*~*~*~*Official Letters of Recommendation Questions Thread 2011-2012*~*~*~*

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theWUbear said:
If I apply this June, and I have given every school my 5 chosen LOR's with committee letter through AMCAS virtual evals upload by my prehealth office, and then I get anther LOR over the summer/fall and want to send it to all schools in December, do I have to have the prof mail it to all 25 schools or will AMCAS distribute it?
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Awesome question.....so awesome, I'm adding it to the FAQ.

You can add a letter at ANY time in AMCAS, have it sent to AMCAS, and AMCAS will distribute it.

You may want to shoot an email to each school letting them know to expect another letter just in case. They should be updating your file continuously (they will want your current contact info, and often people change their addresses mid cycle) but they may not always do it in a timely manner.
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Question about the reapplicant thing - if you did the one school AMCAS, and saw your MCAT was 10 instead of a 38 like you planned, and you had only submitted to one school - would you be a reapplicant next cycle to all MD schools or only that one?
 
raltima07 said:
Question about the reapplicant thing - if you did the one school AMCAS, and saw your MCAT was 10 instead of a 38 like you planned, and you had only submitted to one school - would you be a reapplicant next cycle to all MD schools or only that one?
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This question would be better for the AMCAS questions thread, but the answer is yes. It is also in the AMCAS Questions FAQ:) #8.
 
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I am also wondering about this

raltima07 said:
Question about the reapplicant thing - if you did the one school AMCAS, and saw your MCAT was 10 instead of a 38 like you planned, and you had only submitted to one school - would you be a reapplicant next cycle to all MD schools or only that one?
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oh sorry, we must have posted at the same time
 
Haven't found a thread specifically addressing my question, so here goes:

I've been shadowing a doctor in the emergency room for a quite a while now and I asked him if he would write me a letter of recommendation. He said that he would love to, but that he was concerned that it might not carry much weight as he has not really established himself.

He seemed genuinely impressed with the sorts of questions I was asking and I feel he got to know me well, so I believe he will write an excellent letter.

So my question is: Would a letter from a doctor in his first year out of residency carry any less weight than someone who has been in the field longer?

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thank you for your time.
 
Atlas Shrugged said:
Haven't found a thread specifically addressing my question, so here goes:

I've been shadowing a doctor in the emergency room for a quite a while now and I asked him if he would write me a letter of recommendation. He said that he would love to, but that he was concerned that it might not carry much weight as he has not really established himself.

He seemed genuinely impressed with the sorts of questions I was asking and I feel he got to know me well, so I believe he will write an excellent letter.

So my question is: Would a letter from a doctor in his first year out of residency carry any less weight than someone who has been in the field longer?

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thank you for your time.
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A couple of things:

1) Med schools are REALLY unlikely to know your letter writers. (even an EM doc at their own institution, adcomms won't know all the attendings) So they aren't going to know how long he has been out of residency - so that is not an issue.

2) He is a new doc and hasn't written many letters. He probably won't write a great letter simply out of lack of experience (and inability to compare you to other students)

3) A letter from a doc you shadowed is pretty useless anyway since you just followed him around and he cannot actually comment on your work ethic or abilities.

Yes, use it as a letter - but like many med school LORs it won't be a great letter and won't do much for you (but won't hurt you either). It will fill a letter requirement which is needed.

Now if you were applying to residency it starts to matter whether your letter writers are known or not. But not for med school applications.
 
alwaysaangel said:
1) Med schools are REALLY unlikely to know your letter writers. (even an EM doc at their own institution, adcomms won't know all the attendings) So they aren't going to know how long he has been out of residency - so that is not an issue.
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This is what I had figured, thank you. I know that it isn't very likely that this will be of extraordinary benefit or hindrance.

My experience was a bit more interactive than just following him around, so maybe that will be a plus.
 
Last semester, my physics professor surprised with me with a LOR during our final. It wasnt sealed and I just took it, read it, and put it in my folder of important stuff in my room until i applied.

This semester, I asked my ochem professor for a LOR and he said he would be glad to do it, and that when he does, he requests that I give him a resume to get an idea of what i do other than chem, and then WHO or WHAT he should send it to. I just nodded my head and said okay. but it got me thinking...

Wtf do i do with my LORs for the application process? Like stated, I have a paper one in hand, already. was i supposed to have him send it somewhere electronically or something? I have absolutely NO idea what to do with my LORs
 
So, I am aware that my questions could be a bit redundant, but I would like to know whose letter would be stronger. I only have two non-science ppl who could write me a letter. I know that my options are not good, but please help me to chose who is better off.

1. Non-science faculty
-taught me in a speech anxiety course
-doesn't remember when I took it though remember me as a person
-was very impressed with my ps
-wrote a letter quickly in only couple of days, so she could get back to work (I sensed this attitude.)

2. a grad student in writing department (associate instructor who taught a course by himself and not a TA)
-taught me in a ENC 102 course (last semester)
-remembers me as a terrific student, both hardworking and capable
-gave his first 100% grade during his 7 years of teaching. The paper was bout assisted suicide and palliative health care.
-wants to discuss the content of the letter
-hasn't read my ps

Is it possible to make him to write a letter and get a signature from a faculty in writing department? Will it upgrade the strength of letter? My other letters are all written by faculties.
 
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libraryismyhome said:
1. Non-science faculty
-taught me in a speech anxiety course
-doesn't remember when I took it though remember me as a person
-was very impressed with my ps
-wrote a letter quickly in only couple of days, so she could get back to work (I sensed this attitude.)
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Use this one. Its a faculty and it sounds like it will be a good letter.

She didn't rush through the letter to get back to work. She has written enough letters in her life that she knows how to write one and can do it quickly. And she was kind enough to immediately find the time to do it for you.

The only reason you give faculty 1-2 months is so they can find the time. It doesn't really take that long to write a letter. It takes an hour.
 
alwaysaangel said:
Use this one. Its a faculty and it sounds like it will be a good letter.

She didn't rush through the letter to get back to work. She has written enough letters in her life that she knows how to write one and can do it quickly. And she was kind enough to immediately find the time to do it for you.

The only reason you give faculty 1-2 months is so they can find the time. It doesn't really take that long to write a letter. It takes an hour.
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Thank you. Indeed, you are right about her experience. She wrote a letter to someone who had a similar background as mine, and this person got into a decent midtier school. But this person took several courses with her, got a minor in her field and was a TA as well.

Will it hurt if I submit a letter from #2 as an additional one besides 2 science, 1 nonscience and 1 research?
 
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libraryismyhome said:
Thank you. Indeed, you are right about her experience. She wrote a letter to someone who had a similar background as mine, and this person got into a decent midtier school. But this person took several courses with her, got a minor in her field and was a TA as well.

Will it hurt if I submit a letter from #2 as an additional one besides 2 science, 1 nonscience and 1 research?
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You'd be better off using an extra letter from a boss or doc or supervisor in my opinion but wouldn't hurt. Just might not help
 
another question,

Is it possible to update the letter of recommendation on like Julyish even though I submit everything on June?
 
I'll re-ask:

1) Can I get 2 science prof letters, 1 letter from a PI I did research with at different institution, and 1 letter from a current work supervisor? Is this a "diverse enough" letter pool or must I find a non-science professor to write me a LOR?

2) Can someone with experience tell what they think are the top 3 mistakes people make with regards to LOR and the AMCAS?

Thanks!
 
Signifier said:
I'll re-ask:

1) Can I get 2 science prof letters, 1 letter from a PI I did research with at different institution, and 1 letter from a current work supervisor? Is this a "diverse enough" letter pool or must I find a non-science professor to write me a LOR?

2) Can someone with experience tell what they think are the top 3 mistakes people make with regards to LOR and the AMCAS?

Thanks!
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1 - read the FAQ in the first post:) Specifically Question 1b.

2 - That is a good question.
Mistake #1 - Asking the wrong people to write you letters. And by wrong, I mean people who have no experience writing such letters (and you don't give them any guidance), people who have a fancy title but don't know you well, people who suck at writing, or people who actually don't like you but you didn't get that vibe before asking them.

Mistake #2 - Not getting the letter on letterhead and signed

Mistake #3 - Someone else chime in on this one...
 
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libraryismyhome said:
another question,

Is it possible to update the letter of recommendation on like Julyish even though I submit everything on June?
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I'm going to say it again....read the FAQ in the first post.


Seriously guys...everyone in this thread and in Pre-Allo will start to get annoyed if a question is asked 12 times, but it is in the first post and answered, and you will be less likely to get other questions answered.
 
I have a question regarding the non-science rec...

I had a professor who taught me in a class in the education department. Thing is, he is a clinical psychologist, and I'm actually doing some research with him on cognitive and emotional development in high schoolers/college students.

Is this "non-science-y" enough to count? I know he will write me a fabulous letter, but I wasn't sure if he would meet the requirements for this type of letter.
 
Would it be a bad idea to only have LORs from professors (2 science, 1 English, 1 writing, 1 communications) and my advisor? I will also have a committee letter from the health professions advisory committee at my school. I was told that I should get a letter from one of the doctors at my internship, since I have a 4.0 GPA, and my LORs from faculty wouldn't help much since they wouldn't say anything that wasn't evident from my GPA. Would getting a LOR from a doctor really improve my chances/app.?
 
OK- having read 1b, the emphasis seems to be on the 2 science letters, which I have. I suppose I am just wondering what a "non-science" letter means- a letter from my supervisor at my work, for instance. That would count as non-science? Or does it specifically mean a letter from a professor in humanities/social sciences?

Sorry to be so nitpicky. Thank you Cougar, and everyone else who's helping in this thread.
 
dreamer67 said:
Would it be a bad idea to only have LORs from professors (2 science, 1 English, 1 writing, 1 communications) and my advisor? I will also have a committee letter from the health professions advisory committee at my school. I was told that I should get a letter from one of the doctors at my internship, since I have a 4.0 GPA, and my LORs from faculty wouldn't help much since they wouldn't say anything that wasn't evident from my GPA. Would getting a LOR from a doctor really improve my chances/app.?
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That should be fine. It is not clear to me that having an LOR from a doctor just to have one is really going to help that much. The purpose of LORs is to give evidence that you will be a good candidate for medical school. If that is properly conveyed by the letters you have, you should be good.


JMoonlight said:
I have a question regarding the non-science rec...

I had a professor who taught me in a class in the education department. Thing is, he is a clinical psychologist, and I'm actually doing some research with him on cognitive and emotional development in high schoolers/college students.

Is this "non-science-y" enough to count? I know he will write me a fabulous letter, but I wasn't sure if he would meet the requirements for this type of letter.
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Signifier said:
OK- having read 1b, the emphasis seems to be on the 2 science letters, which I have. I suppose I am just wondering what a "non-science" letter means- a letter from my supervisor at my work, for instance. That would count as non-science? Or does it specifically mean a letter from a professor in humanities/social sciences?

Sorry to be so nitpicky. Thank you Cougar, and everyone else who's helping in this thread.
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Honestly guys, it really really is going to just depend on the school. You need to go look at every school's letter requirement to see what they say. Some specifically say a letter from a non-science PROFESSOR. Others just say 3 letters, two of which are from science professors and one that is NOT. I can't remember any specific letter requirements off the top of my head but they really are all different. And some of those schools, when you email or call them to ask, are going to say "oh, that is just a guideline...we just want your 3 best letters" and some are going to say "no, this is a strict requirement, and you need to meet it".

On SDN, we push the "two science prof letters, one non-science prof letter" because it meets about 95% of the letter requirements out there.
 
Hello to everyone,

I have been shadowing a primary doc for about 4-5 months. I recently asked him for a letter of rec and he agreed. I didn't have any doubt that he would write it as our interactions have always been positive, but with that said, he asked me if I had an "evaluation form". He then stated how in the past, students have given him an evaluation form that he filled out and mailed directly to the school.

I've never heard of the evaluation form he speaks of. I have used Interfolio for all of my letters, and not once has this issue come up. Does anyone know if these forms are school specific or is there a general evaluation form that all schools will accept? I plan to apply to 20+ schools and if I had to give him 20 forms to fill out it might be too excessive. Any suggestions?

Should I push for a traditional letter that all schools accept? Thanks.
 
Merging related threads.

Check out the FAQ and if you still have questions, feel free to re-post to clarify. The short answer is no, there are no evaluation forms. He needs to write you a full letter of recommendation to be uploaded to AMCAS or a letter service like Interfolio.
 
CougarMD,

Thanks for the fast response. I see him tomorrow and I am going to ask for a formal letter like I've done in the past.

By any chance do you still have the guide (or a link) you provided to your recommenders? I did a google search and didn't really like any I came across. Thanks
 
TwoBits said:
CougarMD,

Thanks for the fast response. I see him tomorrow and I am going to ask for a formal letter like I've done in the past.

By any chance do you still have the guide (or a link) you provided to your recommenders? I did a google search and didn't really like any I came across. Thanks
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I don't, I'm sorry TwoBits.

I would say take one of the better ones you found, and alter it. You (IMO) want the letter to:

1 - Say how he/she knows you and who he/she is.
2 - make a concrete comparison of you to other students (TwoBits is one of the ten best students I have seen in 25 years of teaching. Here is why)
3 - Give specific examples of your skills (TwoBits shows an apititude for science, but also, when faced with difficult subjects, takes the time to come to office hours, ask questions about the material, bring in outside sources to help him/her understand the material, etc...)
4 - Finish it off with a closing paragraph.

In my opinion....longer is not better.

This is not bad, especially #5:
http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/Verba-recs.html



This is a pretty good reference in general: http://www.ivyleagueadmission.com/medreftips.html

This is also pretty good:
http://www.accepted.com/medical/LettersRec.aspx
But I HEAVILY disagree with the "include some mild criticism" part just for the sake of including criticism. So I would edit that part out.


I'm not sure if LizzyM has ever weighed in on what she wants to see in a letter, but if she ever does, I would take that as pretty sound advice. The people who have to read these things all day are the ones you want to be asking:)


And....you're welcome for the fast response. My sleep pattern is all messed up this week:)
 
For the science professor LOR, does it have to be a letter from the professor of a class you took or just a professor at the school?

Reason being:
I TAed for a professor for two quarters, who also happens to be vice chair of the biology department at my school (if that even means much to adcom). However, I never took the class with her nor any classes she's taught. She knows me very well and I'm sure she can write me just as good of a letter had I been an engaging student in her class, but I'm just worried this may not meet the med school's LOR requirements.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
iPSC derived said:
For the science professor LOR, does it have to be a letter from the professor of a class you took or just a professor at the school?

Reason being:
I TAed for a professor for two quarters, who also happens to be vice chair of the biology department at my school (if that even means much to adcom). However, I never took the class with her nor any classes she's taught. She knows me very well and I'm sure she can write me just as good of a letter had I been an engaging student in her class, but I'm just worried this may not meet the med school's LOR requirements.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Again, seriously guys, it is going to be different at every school. Go read the letter requirements for the schools you're applying to, and ask the school itself if it is unclear. And if they give you a great answer, feel free to come in here and update everyone so that you can help other premeds out.

No one here can tell you if a letter is going to "meet the requirement" - the final word is always going to be with the school.
 
I'm a little fuzzy about the details of what letters are required for med school applications, and I was wondering if I could get some feedback about whether I'm on the right track with mine.

I was a biomedical engineering major as an undergraduate, and am currently a biomedical sciences MS student. Here are my list of rec letters:

1. the professor for my undergraduate engineering capstone project class.
2. my undergraduate research PI (biomedical engineering). he also taught 3 of my undergraduate bme courses.
3. my graduate biostatistics professor.
4. my graduate anatomy professor.
5. an MD I volunteered with as an undergraduate.
6. a cover letter written by my graduate program's head (not sure if this counts as its own letter..?)

I'm mostly concerned about a) whether this meets the 2 science/1 non-science LOR requirement, and b) if 6 letters is too much.
 
premed67783 said:
I'm a little fuzzy about the details of what letters are required for med school applications, and I was wondering if I could get some feedback about whether I'm on the right track with mine.

I was a biomedical engineering major as an undergraduate, and am currently a biomedical sciences MS student. Here are my list of rec letters:

1. the professor for my undergraduate engineering capstone project class.
2. my undergraduate research PI (biomedical engineering). he also taught 3 of my undergraduate bme courses.
3. my graduate biostatistics professor.
4. my graduate anatomy professor.
5. an MD I volunteered with as an undergraduate.
6. a cover letter written by my graduate program's head (not sure if this counts as its own letter..?)

I'm mostly concerned about a) whether this meets the 2 science/1 non-science LOR requirement, and b) if 6 letters is too much.
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I don't think any of those are going to count as the non-science requirement. Non-science is a professor who taught you in a non-BCME course. (not Bio, Chem, Math or Engineering)

6 is fine, but you won't send all 6 to every school. You will pick and choose based on each schools requirements and maximums. I had 6 when I applied but only sent all 6 to a handful of schools (many had a maximum of 3 or 4)
 
alwaysaangel said:
I don't think any of those are going to count as the non-science requirement. Non-science is a professor who taught you in a non-BCME course. (not Bio, Chem, Math or Engineering)

6 is fine, but you won't send all 6 to every school. You will pick and choose based on each schools requirements and maximums. I had 6 when I applied but only sent all 6 to a handful of schools (many had a maximum of 3 or 4)
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BCME?? I thought it was BCMP (Bio, Chemistry, Math, Physics)
 
alwaysaangel said:
Oh yeah. Haha. Its been a while. Still Enginerring is going to count as a science.
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Are you sure about this? I was always told that my engineering classes would not count towards my BCMP GPA, so it only makes sense that the same applies for recommendation letters.

The engineering capstone course that I got my letter for was more of a writing course than it was engineering anyways. It was like 2 weeks of engineering design, 1 week of fabrication, and 1 week of testing for a 6 month course. The rest of it was all reports and presentations.
 
premed67783 said:
Are you sure about this? I was always told that my engineering classes would not count towards my BCMP GPA, so it only makes sense that the same applies for recommendation letters.

The engineering capstone course that I got my letter for was more of a writing course than it was engineering anyways. It was like 2 weeks of engineering design, 1 week of fabrication, and 1 week of testing for a 6 month course. The rest of it was all reports and presentations.
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You could be right. Its been a while, thats what I recall from when I applied. Check ACMAS FAQ they should have a list of what is BCMP and what isn't.
 
Yeah those don't count as a non-science requirement. I'm getting mine from a grad professor in my MPH program, hopefully thats fine.
 
phnerd1105 said:
Yeah those don't count as a non-science requirement. I'm getting mine from a grad professor in my MPH program, hopefully thats fine.
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I looked it up in the AMCAS 2012 handbook. Biomedical Engineering is clearly listed as ENGI, and not BCPM. That's good enough for me. If AMCAS says it's not science, then it's. not. science.

Here's the link to the AMCAS handbook for anyone that wants to see: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/2012_amcas_instruction_manual.pdf
 
Hey guys so I'm sort of in a dilemma. For my non-science LOR, I pretty much have a choice between a graduate student who is about to get his PhD at the end of this academic year and a community college professor who only has his MA. Which one should I choose? The grad student at my university has allowed me to actually write the LOR and he'll sign it. Unfortunately, the Professor who ran the class passed away so I can't get it cosigned. I mean sure he was a grad student and all but he was the one who actually taught the class and developed the exams.
 
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If I am asking a PhD student who was my Teaching Assistant to write me a LOR and am having the professor of the course co-sign the letter, how should I label the title when listing it in Interfolio or AMCAS application? Should I put the professor's name or the name of my teaching assistant who is actually writing the letter?
 
How important is getting a LOR from your college's pre-medical advisor? I will applying in the upcoming cycle and know that some schools require it and if you decide not to send one to send substitute LORs from profs and explain why, so I'm assuming that the standard is to always get one from the advisor? Will it be unconsciously frowned upon if there is no letter from the advisor?

I graduated from undergrad almost a year ago. My school is relatively small but well-known with a small portion of students being pre-med, and there is no pre-med committee. I didn't really decide on medicine until later in school so I didn't meet with the advisor until senior year. That advisor also happened to be an interim one since the previous one just left and he offered to write a letter, but the school let him go. On a side note, I got the impression he was under-qualified and not enthusiastic about his job, so I would have had reservations about his LOR. I have been working since graduation and have not been able to meet the new pre-med advisor, who was hired after I graduated, and I am wondering if it is advisable to get a LOR from him? Based on what I've heard, he's better than the interim one. Or just go to the profs. for the LORs? Thanks!

Oi.
 
Here's my situation:

I'm a psychology major applying to medical school this summer.

I have two great letters from pscyhology professors and another great letter from my research PI. Knowing that some school require TWO letters from science professors I got letters from a physics professor from freshman year and a chemistry professor from junior year. Both of these classes were your standard 400+ person large-lecture style classes. So, obviously, these teachers don't know me that well. The recommendations are "good" but probably pretty unsubstantive.

I was wondering if I could do well just sending out the 3 letters from my psych professors and research PI? Obviously if a school strictly REQUIRES one science letter or two I don't have a choice, but does sending my best three (without a science profesor) put me at a disadvantage? I'd rather have 3 great letters than 3 great letters and another "meh" letter or two.
 
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Yes I am aware that in most circumstances a committee letter trumps individual letters, but I am wondering if my situation is different.

I am a post-bacc pre-med student who is returning to school after taking a year off to clear my mind (stress of taking care of grandfather who passed away, chose graduate program that wasn't for me). I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a 3.68 GPA in December 2009. My BCPM was approximately a 3.75 with all of the mathematics classes that I took. During my undergraduate career, I withdrew from A LOT of classes (almost 4 semesters worth) because I needed to help take care of my grandfather who had many chronic illnesses. This was a life changing experience for me. Everytime he got better, he had another bout of aspiration pneumonia or his congestive heart failure or his dementia flared up. He passed away in Oct 2009. I decided to enter the MS in Economics program at my school the following Spring, but quickly found out it wasn't for me. After Spring 2010 I decided to take a gap year to clear my head and find out if medicine was really for me, that is what I am currently doing.

The committee at my school allows your to pick 3-5 professors to write you a letter and then they compile those letters and a final letter is written that ranks you. I am afraid with my gap year, that my non-science professors like my Economics professors may have forgotten me. It has been since 2009. I also think when ranking me, the committee might not give me a high ranking due to the number of withdrawals that I have, even though I have a legitimate reason for doing so. So should I still do a committee letter or do the following:

1 BCPM Professor recommendation, 1 Economics professor that remembers me, 1 letter from a physician I have shadowed over a year, 1 letter from the clinical research study that I work for (perhaps the PI), and 1 letter from a volunteer coordinator (this is a volunteer patient clinical experience) who I know will write me an amazing letter of recommendation.
 
postbacpremed87 said:
. So should I still do a committee letter or do the following:

1 BCPM Professor recommendation, 1 Economics professor that remembers me, 1 letter from a physician I have shadowed over a year, 1 letter from the clinical research study that I work for (perhaps the PI), and 1 letter from a volunteer coordinator (this is a volunteer patient clinical experience) who I know will write me an amazing letter of recommendation.
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Many schools want 3 professor letters, 2 science and 1 non-science. You need another science letter in there.

Some schools write awesome committee letters that will put all those Ws in context and back up your story that you withdrew to be a caregiver to your grandpa.

In terms of getting letters from faculty who might not remember you: provide a copy of your personal statement, a CV, and, if you wish, your transcript. If you wrote something significant as part of the class, you might include that to job the prof's memory.
 
postbacpremed87 said:
Yes I am aware that in most circumstances a committee letter trumps individual letters, but I am wondering if my situation is different.

I am a post-bacc pre-med student who is returning to school after taking a year off to clear my mind (stress of taking care of grandfather who passed away, chose graduate program that wasn't for me). I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a 3.68 GPA in December 2009. My BCPM was approximately a 3.75 with all of the mathematics classes that I took. During my undergraduate career, I withdrew from A LOT of classes (almost 4 semesters worth) because I needed to help take care of my grandfather who had many chronic illnesses. This was a life changing experience for me. Everytime he got better, he had another bout of aspiration pneumonia or his congestive heart failure or his dementia flared up. He passed away in Oct 2009. I decided to enter the MS in Economics program at my school the following Spring, but quickly found out it wasn't for me. After Spring 2010 I decided to take a gap year to clear my head and find out if medicine was really for me, that is what I am currently doing.

The committee at my school allows your to pick 3-5 professors to write you a letter and then they compile those letters and a final letter is written that ranks you. I am afraid with my gap year, that my non-science professors like my Economics professors may have forgotten me. It has been since 2009. I also think when ranking me, the committee might not give me a high ranking due to the number of withdrawals that I have, even though I have a legitimate reason for doing so. So should I still do a committee letter or do the following:

1 BCPM Professor recommendation, 1 Economics professor that remembers me, 1 letter from a physician I have shadowed over a year, 1 letter from the clinical research study that I work for (perhaps the PI), and 1 letter from a volunteer coordinator (this is a volunteer patient clinical experience) who I know will write me an amazing letter of recommendation.
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It is your call but the general rule of thumb is that if your school does have a premed committee, then you should have a committee letter or it will raise red flags with the med school ad coms. I graduated from college in 2005 and started med school in 2007. I was interviewed by my schools' committee in September of 2006. It worked out. You should be able to explain the personal reasons for the withdrawals so you would not be penalized by the committee.

Usually, the committee letter attaches the letters that you have obtained from various individuals. I would get two letters from hard science or math professors and then the economics professor. Can you schedule a meeting with the economics professor regarding your need for a letter of recommendation. Ask him point blank if he will write you a strong letter. If he or she hesitates, then you will need to find someone else. Your other letters sound good.

I just think that it would be best for you to go the committee letter route. If you had been out of college for 5 or 10 years, I might have a different opinion. I really think that you can work this out.
 
Thanks LizzyM, as always you're the best.

LizzyM said:
Many schools want 3 professor letters, 2 science and 1 non-science. You need another science letter in there.

Some schools write awesome committee letters that will put all those Ws in context and back up your story that you withdrew to be a caregiver to your grandpa.

In terms of getting letters from faculty who might not remember you: provide a copy of your personal statement, a CV, and, if you wish, your transcript. If you wrote something significant as part of the class, you might include that to job the prof's memory.
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postbacpremed87 said:
Yes I am aware that in most circumstances a committee letter trumps individual letters, but I am wondering if my situation is different.

I am a post-bacc pre-med student who is returning to school after taking a year off to clear my mind (stress of taking care of grandfather who passed away, chose graduate program that wasn't for me). I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a 3.68 GPA in December 2009. My BCPM was approximately a 3.75 with all of the mathematics classes that I took. During my undergraduate career, I withdrew from A LOT of classes (almost 4 semesters worth) because I needed to help take care of my grandfather who had many chronic illnesses. This was a life changing experience for me. Everytime he got better, he had another bout of aspiration pneumonia or his congestive heart failure or his dementia flared up. He passed away in Oct 2009. I decided to enter the MS in Economics program at my school the following Spring, but quickly found out it wasn't for me. After Spring 2010 I decided to take a gap year to clear my head and find out if medicine was really for me, that is what I am currently doing.

The committee at my school allows your to pick 3-5 professors to write you a letter and then they compile those letters and a final letter is written that ranks you. I am afraid with my gap year, that my non-science professors like my Economics professors may have forgotten me. It has been since 2009. I also think when ranking me, the committee might not give me a high ranking due to the number of withdrawals that I have, even though I have a legitimate reason for doing so. So should I still do a committee letter or do the following:

1 BCPM Professor recommendation, 1 Economics professor that remembers me, 1 letter from a physician I have shadowed over a year, 1 letter from the clinical research study that I work for (perhaps the PI), and 1 letter from a volunteer coordinator (this is a volunteer patient clinical experience) who I know will write me an amazing letter of recommendation.
Click to expand...

the answer to your question is simple: if your school has a premed committee you have to go through them or else it'll be a major red flag. if you are concerned about something you should go speak to them about it...explain why you have so many W's for instance

your biggest problem though is that you have very weak letters. the academic letters and the research letter are good but you have two low-impact letters (the one from the doc and the one from the volunteer coordinator) ....you should absolutely replace one with another strong academic (preferably science) letter. As LizzyM has pointed out letters from shadowing experiences are pretty worthless since you don't actually DO anything.
 
Merging related threads. For future reference please refer to the Applicant Sticky at the top of this forum for links to large threads like this (the LOR thread), AMCAS questions, work and activities questions, and personal statement questions.
 
Coming from a grad student:

*This was really weird when I first learned it, but many graduate profs will ask you to draft your own LOR then give it to them to edit and send. I ended up writing 3 of my own LOR, trying to figure out how to make them sound like they came from different people. My trick was to think from the prof's POV: how do they know me, and what would they consider the most important things to talk about in a LOR from all the interactions/experience they've had with me?

*I come from a large university with a pre-med committee - I did not use it. I got one "science" letter from my undergrad OChem 2 prof, whom I very purposely made sure to get on good terms with. My other "science" letter actually came from my Occupational Therapy neuroscience prof (who is an OT) - I was slightly concerned it wouldn't count since it wasn't a basic science, but none of my schools took issue with it and she wrote a great letter.

*I actually didn't have any letters written by an MD/medical supervisor, and still managed a top tier school. My grad school profs (all OTs) knew me extremely well and were able to write sincere, knowledgeable, and meaningful letters, so I chose them over a doc I had shadowed a few times. Having an MD letter is not 100% necessary.

Hope this helps someone
 
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