Is there a maximum amount of letters you SHOULD send to Medical Schools? I hear its 5 or 6. Also, I heard it should be: 1 clinical, 1 research, 2 science, 1 nonscience, 1 anything. Does anyone agree with this?
The maximum amount is the amount you have or the amount the college will accept. UNMC only takes four, for instance. Others warn about sending more than five.
Mine are 2 science, 1 nonscience, 1 research. Four seems to be a very safe place in my eyes. Anything more than five, to me, would be excessive.
A lot of schools say on their site that they require 3 letters of recommendation. They don't speak to having more. Does this mean there is no max or only send 3?
Reactions: 1 userMy school Committee required at least four. I didn't investigate individual schools' policies too closely because I knew I would have an Committee letter, but I don't imagine that this is something I should be concerned about?
My school Committee required at least four. I didn't investigate individual schools' policies too closely because I knew I would have an Committee letter, but I don't imagine that this is something I should be concerned about?
A committee letter is always acceptable.A lot of schools say on their site that they require 3 letters of recommendation. They don't speak to having more. Does this mean there is no max or only send 3?
When you get too many letters, you get into redundancy. If you have 5 letters saying the exact same thing, it brings them all down because they will be glossed over.
I would think 2 science, 1 non science should be for sure, then based off of your experiences some combination of 1 clinical, 1 research, and 1 other volunteering/experience if it is different from all previous ones
Make sure to pay attention to school specific maximums and requirements for letters.
Reactions: 1 userHonestly the max amount should just be the amount they ask for. BUT if they allow additional letters and you know you have a very strong letter that comes from an EC then send that
My school writes a committee letter and they told me the norm is 7. Is that too much.
My school told me they sort out the letters and assign priority to the best letter, is that a good idea or is 7 just too many?
I'm applying to Texas and aamc schools. My school does a committee letter where 3 personal letters are required and they include quotes from those. My question is, if I have five total letters: research professor bio, research professor psych, professor I was a at for for 2 years in chem, professor who knows of my interest in public health, and professor who knows my interest in medicine and me personally, what should I use as my three for the committee and which to use as the additional letter on TMDSAS and letters on the AMCAS? Or should I double dip?
My school writes a committee letter and they told me the norm is 7. Is that too much.
My school told me they sort out the letters and assign priority to the best letter, is that a good idea or is 7 just too many?
The number they prefer is entirely up to them.
7 is too many if sent independently (unless some school actually wants that many!).
If they have achieved success with this method, do your best to comply.
Morsani requires 5 (2 science faculty BCPM, 1 non science, 2 character) which seems like a tall order. This is the most I've seen I think. 7 maximum for those guys.
Question here what about people who worked in multiple labs with multiple PI's-----is it necessary to get letters from all PI's because that could exceed many school's lists pretty quickly if you had a couple summers where you were part of a research fellowship program and worked in a lab specifically for only that time.
I'm asking what would you do here in situations where school's list they don't recommend sending say more than 5-6 letters and school's that don't list anything.
Question here what about people who worked in multiple labs with multiple PI's-----is it necessary to get letters from all PI's because that could exceed many school's lists pretty quickly if you had a couple summers where you were part of a research fellowship program and worked in a lab specifically for only that time.
I'm asking what would you do here in situations where school's list they don't recommend sending say more than 5-6 letters and school's that don't list anything.
For the majority of schools that I've seen, I haven't seen a specfic requirement saying you need letters from all PIs. Most say that for a faculty/science letter, a PI is a good example. I would choose your letter writers carefully. Maybe choose the PI that knows you best or that you think would write the best letter.
