*~*~*~*Official Letters of Recommendation Questions Thread 2017-2018*~*~*~*

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This situation isnt completely hopeless; you can always serve as a bad example

1) why are submitting both indivdual letters and a committee letter when most schools clearly state they would prefer solely a committee letter and, if not available, then individual letters?
2) why are you assigning letters prior to actually having them in AMCAS? Your situation is why I always advise applicants never to assign letters until they are actually in AMCAS.
3) Why would sign and submit a secondary stating a letter is coming without confirmation that is true?

Now that you gave been duly admonished
1) follow the procedure on page 62 of AMCAS instruction for having AMCAS inform school letter is not coming
2) I would contact all the schools, particularly those you have listed on your secondary as coming, with a very, very brief explanation as to why this is no longer coming . Example below
3) And I would say you must say the "serious illness" piece, otherwise you may look like an idiot or, worse, have an open question as to why suddenly this professor decided not to write a letter for you (maybe because you are an idiot). Leaving an open question in an adcom's mind can be a dangerous thing. Some of them dont have my gentle, supportive nature and can be absolute, vicious, cold-hearted, bastards ready to berate anxious applicants at a moment's notice

To whom it may concern

Due to an serious illness, Professor Smith of State University, (AMCAS Letter ID xxxxx) will not be submitting a letter on my behalf. I have followed the AMCAS procedure to have all schools notified the this letter is no longer being sent. Could you please note this in my application (and, specifically, on my secondary where I noted this letter to be expected). Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.

Yours truly

A. D. Umb, applicant
AMCAS ID (your ID)

Hi gonnif, thank you for your thoughtful response, I really appreciate the advice and will contact the schools as you suggested.

You're completely correct, I royally mishandled my letter of recommendation situation. I didn't fully understand how it worked and I should have done more research before submitting my primary, if any future applicants are reading this, learn from my mistakes!!!

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Hi,
My AMCAS application is currently in line to get verified. Today, my pre health office just notified me they uploaded my committee letter and AMCAS confirmed they received it. I added the letter to one of the schools, and now it tells me to update my application. If I update my application, will I lose my spot in the verification line? I'm sort of confused. Thanks.

no, you wont lose your place
 
Quick question,

I just got a call from one school regarding a letter of recommendation I sent from a physician I shadowed. They said they can't accept it because the letter indicated he was a "family friend". I called the physician to touch base and he said the only thing he mentioned in the letter about our relationship was how he knew me for 8 years because his son and I went to the same highschool and were friends and then went on to talk about my shadowing experience with him. Does this actually constitute that the physician is a family friend of mine only because I knew his son? I am wondering if this school is just being very picky or if all of my schools will deny this letter.
 
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Quick question,

I just got a call from one school regarding a letter of recommendation I sent from a physician I shadowed. They said they can't accept it because the letter indicated he was a "family friend". I called the physician to touch base and he said the only thing he mentioned in the letter about our relationship was how he knew me for 8 years because his son and I went to the same highschool and were friends and then went on to talk about my shadowing experience with him. Does this actually constitute that the physician is a family friend of mine only because I knew his son? I am wondering if this school is just being very picky or if all of my schools will deny this letter.

1) schools can set their policy as they see fit
2) I cant tell if from a passing reference of knowing his son for 8 years whether you just happen to be in the same class or families are so close they vacation together
3) Because of #2, they caught tell how objective or non-bias this eval will be
4) whether other schools will accept it, some adcoms will feel family connection is always going to be positive so they will dismiss it
 
I have a question I was hoping somebody could clarify for me. I have two science professors who taught me in classes for grades that counted towards my GPA writing letters for me. I also have two research professors who I worked under for many years in a lab that had components of both clinical psych and biology writing letters for me. Because the course listing for the lab existed as both clinical pscyh and biology, I registered for it as a Biology course. My question is, would this satisfy the non-science professor letter requirements? I received a grade for the research course, but it did not count towards my GPA.
 
Hi.

So I have five LOR, but to my knowledge some schools accept less than that. If I upload all 5 of my LOR to my application, would it cause an issue because those letters will be sent to all schools through my primary? Or should I individually designate letters for each school instead of just uploading them with my primary? I understand that if a school states three letters are the maximum, they really do not want you to send more than three.

@gonnif
 
Hi.

So I have five LOR, but to my knowledge some schools accept less than that. If I upload all 5 of my LOR to my application, would it cause an issue because those letters will be sent to all schools through my primary? Or should I individually designate letters for each school instead of just uploading them with my primary? I understand that if a school states three letters are the maximum, they really do not want you to send more than three.

@gonnif

You can upload all letters to AMCAS letter service which is not the same as your primary
You then assign letters on a per school basis
Schools will only get the letters you assign to them
Schools will not know anything about letters that are not assigned to them
 
You can upload all letters to AMCAS letter service which is not the same as your primary
You then assign letters on a per school basis
Schools will only get the letters you assign to them
Schools will not know anything about letters that are not assigned to them

Thank you!!
 
Hi,

I'm taking my MCAT on August 24th (late i know but mostly focused on DO). I heard schools won't look at your app till your MCAT scores are in, so I will most likely submit my application in the last week of August.
Question- does that mean I won't need to have my recommendation letters in until my primary application is verified in late September? I'm trying to figure out what deadline to give my letter writers. i asked him on July 15th and gave him Aug 31st as a deadline a few days ago but i'm unsure whether that's too short of a time period so I was thinking to extend it.
 
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I have a question I was hoping somebody could clarify for me. I have two science professors who taught me in classes for grades that counted towards my GPA writing letters for me. I also have two research professors who I worked under for many years in a lab that had components of both clinical psych and biology writing letters for me. Because the course listing for the lab existed as both clinical pscyh and biology, I registered for it as a Biology course. My question is, would this satisfy the non-science professor letter requirements? I received a grade for the research course, but it did not count towards my GPA.

1) AMCAS classification of BCPM does not have direct bearing of a course being "science" or not (ie math)
2) Using a professor of this description may pass technical scrutiny of a school as non-science
3) Reality of this letter to an adcom will read and seem as a science letter
4) you also read each school's specific details for letters as many have dropped the customary 2 science/1 non science LORs requirement.
5) All in all, an adcom will read these letters as science/research and most will expect at least 1 non science letter, required or not.
5) Dont confuse what is "required" as to what is "expected" especially since many other applicants will have such
 
I couldn't find if this question was answered yet but I got an email from a school saying that science letters are specifically professors that taught lectures. I was wondering if that is a well-known rule? I have 2 science letters, one from a professor that taught lectures and one that taught lab. They both counted towards my science GPA and were both 3 credits. I'm anxious because if the lab one doesn't count... I'm screwed. Haha.
 
I couldn't find if this question was answered yet but I got an email from a school saying that science letters are specifically professors that taught lectures. I was wondering if that is a well-known rule? I have 2 science letters, one from a professor that taught lectures and one that taught lab. They both counted towards my science GPA and were both 3 credits. I'm anxious because if the lab one doesn't count... I'm screwed. Haha.

1) Despite the common use of the term, AMCAS uses BCPM, not "science"
2) whether AMCAS uses something as part of BCPM, it has no relevance to what a specific school may require for letters
3) each school can set their own requirements as what they want for letters, including defining what kind of professor or course type
4) by "well known" if you mean a wide spread rule, my impression is no.

In sum, you are not likely to have any issues with the letters you have.
 
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Hello all,
I have a person who I worked with a few years ago during a summer internship who is an undergraduate student at Harvard. He would be writing my LOR from the perspective of a colleague and not a student and I know that he will be able to write me a terrific letter. Do you guys think this qualifies as an appropriate author for an LOR? Please let me know!
 
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Hello all,
I have a person who I worked with a few years ago during a summer internship who is an undergraduate student at Harvard. He would be writing my LOR from the perspective of a colleague and not a student and I know that he will be able to write me a terrific letter. Do you guys think this qualifies as an appropriate author for an LOR? Please let me know!
no.... except for the 1 or 2 schools that ask for a letter from a peer (one of the florida schools used to asked for it), it doesnt represent some who is in a position to evaluate you. Doing so would at best be look presumtous and at worst arrogant and very negative
 
1) AMCAS classification of BCPM does not have direct bearing of a course being "science" or not (ie math)
2) Using a professor of this description may pass technical scrutiny of a school as non-science
3) Reality of this letter to an adcom will read and seem as a science letter
4) you also read each school's specific details for letters as many have dropped the customary 2 science/1 non science LORs requirement.
5) All in all, an adcom will read these letters as science/research and most will expect at least 1 non science letter, required or not.
5) Dont confuse what is "required" as to what is "expected" especially since many other applicants will have such

Thank you. I expect to get a non-science professor later, but they have not yet sent it to my school (I am an Alumnus of the undergraduate University writing my committee letter), and I do not want to hold up my committee letter any longer, so I ask because am thinking of not including it so all my letters can get sent in.
 
Thank you. I expect to get a non-science professor later, but they have not yet sent it to my school (I am an Alumnus of the undergraduate University writing my committee letter), and I do not want to hold up my committee letter any longer, so I ask because am thinking of not including it so all my letters can get sent in.
Now am I confused

If you are submitting individual LORs, then you need to follow the specific requirements that that medical school lists
If you are submitting a committee letter, the committee decides what kind of letters to submit

The two sets of requirements do not overlap.
 
Question: I designated my letters to my schools via AAMC portal already. After learning that a few schools have more stringent letter requirements, I found an old teacher to graciously write me a letter (read: science letter).

I do not want the schools to be overwhelmed by the number of letters I submit. After I assign this new letter to these few schools, how would I go about notifying the schools of which letters I want them to read (if that is possible)? Or, will they receive all of the letters and choose to their discretion?
 
Question: I designated my letters to my schools via AAMC portal already. After learning that a few schools have more stringent letter requirements, I found an old teacher to graciously write me a letter (read: science letter).

I do not want the schools to be overwhelmed by the number of letters I submit. After I assign this new letter to these few schools, how would I go about notifying the schools of which letters I want them to read (if that is possible)? Or, will they receive all of the letters and choose to their discretion?

Keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool
instead of opening and removing all doubt
--Old Yiddish Proverb


You cant unassign a letter via AMCAS
You cant pull a letter back from a school
You have no specific "right" to ask a school which letters to read
You now want to ask a school to ignore letters that have been submitted and read this new one instead?
And you are asking this because you didnt even bother reading school's instructions on what letters to send before hand?

In the worst case scenario, an adcom can interpret your request as
-Applicant cant read or follow directions
-Applicant wasnt even motivated enough to even bother reading the website
-Applicant may have something to hide or negative in the letters they are trying to pull back

Since applying to medical school is about mitigating risk, you have already made a mistake and the worst is too many letters, which is common among premeds. I wouldnt do a thing and just leave this alone. When you have dug yourself into a hole the first rule to stop digging.
 
Keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool
instead of opening and removing all doubt
--Old Yiddish Proverb


You cant unassign a letter via AMCAS
You cant pull a letter back from a school
You have no specific "right" to ask a school which letters to read
You now want to ask a school to ignore letters that have been submitted and read this new one instead?
And you are asking this because you didnt even bother reading school's instructions on what letters to send before hand?

In the worst case scenario, an adcom can interpret your request as
-Applicant cant read or follow directions
-Applicant wasn't even motivated enough to even bother reading the website
-Applicant may have something to hide or negative in the letters they are trying to pull back
As a teaching moment, add "applicant thinks rules don't apply to them".
 
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My committee letter just came in but I wanted a quick opinion from everyone else here.

One of my most meaningful activities I listed was volunteering at a clinic nearby the school I was completing my SMP at. However, I started volunteering there in Oct. and they require you to have been there for 1 year in order to receive a LOR from them. So I used a generic clinical letter from back in undergrad to complete the clinical letter requirement for my committee letter. I am going to try and see if I can get a LOR from them next month, but will it look suspicious that I don't have a letter from them, or will adcoms not think it is a big deal. I have plenty of good LORs from people who knew me personally, but I just don't want my predicament to hold me back.
 
If the designated letter does not come through for certain schools, does that count negatively for the application? One of my recommenders might fall through, but I do have enough letters from other people to replace his letter if necessary. In that case, should I let the schools know about the replacement letter or would they just process whatever they receive? I would sincerely appreciate some insight here. Thank you.
 
If the designated letter does not come through for certain schools, does that count negatively for the application? One of my recommenders might fall through, but I do have enough letters from other people to replace his letter if necessary. In that case, should I let the schools know about the replacement letter or would they just process whatever they receive? I would sincerely appreciate some insight here. Thank you.
1) an applicant should not assign a letter to a school until the letter is uploaded into AMCAS
2) schools may hold application until all letters assigned have been received.
3) See the AMCAS Instruction (page 65 I believe) for the steps needed to formally tell a school an assigned letter is not coming. You MUST do this step
 
So if I assign all my lor and meet the minimum that the school requires, and then submit my secondary, can I still add more lor and assign it to the school after I submit the secondary?
 
So if I assign all my lor and meet the minimum that the school requires, and then submit my secondary, can I still add more lor and assign it to the school after I submit the secondary?
Yes you can. Now whether or not a particular school will include them in the evaluation, at what point they will be reviewed or if they will have any impact whatsoever is impossible to day. It all depends on how they work
 
Yes you can. Now whether or not a particular school will include them in the evaluation, at what point they will be reviewed or if they will have any impact whatsoever is impossible to day. It all depends on how they work

Would it be useful to call schools and ask ?
 
I'm getting my committee packet - all paperwork is turned in. Should I still wait for it to be uploaded before I assign it to schools?


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I'm getting my committee packet - all paperwork is turned in. Should I still wait for it to be uploaded before I assign it to schools?


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I always advise students to not assign a letter until it is uploaded in AMCAS. Assigning it without the letter present does not get you screened or evaluated any faster
 
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I always advise students to not assign a letter until it is uploaded in AMCAS. Assigning it without the letter present does not get you screened or evaluated any faster

Thanks! I assigned it to one school before I read your recommendation to another student about that. So I decided I should ask and wait until I find out. I will get the letter in time, but I think I feel more comfortable waiting to assign it to any other schools.


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Hey, so I just came across a potentially huge issue last night after looking through my AMCAS Application!! I didn't realize that we had to provide our letter writers with letter request forms and I already had them send the letters through Interfolio. Here are my questions/concerns (if you need clarification or if it sounds too wordy/confusing, please let me know):

1. If I never provided them with a letter request form and they already submitted the letters, will this cause any sort of issue? Meaning do they need to have my AAMC ID or Letter ID prior to submitting my letter via Interfolio, and/or would I have to tell them to resubmit my letters all over again? Cant I simply generate a letter request form for each letter writer now and simply add the Letter ID for each Letter writer on my Interfolio account so that way I can make sure each letter is associated with its own Letter ID?

2. If the answer to the last question for question 1. above is a "yes" but for some reason I don't end up getting in this year or even end up applying this year would the letter ID's that I have generated this year still work when I submit my letters to AMCAS next year, or no? Meaning will I have to generate new Letter ID's if I do end up applying next year instead of this year?

I"m very confused about this part of the application so the more clarification you can provide, the better.
 
Hey, so I just came across a potentially huge issue last night after looking through my AMCAS Application!! I didn't realize that we had to provide our letter writers with letter request forms and I already had them send the letters through Interfolio. Here are my questions/concerns (if you need clarification or if it sounds too wordy/confusing, please let me know):

1. If I never provided them with a letter request form and they already submitted the letters, will this cause any sort of issue? Meaning do they need to have my AAMC ID or Letter ID prior to submitting my letter via Interfolio, and/or would I have to tell them to resubmit my letters all over again? Cant I simply generate a letter request form for each letter writer now and simply add the Letter ID for each Letter writer on my Interfolio account so that way I can make sure each letter is associated with its own Letter ID?

2. If the answer to the last question for question 1. above is a "yes" but for some reason I don't end up getting in this year or even end up applying this year would the letter ID's that I have generated this year still work when I submit my letters to AMCAS next year, or no? Meaning will I have to generate new Letter ID's if I do end up applying next year instead of this year?

I"m very confused about this part of the application so the more clarification you can provide, the better.

I'm just reposting this since I haven't gotten a response in a few days. If someone could please help me, I would really appreciate it. Thank you
 
I am about to upload my letter in a letter packet through my school and I am asked what order I want the letters in. How should I go about this? Alphabetical? Chronological? What I think are my strongest letters? I have 6 letters so will some schools only read the first few? Thanks for any advice.
Irrelavant schools should read them all.
 
Hoping you can help me out with this question. I shadowed a doctor for three months and received a letter of recommendation I haven't planned on sending it to most schools, but he is on the board at one school I am very interested in. Would it be worthwhile to add his letter to the packet going to just that school?
 
I'm just reposting this since I haven't gotten a response in a few days. If someone could please help me, I would really appreciate it. Thank you

HI gonnif,

If you get a chance, can you please help me with the questions that I've posted about letters of recommendations a few days ago? I would really appreciate it!
 
HI gonnif,

If you get a chance, can you please help me with the questions that I've posted about letters of recommendations a few days ago? I would really appreciate it!

I thought I had answer this a few days ago. AMCAS expects Letter IDs generated prior to asking for letter, including on interfolio. Letters themselves should contain letter ID.

The letter ID will change for each cycle. You can probably get away with generating letter ID after interfolio already has it.

All applicants should get updated letter every year as this would have the most optimal impact with an adcom

While this next comment will not affect this cycle or perhaps next but AMCAS is outsourcing processing to a large peivate third party and I think there will be major changes in acceptable letters to interfolio at that point
 
I thought I had answer this a few days ago. AMCAS expects Letter IDs generated prior to asking for letter, including on interfolio. Letters themselves should contain letter ID.

The letter ID will change for each cycle. You can probably get away with generating letter ID after interfolio already has it.

All applicants should get updated letter every year as this would have the most optimal impact with an adcom

While this next comment will not affect this cycle or perhaps next but AMCAS is outsourcing processing to a large peivate third party and I think there will be major changes in acceptable letters to interfolio at that point

Thanks for responding.

1. So if I don't end up applying this cycle then there's not really a point in generating any Letter ID's now?

2. Also, you're saying I would need to ask all of my letter writers to resubmit their letters again next year as that would "have the most optimal impact with an adcom"?

3. If the letter is from one year ago and you have a hard time getting your letter writers to resubmit it, will it look bad? What if all of them agree to resubmit, but not one of them, will that look weird or suspicious?

4. The letters themselves must absolutely include Letter ID's on the actual physical letters, or can I insert them on Interfolio and have each Letter ID correspond to each respective and individual letter?

Thank you
 
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I was wondering if anyone could provide some insight on whether or not a letter from a cardiology fellow at the top hospital in my state would be of value for my application? I am very close to him and have also shadowed him, but he is concerned that a letter from him will reflect poorly on my application because he is not an attending physician. Thank you for your time.
 
I'd love to get some advice regarding a situation that I'm in at the moment. I was told my a letter writer that he'd be happy to write a letter for med school but have not heard from him in over a month. I was just verified on AMCAS my apps won't be delivered until I have this final letter in -what should I do?
 
1. So if I don't end up applying this cycle then there's not really a point in generating any Letter ID's now?
And if you might apply this, having the letter IDs are necessary. Since these should have been generated before you ever requested a letter, the issue should never arise

2. Also, you're saying I would need to ask all of my letter writers to resubmit their letters again next year as that would "have the most optimal impact with an adcom"?
Yes

3. If the letter is from one year ago and you have a hard time getting your letter writers to resubmit it, will it look bad? What if all of them agree to resubmit, but not one of them, will that look weird or suspicious?
At 47 schools it will look bad, 34 report it will look bad, and a few it will look weird...yes that is sarcasm.

I will say it again, I advise applicants to have "fresh" letters when applying to medical school as the most optimal method. Not having that that will be less than most optimal. No other statement can be made.

4. The letters themselves must absolutely include Letter ID's on the actual physical letters, or can I insert them on Interfolio and have each Letter ID correspond to each respective and individual letter?

This is the statement from AMCAS on the issue

Section 6 of the AMCAS® application: Letters of Evaluation
The Letter ID is a unique 7-digit number assigned to each letter entry on your AMCAS application, which should be provided to each letter writer in order to properly match their letter with the correct letter entry you created in the application.

How to use Interfolio:
Enter the letter entry/entries in the AMCAS application before you have them sent via Interfolio.
 
I'd love to get some advice regarding a situation that I'm in at the moment. I was told my a letter writer that he'd be happy to write a letter for med school but have not heard from him in over a month. I was just verified on AMCAS my apps won't be delivered until I have this final letter in -what should I do?

Letters have no, repeat, no impact on transmission of AMCAS primary application. Not having a letter will not having a letter.
My advice to all applicants is do not assign any letter to a school until the letter actually has been uploaded to AMCAS
 
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Letters have no, repeat, no impact on transmission of AMCAS primary application. Not having a letter will not having a letter.
My advice to all applicants is do not assign any letter to a school until the letter actually has been uploaded to AMCAS
Ohhh, I was not aware! Thank you very much!
 
Can we add letters of recommendation after secondaries have been completed or will this make my application lower on the review pile? I know not every school is receptive to updates but I just received a letter of rec from my boss of two years.
 
I'm a recent grad considering applying for SMP and need letters of rec from science professors. I took a break from the pre-med route and have only taken one bmcp class in the past couple years, and have lost touch with the few bio professors that I had any kind of connection with. I only have environmental science classes recently.

Would it be ok to submit a letter from a virology professor whose lab I worked in for a couple years but never took a class with? And the other letters I guess just reach out to those older bio/chem profs and hope for the best.
 
I have two questions:

1) Is there any other guidelines for letter writers except the AAMC's? Maybe one that's written by one of the medical schools?

2) If the letter writers serves more than one role (i.e. non-science faculty AND student-org supervisor), do adcoms expect a longer (and more detailed) LOR? How do students appropriately tell this LOR writer to expand the LOR since he/she has multiple roles?
 
Can we add letters of recommendation after secondaries have been completed or will this make my application lower on the review pile? I know not every school is receptive to updates but I just received a letter of rec from my boss of two years.

A letter of recommendation and update letter are two very different things

1) A letter of recommendation is sent by a third via AMCAS and assigned to a school. It is a formal part of the process, usually being required to be received before the application goes into evaluation and then review by adcom. By now having a new letter sent after you have been marked completed, you are implying that the school should revoke your complete status, reopen your file, add the letter, and then add it to the bottom of queue for evaluation and review. While that will happen in a minority of circumstances, sending a new letter in now will simply be added to your file, likely not be fully evaluated (if the evaluation step is complete) and may just be noted slightly in adcom review. It all depends if the school has intermediate steps where a team or subcommittee reviews prior to adcom action/vote

2) And update is where you send information directly to the school. If you were to send a third party letter directly to the school, it would be violating the school's agreement with AMCAS and could cause an investigation. Now if you have something notable to update, that you have published a paper or have received an award, you can write that as update yourself. Again some schools may take updates, others just dont bother to reopen the file to add it.

This is why applicants need to have all their materials, especially letters, lined up prior to applying. If you have been working for this person for two years, you could have gotten a letter in January with 18 months of experience.
 
I have two questions:
I will try to give two answers
1) Is there any other guidelines for letter writers except the AAMC's? Maybe one that's written by one of the medical schools?

The AAMC guidelines were developed from an AAMC 2012 survey of 142 medical schools with 99 Deans responding so it should be considered the essence of what most medical schools want. Some medical schools do offer tips or guides as below. I often recommend a deep read of Einstein's page on this as well as their in depth core competency page which the letter should be based on. Many premed schools offer suggestions which I have attached a few links. That is followed by extensive links on AMCAS letters from guide, videos, tutorial, etc

https://www.aamc.org/download/344546/data/may2013-evaluation-letters.pdf
Recommendation Letters | M.D. Admissions | Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Course Requirements | M.D. Admissions | Albert Einstein College of Medicine
https://med.ucf.edu/media/2012/05/Writing-Letters-of-Recommendation.pdf
Letters of Evaluation - Department of Medicine - Michigan State University
Letters of Recommendation
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/faculty/premed.php
Career Services at the University of Pennsylvania
Guidelines for Letter Writers


AMCAS Medical Schools Letter of Evaluation Policies (update Oct 2016)

AAMC Letter Writers Guide (Brochure)
AAMC Letters Writer Guide (Handout)
Letters of Evaluation Guidelines for Writers/Advisors
AAMC Letter Service for Advisors/Writers
AAMC Letter Service Tutorial for Advisors/Writers
AAMC Survey on Guidelines
AMCAS Section 6: Letters of Evaluation
AMCAS Letters FAQ
Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students
AMCAS Adding Letters and Assigning to Medical School Tutorial
AMCAS Adding/Matching Letter after Primary has been submitted Tutorial
Ask Admissions Webinar: How to Select Letter Writers and What Admissions Committees Learn About You
AMCAS 2018 Instruction Manual

2) If the letter writers serves more than one role (i.e. non-science faculty AND student-org supervisor), do adcoms expect a longer (and more detailed) LOR? How do students appropriately tell this LOR writer to expand the LOR since he/she has multiple roles?

Well, obviously, if the writer knows you in multiple capacities, there would be at least some detail/explanation of those situations as to put the evaluation into context. But simply because you did more with them, would not make their evaluation longer. They are evaluating your characteristics whether it is based on a single class or 5 courses and research, it is still about your qualities. And the is the key word, quality over quantity. The letter should tell me what writer thinks about you and not a litany of what you have done.
 
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Re-Applicants: How do you strategize your letters? How many new letter writers vs. old ones?

Will schools also review LOR from the previous cycle? Especially when they're from the same letter writer who wrote letters for both cycles.
 
And if you might apply this, having the letter IDs are necessary. Since these should have been generated before you ever requested a letter, the issue should never arise


Yes


At 47 schools it will look bad, 34 report it will look bad, and a few it will look weird...yes that is sarcasm.

I will say it again, I advise applicants to have "fresh" letters when applying to medical school as the most optimal method. Not having that that will be less than most optimal. No other statement can be made.



This is the statement from AMCAS on the issue

Section 6 of the AMCAS® application: Letters of Evaluation
The Letter ID is a unique 7-digit number assigned to each letter entry on your AMCAS application, which should be provided to each letter writer in order to properly match their letter with the correct letter entry you created in the application.

How to use Interfolio:
Enter the letter entry/entries in the AMCAS application before you have them sent via Interfolio.

So when you're saying "fresh" are you referring to when the letter is actually dated, or are you referring to when you let's say took a class with a professor and she is writing on your behalf based on that particular timeframe?

For instance, if my letter writer submits a letter in 2017 and it is dated for 2017 but I took a class with him or her 10 years ago, that wouldn't be considered a "fresh letter"? What about the train of thought that regardless of how long ago you took a class with someone or worked with them, what's more important is the relationship you have with them, how long they've known you for, and if they can write you a very powerful and strong letter? Which is more important, making sure letters are "fresh" and show recent activities or the strength of a letter and how it can speak volumes about your character as well as your ability to succeed in medical school for instance?

Thanks
 
Will schools also review LOR from the previous cycle? Especially when they're from the same letter writer who wrote letters for both cycles.
Most schools will retain letters from previous cycles and can review them again. The summary and/or evaluation from the last application is likely to be read
 
So when you're saying "fresh" are you referring to when the letter is actually dated, or are you referring to when you let's say took a class with a professor and she is writing on your behalf based on that particular timeframe?

For instance, if my letter writer submits a letter in 2017 and it is dated for 2017 but I took a class with him or her 10 years ago, that wouldn't be considered a "fresh letter"? What about the train of thought that regardless of how long ago you took a class with someone or worked with them, what's more important is the relationship you have with them, how long they've known you for, and if they can write you a very powerful and strong letter? Which is more important, making sure letters are "fresh" and show recent activities or the strength of a letter and how it can speak volumes about your character as well as your ability to succeed in medical school for instance?

Fresh means that letter itself has been written and dated recently
recent work means class or activities within the past 5 years.

Schools are trying to gauge your ability as a student for medical school now. So you must have part of your application showing that. Does that have to be the letters? not necessarily but your overall application must be balanced. So there is no absolute answer to this and you have to use your judgement
 
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