#statements of intent!!! letters of rec!! a WRITING SAMPLE

[lyriumlullaby-ao3]

y’all i s2g i have way more meta for you and i think some of you may even like it lol but UNFORTUNATELY i’m an idiot who decided they wanted a PhD lmfao so. yeah grad school apps are draining the life from me 😭

[thefuturedrfame]

Letters of Recommendation, Part 1: advice & questions

One important requirement of medical school applications are letters of recommendation. Although I didn’t need to complete mine with my primary application, they typically need to be submitted with each school’s supplemental/secondary applications.

As such, I wish I had know to get an idea of when and whom to ask for my letters. Here is some advice (and some questions people have actually asked me) in regards to how I obtained my references.

Q1: How many letters of rec do schools require? A: Depends on the school.  Most schools require TWO (2) SCIENCE PROFESSOR letters and ONE (1) DOCTOR letter; however, I did come across a few schools needing three science, or one non-science and two science, or two doctors, or one from an employer, etc. 

Do your research, especially for the schools you want to get in to!

Q2: Which professor should I ask? A: Honestly, this is a slightly complicated question to answer because it really depends on you, the applicant. Your goal is to get a good letter. As such, you should ask the teachers who have the best chance of writing you a good one. Which teacher knows you best? Even if you might not have done the greatest in their class, I would think that the teacher that got to know you as a person (even a little bit) would be better than the teacher who is going to write you a generic letter solely based on grades/stats and resume highlights or job positions. However, if you were like me and didn’t get to know any professors (either because you were shy or went to a huge university), I had to end up using the professors whose class I did well in and/or genuinely enjoyed. 

Q3: When should I ask the professor? A: Give them as much time in advance as you can give them but the minimum is at least one (1) month. Through research, I found that some schools only allow letters within the last two years, so be sure to check the requirements of your desired school.

Q4: How did you ask the professor? A: Don’t be afraid and just go for it! 

There’s so many websites out there stating that the correct social etiquette is to ask in person. This, of course, is the optimal and least-rude way, so if you want to do this, I would recommend seeing them during their office hours. 

But for me, I found that email sufficed just fine, especially if you were two years removed from school like I was. Professors nowadays know that a student will inevitably ask them for a letter of rec but most professors are busy. Busy people don’t have 15-30 minutes to sit around and talk with you, especially if you’re one of twenty kids that have currently asked them. Because of this, I’ve noticed that it’s becoming less and less of a faux pas to email (especially when the professor doesn’t know you). I even offered to meet with one of my professors, but he straight up said it wasn’t necessary and to just send him my resume. 

Bonus: email makes it easier to copy-and-paste your requests to a bunch of professors in case you’re too scared to bcc people like me.

Q5: What exactly did you say in your email to ask the professor for a letter? A: The main things you will most likely need to include are: your name, the class you were in with the professor, your request for a letter of rec, and any requirements the school wants in your letter. I think it would also be good to allow the teacher an “out” if they want to decline your request. However, I feel like you can be as brief (probably preferred since professors can get hundreds of emails) or as detailed as you want.

I will include some samples of requests I wrote in a post to follow.

Q6: Did you ever meet up with a professor for the letter? If so, did you bring anything along? A: Yes, and yes. I wanted to present myself as an organized person so I put together a little packet for the professor that I met up with. 

In the packet, I included: - Cover letter - Quick Info About Me (kinda like a get-to-know-me page) - Personal Statement - Resume - Transcripts - Your best tests/papers from the class (if applicable) - Special instructions (if applicable)

Q7: What about doctors? How did you get that/those letter(s)? A: Doctors are easier to ask and get letters from. I just asked the doctors I shadowed or volunteered for and/or with. They got to know me in a way my professors hadn’t, and because of this, it was easier to ask them in person for a letter. You should be asking your doctors for letters in person.

Q8: They told me to write my own letter. What do I do? A: I had to write a couple of my letters and I ended up consulting the internet. There are many, many websites on how to write a letter and what to include on there to make yourself look like you’re the BEST. PERSON. EVER. 

I will describe the process I used to write my own letter in a post to follow.

Side rant: I hate this with a passion! The people that wanted me to write my own letter were doctors who “didn’t have time”. I feel like writing a letter can really only be great if it is written by the person who it was requested from. And after writing a few, I found that it honestly takes less than an hour to write. Also, I hated writing my own letter because I wasn’t confident in how I worded things because I felt like I wasn’t a doctor or scientific authority who knew the proper usage of names of things. 

Q9: The professor/doctor agreed to write my letter but it’s been more than a month and nothing has happened. A: Professors/doctors are busy. Give. Them. Time. 

I know, as an applicant, it seems like everyone else is moving at a glacial pace; and most of the time spent during application season is from waiting. I felt anxious all the time, which only worsened by self-doubt. However, the professors/doctors have to do a million other things in addition to writing you a letter. Professors have to teach, do office hours, do research (if applicable), write letters for other people, and run errands or spend time with their own families. If you want a good, quality letter, it might be wise not to rush them.

However, if your anxiety just can’t be assuaged (like mine was), you can write them a status update/reminder email, something similar to what I decided to go with:

Hello Professor/Doctor [last name],

I'm just checking in to see how my medical school letter of recommendation is coming along. I understand that you are most likely busy, so my intention is not to rush you or create unnecessary stress.

Please let me know if you need me to resend my resume [or any other documents the professor requested] or if I can assist you in any way.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely, [Anxious Student]

Ultimately, the letter of recommendation portion of the med school application was probably one of the only parts where I didn’t have to physically do everything myself (except, of course, the lame people who told me to write my own). The hardest part was asking, but once I got over that, it was all downhill!