empathy, communication....etc. Non-science LORs ca be key in showing more diversity for the applicant than perhaps a science LOR would.
 
fireflygirl said:
I changed careers so I thought it was prudent for me to include a LOR from my former employer. Also, I think it's very important to include non-science LORs are in as long as they can attest to certain key skills that are pertinent to medicine ie leadership, empathy, communication....etc. Non-science LORs ca be key in showing more diversity for the applicant than perhaps a science LOR would.
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i did the same thing. for those career changes, your boss probably knows you better than your professors. at least mine did. i worked with my boss every day for a year and a half, i saw my prof for 50 minutes a day every other day for 4 months. who do you think knows you better?
 
For Texas application, if you are out of college for over a year and working a letter from employer can be submitted
 
I appreciate the feedback. I, too, thought that an L.O.R. from someone "outside the sciences" would reflect positively in that it shows an applicants dedication, diligence in tasks, and versatility; even if those tasks aren't parallel to medicine/science. Not forsaking the irreplacable L.O.R. (science/medicine) I thought it would be appropriate as well to get one or more from employers as well.
 
Hey guys, I'm currently applying to DO schools. I asked the physician I shadowed if he would write me a letter of recommendation and he said he'd be glad to, but he's never written a letter before and asked me what he should talk about...and I don't know. I have a great relationship with him and he wants to write me a good letter. What should I tell him to talk about in the letter? Does anyone have examples of good letters that I can show him?

By the way, he's an MD and knows almost nothing about osteopathic medicine.
 
Your boss doesn't need to attest to osteopathic medicine at all - he needs to write about those strengths that are going to make you a good doctor, since that is what you are applying for.

As for what he should include, he should include the following:

- how long you worked for him
- what kind of interactions did he have with you (did he have you work with other staff or was he your primary teacher and contact)
- what kind of setting you worked in
- what you did
- what he peceived as your strengths and how they will contribute to you being a good doc
- what skills he thought you had picked up well (or those that you brought with you) that will also help you be a good doc
- anything else that he finds positive about you that not only contributes to your personality and who you are, but also to how you will interact with patients
 
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Hi everyone, I was wondering if recommendation letters are required for primary application. It seems like they are required for secondary but how about primary? thanks!
 
Nope. Just for secondaries. Welcome to SDN. I recommend reading the "stickies" at the top of the forum and reading the links. They will answer most of your questions.

:hello:
 
mtanzil2 said:
Hi everyone, I was wondering if recommendation letters are required for primary application. It seems like they are required for secondary but how about primary? thanks!
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Nope all letters go out with secondaries.
 
zapatistasup said:
Hey guys, I'm currently applying to DO schools. I asked the physician I shadowed if he would write me a letter of recommendation and he said he'd be glad to, but he's never written a letter before and asked me what he should talk about...and I don't know. I have a great relationship with him and he wants to write me a good letter. What should I tell him to talk about in the letter? Does anyone have examples of good letters that I can show him?

By the way, he's an MD and knows almost nothing about osteopathic medicine.
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When I asked for a letter and they said yes I would send to them the following:
1. A short bio of myself highlighting any previous medical experience plus a small blurb about why I thought I would be a good doc.
2. A stamped envelope to interfolio. If you aren't using interfolio or another service you might want to check it out. It allows for you to manage you LORs.
3. A thank you note.

Most docs are busy so getting this note can be a pain but patience does pay off. Good luck!
 
Hey guys, was wondering if a letter from a fellow would be pretty good. I work in the Emergency Department at a local hospital and there are only a few DO's running around, and I believe we've talked briefly only a couple times. I'm going to ask to shadow her, but I was wondering if it'd be better to get a letter from someone more experienced who isn't familiar with my job role at all in another area of the hospital...?

Another problem is that it's a fellow in Pedatric Emegency Medicine. I'm not interested in going into Pediatrics at all, but the only DO's running around the ED is basically a Peds fellow and an ED resident (a resident's letter is probably useless--almost equivalent of a med student)

TIA, everyone!
 
feedme said:
Hey guys, was wondering if a letter from a fellow would be pretty good. I work in the Emergency Department at a local hospital and there are only a few DO's running around, and I believe we've talked briefly only a couple times. I'm going to ask to shadow her, but I was wondering if it'd be better to get a letter from someone more experienced who isn't familiar with my job role at all in another area of the hospital...?

Another problem is that it's a fellow in Pedatric Emegency Medicine. I'm not interested in going into Pediatrics at all, but the only DO's running around the ED is basically a Peds fellow and an ED resident (a resident's letter is probably useless--almost equivalent of a med student)

TIA, everyone!
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A fellow seems fine. I would DEFINITELY NOT pass up a letter from a fellow whom you know for a letter from an attending who doesn't know you. (I believe that's what the situation is, right?)

The dif between a resident and a med student is the letters at the end of the name. Don't discredit these. That being said, I have never asked about the perception of a letter from a resident. Anyone else have experience with this?
 
hey guys,
I am finally done filling out my application for the primaries but i have not yet submitted it. I dont seem to understand how or when to send DO schools my LOR. Can someone pleeease explain the process of sending out LOR? Should I wait until the secondaries?? I'm confused! :oops:
 
rou08 said:
hey guys,
I am finally done filling out my application for the primaries but i have not yet submitted it. I dont seem to understand how or when to send DO schools my LOR. Can someone pleeease explain the process of sending out LOR? Should I wait until the secondaries?? I'm confused! :oops:
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yes! wait until secondaries! they have that service on there for later use IF you want to use it. You figure out all of your LOR stuff later when supplemental applications come around. Right now, only worry about getting your primary in! Do it today if you can!!

BUT still make sure you have all of your letters ready asap
 
Hello,
1. Do MD and DO schools only require you to send one transcript from each school attended to AMCAS and AACOMAS?
2. Are the Letters of Rec sent immediately after the application is submitted?
 
Hello,
1. Do MD and DO schools only require you to send one transcript from each school attended to AMCAS and AACOMAS?
2. Are the Letters of Rec sent immediately after the application is submitted?
3. Besides professors, MDs, and DOs are there others that are recommended to get a LOR from?
 
I got pretty good letters from my boss at the gym, and one of the nurses I work with at the ER.

Posted via Mobile Device
 
hi guys, couldnt find this anywhere on forums and am a bit confused...im ready to send out my secondaries however every secondary i want to submit tells me to send them a DO LOR. my advisor who setup my application with me gave me this special form for my DO who filled it out and sent it back to her. She then told me they incorporate that all into the committee letter. Now, when the secondaries ask for a committee letter and a DO letter, will it suffice just to send that committee letter that has the DO in it or should i go back to my DO and get a separate letter (like a bunch of them)???? PLZ HELP, IM SO CONFUSED lol
 
travoltage said:
hi guys, couldnt find this anywhere on forums and am a bit confused...im ready to send out my secondaries however every secondary i want to submit tells me to send them a DO LOR. my advisor who setup my application with me gave me this special form for my DO who filled it out and sent it back to her. She then told me they incorporate that all into the committee letter. Now, when the secondaries ask for a committee letter and a DO letter, will it suffice just to send that committee letter that has the DO in it or should i go back to my DO and get a separate letter (like a bunch of them)???? PLZ HELP, IM SO CONFUSED lol
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The committee letter should be fine! if they do it at your school like they do at mine, your advisor will enclose all of the letters into one envelope and send it off. I plan on doing this: Indicate on your apps that you will be submitting a committee letter in the appropriate field, and I might fill in the other fields as well (DO, science prof, etc..) but indicate somewhere on there that they are enclosed with the committee packet. Can anyone confirm this?
 
What should I do? I have two old letters from science profs on file that I wanted to replace with new ones. However, until recently I have not had science classes. One class I finished 5 weeks ago and the instructor offered to write a letter, but it has not arrived and she has not responded to my email. Another instuctor has also offered to write one, but he has several to write ahead of me. In the meantime I am getting secondaries. Should I submit my old letters & update them later when the new one(s) are available?
 
hey guys,

this is my first post, but I've been an avid reader of the all the DO posts from the past couple of months and I've been learning alot!!!

what constitutes a science faculty/professor? i'm thinking of getting a LOR from a prof who taught me Human Anatomy (under exercise and sports science). He is an associate prof in exercise and sports science, associate director of sports med lab, and adjunct member in .Orthopaedics, Biomedical Engineering, and Allied Health Sciences Departments. I also worked under one of his doctoral student for one year in the sports med lab for research, and took a Human cadaver lab in the exercise and sports science dept from one of his doctoral student. Would he count as a science faculty/prof?

Also, i've been out of school for 2 years now and i've been working in research in my undergrad institution. i'm thinking of getting a LOR from my boss, but i didn't have him for a class (he doesn't teach, just research). he's a research associate professor in the hematology/oncology dept. would he count as a science faculty?

thanks for all your help in advance!!!!
.
 
docsoon said:
hey guys,

this is my first post, but I've been an avid reader of the all the DO posts from the past couple of months and I've been learning alot!!!

what constitutes a science faculty/professor? i'm thinking of getting a LOR from a prof who taught me Human Anatomy (under exercise and sports science). He is an associate prof in exercise and sports science, associate director of sports med lab, and adjunct member in .Orthopaedics, Biomedical Engineering, and Allied Health Sciences Departments. I also worked under one of his doctoral student for one year in the sports med lab for research, and took a Human cadaver lab in the exercise and sports science dept from one of his doctoral student. Would he count as a science faculty/prof?

Also, i've been out of school for 2 years now and i've been working in research in my undergrad institution. i'm thinking of getting a LOR from my boss, but i didn't have him for a class (he doesn't teach, just research). he's a research associate professor in the hematology/oncology dept. would he count as a science faculty?

thanks for all your help in advance!!!!
.
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You may want to call your schools and check. I don't think a student really would count as faculty but it could work. I am not really sure how the schools check for this anyways. Really the only thing they see is the signature at the end and a title or maybe a department.

I think your second one could count for most/some schools depending on whether or not the schools want LORs from people who TAUGHT you.

It appears some schools are more lax than others and there's a broad spectrum from school to school if you ask me. Ohio U for example specifically states natural science lors.

I am in a similar situation where I got a LOR from a professor who does research for the agriculture department which is classified as sciences but is certainly not physic/bio/chem.....
 
If that's all you have then you must try. I know some schools state DO LOR required but accept MD's.

I'm worried too!
 
Cp22kjer said:
You may want to call your schools and check. I don't think a student really would count as faculty but it could work. I am not really sure how the schools check for this anyways. Really the only thing they see is the signature at the end and a title or maybe a department.

I think your second one could count for most/some schools depending on whether or not the schools want LORs from people who TAUGHT you.

It appears some schools are more lax than others and there's a broad spectrum from school to school if you ask me. Ohio U for example specifically states natural science lors.

I am in a similar situation where I got a LOR from a professor who does research for the agriculture department which is classified as sciences but is certainly not physic/bio/chem.....
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hey Cp22kjer...thanks for the reply...my exercise and sports science prof was the real professor for my Human Anatomy lecture class (he taught it)...sorry for the confusion...i added the extra info in there about doing research in his lab and taking the cadaver lab b/c the people that i worked/took the class with were his doctoral students....so he pretty seen me around for a couple of years...
 
I'd say his letter will suffice.

If you send them in the worst thing that happens is they send an email saying its not accepted. And I realize how hard it can be to get a LOR, especially if your out of school.
 
Hi, I'm a nontraditional female student that is a bit shy about asking for LOR's. I have asked two of my professors and they both said, "yes," but haven't actually written the letters.

One professor, in paticular, asked me for a resume. I don't have a resume and have no clue how to write one. I wonder if he just wants a brief biography so he knows a bit more about me. I am hoping to take another class with him. He is an MD as well as a PhD and I believe his letter would be very advantageous to me.

My other professor is my advisor. I feel good about the letter he will write.


I am working on two or three more letters.

I am very involved in my church and I was wondering if I should get one from my pastor or if I should stay with my professors at school.

Also, what about non-science professors. I took a Women's Studies class and the professor actually wrote me a letter telling me how impressed she was with me and asked me to consider changing majors to Woman's Studies.
 
Is it required for DO letters to be sent in via snail mail versus through virtual evals, an electronic method, which is how all my professors and committee letters have been sent??

Also do I need to wait for my aacomas application to be verified before I can request my DO writer send in my letters so that the schools have a file for me?
 
How are you guys sending LORs. Are you mailing them to the schools directly or mailing them to interfolio?
 
NAVYLABTECH08 said:
How are you guys sending LORs. Are you mailing them to the schools directly or mailing them to interfolio?
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I am using Interfolio, it just seems easier (especially for the letter writers)
 
I completed a post-bacc program and they have a pre med committee that interviewed me and will send my letter. Before the interview I had to get 3 LORs from science professors. One of those was an undergrad science professor that I had to track down that no longer works at my undergrad school. She was really helpful and wrote the letter and said let her know if I needed anything else.

Do I/should I ask her to write another letter directly to the med schools? Or is the letter she wrote already going to be included in the committee letter packet? Thanks!
 
AMEHigh said:
I completed a post-bacc program and they have a pre med committee that interviewed me and will send my letter. Before the interview I had to get 3 LORs from science professors. One of those was an undergrad science professor that I had to track down that no longer works at my undergrad school. She was really helpful and wrote the letter and said let her know if I needed anything else.

Do I/should I ask her to write another letter directly to the med schools? Or is the letter she wrote already going to be included in the committee letter packet? Thanks!
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I think you should ask the post bac program if they will be sending the committee letter or a packet that includes the committee letter and the three letters you had to give them.
 
does anyone know if CCOM will accept LOR's through interfolio??
 
Hey guys I'm in the process of filling out secondaries but I noticed that many schools have their own DO letter of evaluation. Im not about to ask a busy Doctor to fill out 8 different forms for each school I'm applying to. Is their a universal form I'm missing? Thanks in advance
 
medready said:
Hey guys I'm in the process of filling out secondaries but I noticed that many schools have their own DO letter of evaluation. Im not about to ask a busy Doctor to fill out 8 different forms for each school I'm applying to. Is their a universal form I'm missing? Thanks in advance
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Usually schools either want their form OR a letter written on office letterhead, there was only one school I heard of that you absolutely must have your recommenders use their form. I don't remember which school, I can't even remember if it was DO or MD. Ask for a letter and have it sent to interfolio and just dole it out that way.
 
I have a letter of recommendation form that was provided to me by my college letter service office. It's the same form that my science professors filled out. Should I have the DO fill that out and then have my school letter office send out my science & DO letter. I never used interfolio.
 
medready said:
I have a letter of recommendation form that was provided to me by my college letter service office. It's the same form that my science professors filled out. Should I have the DO fill that out and then have my school letter office send out my science & DO letter. I never used interfolio.
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That is your call how you want to go about those things. I had a physician write me a letter without a form, it probably doesn't make a difference either way. I used interfolio which I think is more convenient than a school letter office because you have direct control of sending out the letters. I also applied to 40+ school so it would have been a pain in the ass trying to get that office to send letters each time I filled out a secondary app. You can always have the school letter office send a set of letters to interfolio and then do what you want with the letters at that point. For both of your questions just do what is going to be easist for you.
 
I have not run into a problem yet with my letters. A few schools had those things and I just mailed in my standard recommendations. Most schools are accommodating.
 
Alright that makes sense, thanks, I was confused at how each school seemed to have their own letter form.
 
Hey i'm a first time applicant and I was wondering if I should tell my academic advisor to send my letter at the same time i send in my primary application? (she is handling all our ROCs and my school sends them out).. NYCOM told me to send them out when they sent me a confirmation that they received my primary application because if i send them out before then, they dont yet have a file set up for me and they might get lost. Is it like this for all schools? do I send them in with my primary or secondary application? i'm not sure if someone already answered this, i havent had time to go through all the threads.. thanks!
 
Misiek85 said:
Hey i'm a first time applicant and I was wondering if I should tell my academic advisor to send my letter at the same time i send in my primary application? (she is handling all our ROCs and my school sends them out).. NYCOM told me to send them out when they sent me a confirmation that they received my primary application because if i send them out before then, they dont yet have a file set up for me and they might get lost. Is it like this for all schools? do I send them in with my primary or secondary application? i'm not sure if someone already answered this, i havent had time to go through all the threads.. thanks!
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If your school is snail mailing, then don't have them sent to a school until you receive their secondary. If your school uses VirtualEvals, they can be released at any time.
 
So I got a letter from the D.O. and I mailed a copy of it to my pre med adviser. But now shes making a big fuss about the fact that I saw it, since i waived my right to see my letters. So she wants to know how to handle the situation.

I didnt think it would be a big deal but she says school will find it less useful since i saw it.

I was just gonna have the doc's office fax it to her. Anything else I should do?

EDIT: oops shoulda posted this in the LOR thread. MOD can you move it for me? Thnx
 
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