*~*~*~*Official Letters of Recommendation Questions Thread 2012-2013*~*~*~*

[amonymous]

Would letters from math professors count as science or non-science (or neither)?

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[Govols13]

Letters of recommendations from science professors:

Do they need a PhD to be considered a professor?

 

[JustinMC]

depending on school, it's usually a science (BCMP)

 

[JustinMC]

How long does it take for AMCAS to receive LORs from Interfolio? Does it take as long as verificiation? I'm not sure how long it takes interfolio to get the letters onto AMCAS by the first date AMCAS sends out info to schools?

 

[pfaction]

When a school says their LOR max is 5, does that mean 5 letters all together or does the committee letter count separately? For example, my committee letter has 5 letters in it. I had 4 PI's. If committee is counted only as 1, then there's my 5. If not, then the commitee has 5 in itself.

 

[Ellie Arroway]

Where in the AMCAS application is it appropriate to note my reason for not using my school's committee letter?

Background: I am a postbacc, and started at my current institution this year to finish my prereqs. To be eligible for the committee letter you need to have 30 science credits at this institution by the end of winter term. I only had 21 (two terms, about 10 science credits per term). So I'm not eligible for the letter because I haven't been at this school long enough.

 

[szetok]

For the non-science letter, do you think a letter from a research coordinator I worked with is adequate? The one who agreed to write it for me is not responding....It's been a month and I gave him a June 1 deadline.....blah.

 

[Maria123]

Hello Everyone,

Okay so I have four science letters from the classes that I did well. I know one is for sure a good one since the professor knew me from his office hours. The other three, I am not sure if they are even good becuase I never went to office hours but did well in those classes. My question: is there a way to find out if the letters are good enough for med school? I read somewhere where people can check them through pre med committee. What is this pre med committee and how would find out if my schools offers such service.

I have done clinical research with an MD/PhD and I know his letter would be strong. Will this letter be considered science or non-science.

I have also done research in a cancer center and I am sure my PI can write me a good letter. Should I go ahead and ask since I don't know I will be able to use it since I already have one from the other PI?

I am getting one from a poli science prof and this for sure will cover the non-science letter.

Another question: should I try to find another science professor to write me a strong letter (most likely from math cc professor) or the fact that I already have one from a science professor and the MD/PhD shoudl be good enough?

Also, should I get one from my supervisor at a top biotech company?

As far as I can see, we can submit up to 5 letters. But I am confused as to how many of each type should I have.

Sorry for the long list but I really don't want to waste time getting letters I don't need.

Thank you so much for the help!!!

 

[kad]

For the schools that pre-screen primary applications (ex. UC's), should we have the letters in? I don't plan to add letters until July, as each school sends me a secondary, that will be the first thing I do (attach the letters to the respective school).
I guess to simplify my question, so pre-screening schools look at Letters of Rec?

Thanks

 

[BigBlueBear]

How long does it take for AMCAS to mark our letters as "received" after they get submitted through AMCAS letter service? Yesterday I had 2 professors email me saying they got it done; and I got emails saying a letter has been received, but then I checked my application and they are still showing up as not received.

 

[part tickles]

Hey everyone, I apologize if this question has already been asked -- when uploading letters to AMCAS, it asks you to specify if the letter is coming from a school. Does this mean that it is a school you attended/matriculated at, or if the letter writer is affiliated with a school? I have a letter from my PI from a private university, and from a physician with whom I did internship at a hospital affiliated with a medical school. Do these letters count as coming from a school? It may just be a technicality, but I thought I'd ask just in case! Thanks

 

[JCTWP46]

For the non-science letter, do you think a letter from a research coordinator I worked with is adequate? The one who agreed to write it for me is not responding....It's been a month and I gave him a June 1 deadline.....blah.

I hope so.

 

[tac123]

Does anyone know where I can find the maximum number of letters each school will accept? I heard you can find this info in the MSAR, but is there any free alternative that doesn't involve going to every individual school's website?

 

[ilovemedi]

so our LOR writers CAN submit electronically w/ interfolio, but they NEED to include an electronic letterhead? how about electronic signature?

 

[californiamed]

Hey guys,

I am an idiot and am still confused about this LOR spiel. So if we do use something like interfolio, they submit to amcas, then amcas sends to schools? Also, once amcas receives it, we can generate a " Letter ID number" to each letter?

 

[sudo]

I apologize if this has been asked before:

I'm planning on sending:

• My genetics professor
• My PI who I did an independent study with
• A professor who I took a random computer science course with (I'm a biology major, but have an interest in computers)
• A physician I shadowed
• the CEO of a medical fraternity I am a part of

Is that a good list?

My questions are:

1. Will my PI count as my 2nd "science professor"?
2. Will my computer science professor count as my "non-science letter"?

I just want to make sure I have this right...Thanks guys!

 

[szetok]

I hope so.

Ah, just wanted to let you know..I called some schools and they specifically told me...it has to be from a professor that you took a non-science class with.....

 

[amycompton]

I'm planning to ask my professor from this upcoming quarter for a Letter of records. Unfortunately, he won't be able to observe my academic ability until the quarter ends in July. If I'm not submitting my application until the beginning of September, at what point during/at the end of the quarter should I ask him for an LOR? It's for a non-science class.

Thanks

 

[szetok]

I'm planning to ask my professor from this upcoming quarter for a Letter of records. Unfortunately, he won't be able to observe my academic ability until the quarter ends in July. If I'm not submitting my application until the beginning of September, at what point during/at the end of the quarter should I ask him for an LOR? It's for a non-science class.

Thanks

I gave him a good 1.5 months to write it..which is what my health advisors tell us to give them. So that means I asked him approximately 2-2.5 months before the time I wanted it. But since he already said yes, that would be a lot easier. I was asking if they could write me a strong letter 2.5 months before and some professors took a good 2 weeks to respond. And even though I gave some professors 1.5 months to write it...they turned it in after the deadline I gave them. I had to send them several reminders as well. My non-science professor...wasn't responding to my emails but I gave him a small gift with chocolate and I definitely think that got him to BEGIN my letter..

Hope this helps!

 

[BigBear123]

I have a situation with I don't know how to put this nicely, but somewhat of a lazy letter of rec writer. My boss at the tutoring center at which I have worked for 2.5 years during undergrad is not very on top of things. I've been politely reminding him that the letter is due soon (I asked him over a month ago and he agreed), but he still hasn't written it (or replied to my emails). Other students have had this problem with him in the past, and I have no reason to believe he dislikes me or would not write me a good letter. He REALLY is just the kind of person who isn't super on top of things, but he is a nice and friendly guy.

Without him, I have 4 letters, but I am just worried that it might look bad since I've worked there for so long.. Should I keep trying with him? At what point should I give up if he still doesn't write it?

 

[szetok]

I have a situation with I don't know how to put this nicely, but somewhat of a lazy letter of rec writer. My boss at the tutoring center at which I have worked for 2.5 years during undergrad is not very on top of things. I've been politely reminding him that the letter is due soon (I asked him over a month ago and he agreed), but he still hasn't written it (or replied to my emails). Other students have had this problem with him in the past, and I have no reason to believe he dislikes me or would not write me a good letter. He REALLY is just the kind of person who isn't super on top of things, but he is a nice and friendly guy.

Without him, I have 4 letters, but I am just worried that it might look bad since I've worked there for so long.. Should I keep trying with him? At what point should I give up if he still doesn't write it?

I was in your exact position a few days ago but mines wasn't boss. I gave my non-science letter writer a month to write it with a deadline set at June 1. He didn't write it obviously by the deadline and he wasn't responding to my emails. So I bought him chocolate and a thank you card and dropped it off in his mailbox. (I wrote the thank you card in past tense...) And the very next day he emailed me back saying he finally got around to writing it! So..I guess that kind of guilt tripped him into writing it! I hope this helps! This was the only problem I've had... thank god. But I hope it works out for you!

I mean depending on when you need it should determine if you should stop waiting or not. My health advisors say that we should have them in by mid-July's for preparation for secondaries if we submitted early. If he's not done by then...maybe it's not worth the wait and have your application be held up in the process.

 

[BigBear123]

^^ Thanks. I've thought about doing the early gifting thing, and if it were someone else I would probably do that, but for him I don't think it would work. I don't think the guilt thing would work on him because he's more of a "friend" boss and would totally see right through it. >____< Not to mention that I've already moved back home, and it would not be very conceivable for me to drive back to my university to give it to him. Oh well I may just have to keep bugging him.

 

[ravupadh]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but if you are a reapplicant, should you get an updated health professions committee statement? My health professions office states that an updated health professions committee statement is highly recommended for reapplicants, but they require a new LOR before they'll rewrite it. My statement from last year has 5 LORs. So do reapplicants really need a new committee statement?

 

[krismd2016]

I apologize if this has been asked before:

I'm planning on sending:

• My genetics professor
• My PI who I did an independent study with
• A professor who I took a random computer science course with (I'm a biology major, but have an interest in computers)
• A physician I shadowed
• the CEO of a medical fraternity I am a part of

Is that a good list?

My questions are:

1. Will my PI count as my 2nd "science professor"?
2. Will my computer science professor count as my "non-science letter"?

I just want to make sure I have this right...Thanks guys!

Yes you have a good list. Yes your PI will count as a science professor...if the course that you took was in the sciences department then yes. Yes your computer science professor will count as non-science&#8230;..

 

[x3virgie]

I have the letters I'm using stored with the university career center letter service and under AMCAS, they say that this is considered a letter packet.


So who would I list as the primary contact and other related info? Is it just any one of my recommenders? And then list the rest under "other authors?"

 

[szetok]

I have the letters I'm using stored with the university career center letter service and under AMCAS, they say that this is considered a letter packet.


So who would I list as the primary contact and other related info? Is it just any one of my recommenders? And then list the rest under "other authors?"

I'm using my school's letter packet service as well and they tell us to put one of their health advisor's names down since they're the ones sending it and not the professors... You should check with the service. My health advisors say that its more difficult to match a letter packet if you put a letter writer down because they won't break down the letter packet to look at letters; they'll just look at the coversheet.

 

[medmedman]

I really need some advice

I submitted 3 individual letters of recs to AMCAS. One was from my boss, another from the president of an organization I volunteer in, and one from a doctor I shadowed. I just found out that schools usually require 1 - 2 letters be from a science professor.

I graduated in May 2011 so I don't think I quality for that "if you've been away from college then you don't need a science professor" rule. I've also heard that you are not allowed to submit both a committee letter from your university and additional letters of rec. Is this true? Should I go ahead and try to see if my pre-med committee at my school has my composite letter from last year or should I try and get my science professors who wrote me LOR before to submit them as individual ones this year.

 

[medmedman]

Question: When you say we generally need x amount of science, x non science, x research, x whatever, do you mean IN the COMMITTEE letter, or separately? I have a committee letter, work, hospital, MD I shadowed. Outside of that I have so many LOR's from inside the school that they fill all the reqt's. I'm aiming for MD/PhD.

In the committee letter they will probably attach letters, is that where they'd attach the x necessary ones? Or are they separate?

I am pretty sure they mean either in the committee letter or separately.

Quick question regarding co-signed letters. If I get a letter co-signed by a professor and a post-doc from my lab, I can only designate one writer for my waiver form (to waive all my rights to view the letter). Interfolio allows you to enter the email address of one of my writers but not both. So do I have to submit two separate waiver statements, one for my post-doc and one for my professor? Or just the person who will be mailing/uploading the letter to Interfolio? Please help me out!

I would put whoever is going to be uploading the letter to inferolio

Would letters from math professors count as science or non-science (or neither)?

Personally I wouldn't count that as a science professor and I don't think AMCAS would either

Letters of recommendations from science professors:

Do they need a PhD to be considered a professor?

Nope!

How long does it take for AMCAS to receive LORs from Interfolio? Does it take as long as verificiation? I'm not sure how long it takes interfolio to get the letters onto AMCAS by the first date AMCAS sends out info to schools?

It varies. I did mine early and got it in 2 days.

When a school says their LOR max is 5, does that mean 5 letters all together or does the committee letter count separately? For example, my committee letter has 5 letters in it. I had 4 PI's. If committee is counted only as 1, then there's my 5. If not, then the commitee has 5 in itself.

My guess is the committee letter counts as one but I could be wrong. The whole point of the LOR cap is they don't want to sit through 10 letters per applicant. Even though you have lots of letters in your committee letter, the length shouldn't vary too much

For the non-science letter, do you think a letter from a research coordinator I worked with is adequate? The one who agreed to write it for me is not responding....It's been a month and I gave him a June 1 deadline.....blah.

Good LOR depends on the person and not necessarily who they are. If your research coor knows you and writes well then go for it.

so our LOR writers CAN submit electronically w/ interfolio, but they NEED to include an electronic letterhead? how about electronic signature?

Yes and no. Some schools are very picky about it. Just get the letterhead and sig on their just in case. Better to be safe than sorry.

Hey guys,

I am an idiot and am still confused about this LOR spiel. So if we do use something like interfolio, they submit to amcas, then amcas sends to schools? Also, once amcas receives it, we can generate a " Letter ID number" to each letter?

Yes. Interfolio to AMCAS and AMCAS to the schools. Instructions of how to do it are on interfolio I believe. If I remember correctly, AMCAS application gives you an ID when you input who is writing your letter and you fill that ID in interfolio


Ok now that I've helped people out, maybe someone can return the favor and answer my post

 

[395237]

Ok now that I've helped people out, maybe someone can return the favor and answer my post

+1

It's the only thing I read from the last post that made me want to look up your earlier post and reply.

I really need some advice

I submitted 3 individual letters of recs to AMCAS. One was from my boss, another from the president of an organization I volunteer in, and one from a doctor I shadowed. I just found out that schools usually require 1 - 2 letters be from a science professor.

I graduated in May 2011 so I don't think I quality for that "if you've been away from college then you don't need a science professor" rule. I've also heard that you are not allowed to submit both a committee letter from your university and additional letters of rec. Is this true? Should I go ahead and try to see if my pre-med committee at my school has my composite letter from last year or should I try and get my science professors who wrote me LOR before to submit them as individual ones this year.

Contact each medical school you plan to apply to describing your situation. Some medical schools may be a tiny bit more lenient on your letter requirements, if you explain that you are non-traditional, but assume they won't be and will require 2 science professors.

It really depends on whether you can submit both a committee letter and additional letters. Some schools allow the committee letter to substitute for science and non-science letters, but still accept other letters. Few schools might only allow the committee letter. All schools will allow an absence of a committee letter if your undergrad school doesn't have a committee. Again, ask each school what their policy is.

If you already have a committee letter, I'd worry a bit less. They should still be able to send that letter, and it will hopefully make up for the lack of science letters you have. Contact your committee regarding what's inside their letter - sometimes, committee letters include all the LORs sent to them by other letter writers.

If your committee decides to screw you over, contact your science writers to send their letters to Interfolio or to AMCAS. They should still have copies on their computers.

 

[Turpulus]

I was hoping someone could give me some advice about my letters of evaluation. I have a non-traditional situation. Also, I'm a reapplicant. I finished my graduate program in 2007. I received a letter of reference from a graduate science professor and my master's thesis advisor in 2007, both of whom have retired since then and would not be able to write me a new letter of recommendation. In 2007, I wasn't planning on applying to medical school, so the letters were written as recommendations for a PhD program. Since 2007, I have worked at two pharmaceutical companies. My bosses are writing me some medical school specific recommendations. Also, in 2009 I took some business courses and had my busniness professor write me a medical school recommendation. This year, I took Physics II at a community college and had my physics professor write me a medical school recommendation. I know that some schools require that your thesis advisor submit a recommendation, but for the schools that don't require this, how bad is it if I do not submit the grad school recommendations since they are old and not medical school specific? I haven't seen them, but I know they are decent recommendations because they got me interviews at 4 schools this year. Basically I just want to know if the old and non-specific recommendations can do more harm than good. Thanks.

 

[intel21]

After you submit your secondaries and have LORS assigned, do your LORS have to be ALL received by the schools before they mark you as complete and begin looking at your app? If so, then would it be better to only assign letters that have already been received by AMCAS? And then assign more after they've been received?

 

[nmakhija]

so I had my gen chem teaching assistant write me a letter of recommendation and it is cosigned by the professor of the class as well (It was a large class and I think the professor added what she got to know about me in the little interaction we had). I just wanted to make sure this fulfills the requirement for a letter of recommendation from a science professor. Since it is technically from both of them (has the professors signature on it as well), I assumed this would count.

I just wanted to make sure this is fine, I do have another science professor's letter of recommendation that should be sent to me soon but I fear that it is not nearly as good quality as the one that is co-signed. Which one do you think would look better to send in (Would rather they not see the other one at all unless necessary)?

 

[nmakhija]

I just talked to an operator from Creighton and told her I didnt have a letter of rec from a non-science professor. I asked if they would still review my application and she explained that it wouldnt be considered complete until that letter comes in and they don't start reviewing the application until it is complete. I assume that means only the required LOR's need to be in for them to start reviewing it but those do need to be in before they start...

 

[nmakhija]

After you submit your secondaries and have LORS assigned, do your LORS have to be ALL received by the schools before they mark you as complete and begin looking at your app? If so, then would it be better to only assign letters that have already been received by AMCAS? And then assign more after they've been received?

I just talked to an operator from Creighton and told her I didnt have a letter of rec from a non-science professor. I asked if they would still review my application and she explained that it wouldnt be considered complete until that letter comes in and they don't start reviewing the application until it is complete. I assume that means only the required LOR's need to be in for them to start reviewing it but those do need to be in before they start...

 

[Turpulus]

I was hoping someone could give me some advice about my letters of evaluation. I have a non-traditional situation. Also, I'm a reapplicant. I finished my graduate program in 2007. I received a letter of reference from a graduate science professor and my master's thesis advisor in 2007, both of whom have retired since then and would not be able to write me a new letter of recommendation. In 2007, I wasn't planning on applying to medical school, so the letters were written as recommendations for a PhD program. Since 2007, I have worked at two pharmaceutical companies. My bosses are writing me some medical school specific recommendations. Also, in 2009 I took some business courses and had my busniness professor write me a medical school recommendation. This year, I took Physics II at a community college and had my physics professor write me a medical school recommendation. I know that some schools require that your thesis advisor submit a recommendation, but for the schools that don't require this, how bad is it if I do not submit the grad school recommendations since they are old and not medical school specific? I haven't seen them, but I know they are decent recommendations because they got me interviews at 4 schools this year. Basically I just want to know if the old and non-specific recommendations can do more harm than good. Thanks.

 

[ravupadh]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but if you are a reapplicant, should you get an updated health professions committee statement? My health professions office states that an updated health professions committee statement is highly recommended for reapplicants, but they require a new LOR before they'll rewrite it. My statement from last year has 5 LORs. So do reapplicants really need a new committee statement?

Not to bump but I'm really wondering if someone can help me with this.

 

[wanderedtoolong]

I'm another nontrad with questions about LORs. I have letters from the 2 PIs I have worked for since undergrad, my grad school adviser, and the PI of the lab I worked in as an undergrad (I also took a class with him). I have no idea where to get a "non-science" letter since I graduated undergrad in 2004 and all of my grad work was in science. Will schools really not look at my app because I don't have a letter from some English prof from ages ago? Can my "employer letters" be considered non-science even though they're from scientists? help!

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

I'm another nontrad with questions about LORs. I have letters from the 2 PIs I have worked for since undergrad, my grad school adviser, and the PI of the lab I worked in as an undergrad (I also took a class with him). I have no idea where to get a "non-science" letter since I graduated undergrad in 2004 and all of my grad work was in science. Will schools really not look at my app because I don't have a letter from some English prof from ages ago? Can my "employer letters" be considered non-science even though they're from scientists? help!

I initially had this problem too as a non-trad applying this year. Unfortunately, the only definitive answers you can get are by calling/e-mailing individual schools and asking to substitute. However, from what I have heard, most schools are receptive to non-trads without that elusive non-science letter. I should also add that not every school that wants a non-science letter is referring to a prof.

 

[wanderedtoolong]

I initially had this problem too as a non-trad applying this year. Unfortunately, the only definitive answers you can get are by calling/e-mailing individual schools and asking to substitute. However, from what I have heard, most schools are receptive to non-trads without that elusive non-science letter. I should also add that not every school that wants a non-science letter is referring to a prof.

Thanks! I will start finalizing my school list and emailing all of those I'm certain about. . .

 

[bigbad]

I looked through most of the thread but still didn't find the answer to my question. Since you can "assign" letters to schools after the app has been submitted, does that mean you can assign different letters to different schools in the application before you submit? My letters have not been received yet and some schools (ex. Loma Linda) might want letters that other schools would not have use for.

Also, I think one of my profs wrote a letter specific to a school so I wouldn't want to risk it and send it to other schools. Can I do this?

 

[syoung]

When a school says their LOR max is 5, does that mean 5 letters all together or does the committee letter count separately? For example, my committee letter has 5 letters in it. I had 4 PI's. If committee is counted only as 1, then there's my 5. If not, then the commitee has 5 in itself.

@pfaction
For my, applying to Med. From what I heard from AAMC and my counselors, a committee letter packet = 1 letter. If you then designate "additional" authors in the section below when you are first filling in the information for Letter of Recommendation in AMCAS, they say there will be confusion, etc.
So if you look at the pharm application services or check with your school, should be the same.

 

[09ine]

A friend of mine has a question:

"To ensure your letters are matched correctly with your application, we ask that they be accompanied by the AMCAS Letter Request Form. Please print this form and provide it to the person who will be sending your letter(s) of evaluation."

We're both using Interfolio. I was about to tell her that the writer only has to send the letter letter to Interfolio, and then you send that to AMCAS with the provided letter and amca ID. Am I right in thinking that the accompanying request form is only necessary for mail in recommendations?

 

[jgalt42]

Are you able to retract an LOR from the list of LOR you are submitting to a school, if the writer has not sent it yet?

 

[Turpulus]

I'm a non-traditional student. Graduated in 2007 with an M.S. I have 6 letters uploaded. 4 letters are recent, 2 letters are old. The two old letters are from my graduate professors and were written in 2007. 2 of the recent letters are from my supervisors in my current job. The other two recent letters are from professors I recently took classes from (1 science and 1 non-science). I know most schools require 3 letters. Would it hurt me in any way if I submit all 6 letters? I'm assuming all the letters are positive, just some may not be as good as others.

 

[Maria123]

Hi everyone,

I did independent research at a cancer center through the biology department. I did it for two quarter and got 8 total units. My PI is going to write me a leter. I am wondering would this count as a science letter or not. I need one more from a science professor but I really don't know if this would count because It was not not an actual class/lecture. Please let me know ASAP. Thanks in advance

 

[dropgorgeous]

.

 

[275870]

I have a question about the non-science LOR. I took an improv class at my university a few semesters ago and developed a very good relationship with the professor of that class. But that class was actually taught by a Grad Student in the theater department. He is now graduated from the university and have moved to a different state but I know he will still get me a strong LOR. I am not sure if med schools would be ok with his letter, especially since most schools require a letterhead for each letter. Any advice on whether it would be ok to go ahead and ask him for a letter? The main reason I want his letter is because he is the only non science professor I developed any sort of relationship with and he would really write me a good letter.

 

[Appoggiatura]

Is it possible/wise to send in an additional letter of rec when my school will be preparing a committee letter/packet (that also includes 4 letters of rec from professors and research PIs)?

 

[Serialhealer]

I am going to be sending in a letter packet from my school. Do I need to designate each individual author under this heading?

The reason I ask is I might be getting more authors/letters added to the packet by the time it is sent out. Is it bad to just list my school under contact instead of each individual letter author?

 

[lakeccrunner]

For a non-science letter, is it appropriate to submit a letter from a coach? I've participated in athletics all four years at my university and the coach and I have a good relationship and he knows my academic abilities as well as anyone.