Imagine that you were giving a letter grade for the quality of each letter of recommendation you are sending to medical schools. You should pick the set of letters with the highest overall grade point average. In this case, your best bet is to pick the first four letters of the set. Those four letters give an average of an A-. By including each additional letter, you bring down the average of the set and essentially waste the time of your application reader, who now has to wade through a much larger pile of crappy letters.
Even though some medical schools will take up to 13 letters, most cut you off after 6 or 7 letters, and some will take only 3! Let's outline the "utopian" set of letters for medical school. I call it utopian, because while it is ideal, most applicants don't actually achieve the following set of letters:. Letters of recommendation should comment on your academic abilities, so professors who have given you a grade are better able to do that.
Most med schools prefer biology, chemistry, or physics, but they probably won't disqualify you if you submit a letter from a discipline such as engineering, environmental science, or kinesiology. While it is ideal to have letters from the basic sciences, see the Rule of Thumb above: get the best set of letters you can. Obviously, anyone who isn't positively glowing about your application will hurt you.
Ever hear the expression, "Damned by faint praise? Some med schools a minority of all schools request one. In other words, get one if you can, but don't sweat it if you don't. You should waive your right to read your letters. If med schools see that you haven't waived your right, they won't believe a word written in the letter. It's like asking your boyfriend whether that dress makes you look fat; pretty much the only response you'll get will be "of course not.
Letters of recommendation are typically not due until you submit your secondary application, which at the earliest would be July of the year you apply.
The vast majority of med schools do not read letters of recommendation until every other part of your application has been submitted. That means they will not read your letters until they receive:.
Even for schools that screen before sending secondaries, they rarely read letters of rec to determine who gets a secondary. Whether you get a secondary is typically based on your GPA and MCAT as well as a read of the primary application, excluding letters of recommendation. You want to give the letter writer at least two weeks and preferably more. It's not uncommon for a letter writer to take two to three months to write your letter.
If you're applying in June, we recommend asking for letters no later than May 1. Letters of recommendation is one of three sections of the AMCAS that can be modified after you hit submit the others: your school list and your contact information. You just log back into your application and request additional letters.
It doesn't seem like it should be so intimidating to ask a professor for a letter of recommendation, but it is. Worries race through our minds:. While it can feel uncomfortable to ask for a letter of rec, remember that you're not the first person to ask this professor. Professors are used to this process, and they've seen all manner of requests - rude, annoying, meek, bashful - they're expecting you and many of your classmates to request a letter. Second, you're not asking for much.
Most letters of recommendation - even the good ones - follow a template, and letters take maybe 45 minutes to crank out. You're asking for a solid favor, but it's not that much of a time commitment. First off, be sure to ask for the letter in person if possible. If that's not possible, try to arrange a phone call. If you are willing, I can provide you with supplemental documents to aid you in writing your letter, including my transcripts, CV, personal statement draft, and all the necessary guidelines for reference submission.
Thank you for considering this request. Be sure to ask your referees to write a recommendation letter well in advance. Aim to ask them at least one month before the application deadline. Sometimes it is beneficial to ask for a letter much earlier. For example, if you participate in a research project during summer between sophomore and junior year, and if you plan to finish working on it when summer ends, you should approach your research supervisor about a recommendation letter that summer.
The same can be said for letters from your professors. To store these early letters, you can ask your writer to send the letters to your school's career center, your career counselor or advisor, or any similar office. Once the application process begins, simply remind your recommender about the letter, where it is stored, and its deadline.
Do not be afraid to ask for strong recommendation letters. Take time to explain why a letter from this writer would be valuable and important for your application to medical school.
Professionals, university faculty, and employers usually know what such letters would entail and often consider this as part of their job.
Most of them have written these kinds of letters before. Be confident, but not forceful. Do not annoy your writers by constantly asking them how the writing process is going.
Once your referees commit to writing you a letter, be sure to provide them with deadlines for submission. If they do not respond, you can follow up with a phone call. If you do not hear back from them at all, you should assume this person is no longer your recommender. This is why it is important to have back-ups. It is always better to ask for recommendation letters from more people than is required.
In case one of your referees backs out or is no longer available as a reference, you will still have enough references to fulfill medical school requirements. If you are looking for an email template to reminder your writers of the deadline, please use the following:.
Hello Professor Knox, I hope you are doing well! As the medical school application season is upon us, I wanted to check in to see if you need any further assistance to help you craft a strong letter of recommendation on my behalf. Do you need any further materials to aid you in the writing process? I also wanted to remind you of the letter deadline, which is insert date.
Thank you so much for agreeing to support me in applying to medical school. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you need anything else. Do not ask to read your recommendation letter. You should trust the person you chose to write you a glowing reference and waive your right to review the letter.
The general rule of thumb is that letters of recommendation should be confidential. This allows your referee to provide a truthful review about your performance and provides medical schools with confidence in the review.
Of course, this doesn't apply if you are writing your own letter of recommendation. Note: Most Canadian schools do not give students the option to waive or not waive the right to review your letter and require confidentiality, as they want referees to be honest. Do not forget to send a genuine thank you letter to demonstrate your appreciation for the writer's support. Send it right after the letter is received in the application system. If you are looking for an email template for a thank you letter, please see below:.
Dear Professor Knox, Thank you so much for supporting my candidacy for medical school by writing a reference on my behalf. I appreciate you dedicating your time and effort to do this for me. It was a great privilege to be your student, and I am honored that you further supported my educational goals by writing the letter.
I will be in touch with any news as the application season progresses. It is a pleasure for me to write this recommendation letter for Scott Johnson, who was my student in the fourth-year seminar "Advanced Embryology and Developmental Biology" in the fall of Scott is an exceptional person. He is one of the best students I have ever had the chance to teach in my 10 years at X University. Scott has impressive critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which served him well during my class.
I have spoken with his other instructors, and they have also noted his extraordinary analytical abilities.
His capacity to observe and develop insightful and reflective conclusions has been noted by me on many occasions, especially during his laboratory work. I noticed that Scott spent a lot of his time diligently working on his laboratory experiments, even outside of the scheduled lab time. Scott demonstrated outstanding levels of understanding techniques and developments of embryological systems.
His insightful questions demonstrated his curiosity into unknowns and his motivation to increase his knowledge base. He is an excellent collaborator who is always ready to help his peers.
I have witnessed Scott help his classmates with complex lab experiments inside the classroom, as well as outside of classroom hours as a tutor. He is joyful and kind during his interactions with students, professors, and other faculty.
Aside from submitting his assignments on time to the highest quality, completing all lab and tutorial work, he volunteered to organize a student study group before the final lab and exam in my course. He was very generous with his time and energy to make sure that he and his classmates were well prepared. Learn how to best answer this common interview question. Join our mailing list to receive MSI exclusives, news, and updates. No spam. One-click unsubscribe.
By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. You can learn more here. Skip to content. By Kevin Jubbal, M. Share on facebook Facebook. Share on twitter Twitter. Share on linkedin LinkedIn. Share on email Email. Why is the Letter of Recommendation Important?
An ideal letter writer has two key characteristics: They know you intimately and can speak to your strengths. They are regarded as an authority in their field of study. Writers should be knowledgeable about: Your unique characteristics and strengths.
The demands and expectations of medical school. How to Get Strong Medical School Letters of Recommendation total letters is ideal 3 academic letters written by undergraduate professors 2 science and 1 non-science letters from extracurricular pursuits, most commonly research and clinical experience Ultimately, you want to go for quality over quantity. Academic Letters The majority of medical schools will require 3 letters from your pre-med coursework, whether that is in college or post BACC.
When considering the total number of letters to submit, please note the following: At least two 2 letters should be from professors in the sciences with whom they have taken classes. At least one 1 letter should be written by a professor who is not in the sciences.
We should receive letters from all research supervisors for applicants to the MD-PhD program as well as applicants to the MD program. Applicants may exceed the six 6 -letter maximum if the additional letters are from research supervisors.
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