Should I Send My University's Committee Letter?

[manutdhtx123]

My University's committee writes a letter and categorizes people. They gave me recommended with reservation. Should I select the option where they dont display this (the cover letter will say the student has chosen not the display evaluation) or should i ask my letter writers to submit my letters to interfolio (will it look bad that i dont have a committee letter if i do this?)?

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[jamaica jan sun princess]

What caused them to add the reservation?

 

[manutdhtx123]

They said it was my sGPA (3.58 but on tmdsas its 3.61 but tryna change some of my courses to be listed as BCPM, AMCAS its 3.69). They didnt like my personal statement but I have rewritten it since ive sent it. They said i have no shadowing hours even though i have 1500 medical scribe hours

 

[eigen]

FWIW, those things sound like reasonable causes for them to recommend with reservations, esp. the lack of shadowing.

Are you applying to any schools that require committee letters?

Have you asked the committee if they would re-consider your recommendation with an updated GPA / personal statement?

 

[manutdhtx123]

FWIW, those things sound like reasonable causes for them to recommend with reservations, esp. the lack of shadowing.

Are you applying to any schools that require committee letters?

Have you asked the committee if they would re-consider your recommendation with an updated GPA / personal statement?

i dont think theyll reconsider my recommendation also i have 40 hours of shadowing a internist, but i think 1500 hours of scribing should cover it clinical hours

 

[eigen]

Did you tell the committee you had 40 hours of shadowing?

They said i have no shadowing hours even though i have 1500 medical scribe hours

Clinical experience is not the same as shadowing.

Did the committee say you had no shadowing, or no clinical experience?

 

[LizzyM]

I am usually the first person to recommend using a committee letter but f' them. Have your letter writers submit through Interfolio and call it a day.

1500 hours of medical scribing is worth at least 50 hours of shadowing.

 

[KnightDoc]

I am usually the first person to recommend using a committee letter but f' them. Have your letter writers submit through Interfolio and call it a day.

1500 hours of medical scribing is worth at least 50 hours of shadowing.

THIS^^^^. It's all bad. So, to paraphrase a famous saying, you are better off avoiding the committee letter and having schools wonder why than to submit the committee letter, with or without the cover sheet, and remove all doubt. Good luck!!

 

[Moko]

Clinical experience is not the same as shadowing.

Did the committee say you had no shadowing, or no clinical experience?

Assuming this was in-person scribing, the OP spent 1000+ hours physically in the same room as a doctor as they interacted with patients. Even if this was virtual, the OP still has logged hundreds of hours listening to doctors talk with actual patients. The fact that the OP was typing doesn't take away from that experience. He/she likely has more insight into a doctor's day than most other applicants.

I agree that the OP shouldn't use the committee letter. Better to remain silent than to remove all doubt. Just my thoughts.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Did you tell the committee you had 40 hours of shadowing?



Clinical experience is not the same as shadowing.

Did the committee say you had no shadowing, or no clinical experience?

Scribing is effectively paid shadowing.

 

[Goro]

I strong concur with Madam Speaker @LizzyM . A bad committee letter is much worse than no committee letter. Use individual letters

I also concur with my learned colleagues. OP, "recommend with reservations" would be a lethal red flag at my school.

 

[Catalystik]

I am usually the first person to recommend using a committee letter but f' them. Have your letter writers submit through Interfolio and call it a day.

1500 hours of medical scribing is worth at least 50 hours of shadowing.

I agree that the OP shouldn't use the committee letter. Better to remain silent than to remove all doubt. Just my thoughts.

I strong concur with Madam Speaker @LizzyM . A bad committee letter is much worse than no committee letter. Use individual letters

I also concur with my learned colleagues. OP, "recommend with reservations" would be a lethal red flag at my school.

I agree, as well!

 

[GoSpursGo]

Agree with others, drawing a hard line in the sand on shadowing when you have plenty of other clinical experience is asinine. Go with individual letters.

 

[KnightDoc]

Agree with others, drawing a hard line in the sand on shadowing when you have plenty of other clinical experience is asinine. Go with individual letters.

Yup, but it's not just that. It's OP's entire application (GPA, PS, AND shadowing). The committee is engaging in good old fashioned gatekeeping in order to try to keep its stats up. It sucks and is not doing OP any favors, but it is what it is.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Yup, but it's not just that. It's OP's entire application (GPA, PS, AND shadowing). The committee is engaging in good old fashioned gatekeeping in order to try to keep its stats up. It sucks and is not doing OP any favors, but it is what it is.

Meh, 3.58 isn't so bad that it should cause "reservations." I have a hard time believing that a PS could be so bad that it causes reservations either.

It reeks of looking for reasons to pull support rather than serving the students' best interests, and I could go on a long rant about how much a school owes students who have paid tens of thousands of dollars yearly in tuition. Suffice to say, nothing the OP shared seems like such a dire red flag that it should push the committee to actively harm their own applicant. I suppose it's always possible there's more that we aren't aware of. But as you say, it is what it is.

 

[manutdhtx123]

I just was informed that they sent my eval and it cannot be changed (i didnt ask them to send). AMCAS cannot change it and they said I need to call all the schools I applied to change this (23 schools). One said to do this in July when they send secondaries (Albany) and the other said they cant change it (TCU). Will it look bad calling these schools or should i just send the letter with the eval or ask my school to add a cover letter instead of eval (they said they can update and add this)?

 

[GoSpursGo]

I just was informed that they sent my eval and it cannot be changed (i didnt ask them to send). AMCAS cannot change it and they said I need to call all the schools I applied to change this (23 schools). One said to do this in July when they send secondaries (Albany) and the other said they cant change it (TCU). Will it look bad calling these schools or should i just send the letter with the eval or ask my school to add a cover letter instead of eval (they said they can update and add this)?

Ouch. Did it say with reservation, or that you chose not to reveal the evaluation?

Either way, I would probably just leave it be at this point. No reason to draw attention to a negative, and no matter what you send now they are going to see what was sent.

 

[manutdhtx123]

What i sent with reservation, but she said she can send another file with a cover letter (the letter will state that I have not chosen to reveal my eval)

 

[manutdhtx123]

Would it be a bad idea to call these schools and see if they could remove it and only look at other letters (individual ones sent form interfolio)?

 

[KnightDoc]

Would it be a bad idea to call these schools and see if they could remove it and only look at other letters (individual ones sent form interfolio)?

Nope. That will only call attention to it, as @GoSpursGo said. I don't know how TMDSAS works, but did you already assign it to AMCAS schools? If not, there will be no harm in having AMCAS receive it, since it won't be sent to any schools. If you are stuck and it is going to schools anyway, then, sure, have the replace the "with reservations" with the other one. How does this even work? AMCAS will overwrite a file, but not let you delete it?

Stupid question -- how the hell do they have the right to send a letter you don't ask to be sent? Isn't there a bar code that you have to give them for them to send it, so that AMCAS can match it to your application?

 

[manutdhtx123]

They only sent it to AMCAS. She just she will send another file with a cover letter (so im assuming my other packet with the eval will still be there)

I wanted to send an extra letter and they told me to fill out a form to send my extra letter (the form included my AMCAS ID). I was thinking they would show me to eval before the would send it like they do for other applicants, but they didnt.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

OP: if you still have a choice, it's better to have a packet sent with a cover letter without any mention of a recommendation than to include a mention of "reservations." Frankly though, those of us know that for liability reasons, committees will often only mention if a recommendation is highly awarded or generally awarded. Any mention of reservations is not in the best interests of the students, so many committees will just "present the candidate". If we know this committee's evaluation process well, we know what it means.

Such evaluation committees are encouraged to share any assessment rubrics with their students when discussing why their evaluation letter helps. Admissions officers would also like access to that rubric. For appropriate transparency's sake, you should have a reasonable explanation for the assessment and a chance to have them revise their assessment, but back in the "old days", we would not even share our assessment with the students for FERPA reasons.

 

[manutdhtx123]

OP: if you still have a choice, it's better to have a packet sent with a cover letter without any mention of a recommendation than to include a mention of "reservations." Frankly though, those of us know that for liability reasons, committees will often only mention if a recommendation is highly awarded or generally awarded. Any mention of reservations is not in the best interests of the students, so many committees will just "present the candidate". If we know this committee's evaluation process well, we know what it means.

Such evaluation committees are encouraged to share any assessment rubrics with their students when discussing why their evaluation letter helps. Admissions officers would also like access to that rubric. For appropriate transparency's sake, you should have a reasonable explanation for the assessment and a chance to have them revise their assessment, but back in the "old days", we would not even share our assessment with the students for FERPA reasons.

they will send a cover letter that will state i have choose not to display this. However, since my original letter is sent they will have access to that, right? Or if i send this update would they only look at this?

 

[chilly_md]

For context regarding the applicant:

Should I do a masters with a 3.8 cGPA and 3.6 sGPA?

I just graduated with the above as my GPA, and a 505 retake as my MCAT (503 first try). I know that I will have to retake my MCAT but the reason I am asking if I should do a post bac is that I have done the pass/fail for ochem 2, ochem 2 lab, physics 1, physics 2, and physics 2 lab. I also have...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Ensure you do not request this letter for AACOMAS and TMDAS.

 

[manutdhtx123]

For context regarding the applicant:

Should I do a masters with a 3.8 cGPA and 3.6 sGPA?

I just graduated with the above as my GPA, and a 505 retake as my MCAT (503 first try). I know that I will have to retake my MCAT but the reason I am asking if I should do a post bac is that I have done the pass/fail for ochem 2, ochem 2 lab, physics 1, physics 2, and physics 2 lab. I also have...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Ensure you do not request this letter for AACOMAS and TMDAS.

yes already made sure they do not send it to them

 

[chilly_md]

If the letter has already been assigned and sent to schools on AMCAS, I would advise you to not spend the secondary fees on the majority of your AMCAS schools.

 

[KnightDoc]

For context regarding the applicant:

Should I do a masters with a 3.8 cGPA and 3.6 sGPA?

I just graduated with the above as my GPA, and a 505 retake as my MCAT (503 first try). I know that I will have to retake my MCAT but the reason I am asking if I should do a post bac is that I have done the pass/fail for ochem 2, ochem 2 lab, physics 1, physics 2, and physics 2 lab. I also have...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Ensure you do not request this letter for AACOMAS and TMDAS.

OP -- given this, your committee letter is the least of your problems. Your GPA is inflated by taking a lot of weed-out classes P/F, plus then having Cs in chem 1 and 2. Combined with subpar MCAT scores, and you are marginal for MD even with a good committee letter.

In the other thread, you said you were shooting for MD, were retaking the MCAT, and were thinking about either a post-bacc or a SMP. What changed in the the past 3 weeks that you are now applying without doing any of that, and are now focused on a sub par committee letter?

Maybe the committee letter situation is a sign from above that you need to take a time-out, fix your MCAT, and take a few challenging upper level science classes for letter grades to show med schools that you are academically ready for the rigor of a MD program? JMHO, but the other thread certainly provides some context for why the committee is doing everything it can to discourage you from applying this cycle.

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

Even if they send it to AMCAS, can't you choose to not send it out to schools?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Absolutely do not send this under any circumstances

 

[GoSpursGo]

OP -- given this, your committee letter is the least of your problems. Your GPA is inflated by taking a lot of weed-out classes P/F, plus then having Cs in chem 1 and 2. Combined with subpar MCAT scores, and you are marginal for MD even with a good committee letter.

In the other thread, you said you were shooting for MD, were retaking the MCAT, and were thinking about either a post-bacc or a SMP. What changed in the the past 3 weeks that you are now applying without doing any of that, and are now focused on a sub par committee letter?

Maybe the committee letter situation is a sign from above that you need to take a time-out, fix your MCAT, and take a few challenging upper level science classes for letter grades to show med schools that you are academically ready for the rigor of a MD program? JMHO, but the other thread certainly provides some context for why the committee is doing everything it can to discourage you from applying this cycle.

FWIW, he did take some upper division courses to mitigate that a little bit. But I do agree, with a 505 MCAT applying to AMCAS is just a donation. So concretely, I suppose you can go ahead and send the updated cover letter since you already submitted your AMCAS, but the schools will know what that means. And unless you quickly retake the MCAT and show a significant score bump I'm not sure it's worth paying the secondary fees--there just isn't a universe in which you're going to be one of the top X applicants to any OOS MD school.

 

[PhD_to_DO]

My University's committee writes a letter and categorizes people. They gave me recommended with reservation. Should I select the option where they dont display this (the cover letter will say the student has chosen not the display evaluation) or should i ask my letter writers to submit my letters to interfolio (will it look bad that i dont have a committee letter if i do this?)?

I had 120 hours of shadowing to go along with 20 years of military and civilian healthcare experience. 3600 hours from two terms in AmeriCorps and…. My committee said I needed more physician shadowing. I decided not to use the letter and instead submitted individual letters with my applications. Save yourself some pain and do the same.