Letters of recommendation are one of the few things for your application that you don’t have complete control over. Let’s talk about how to ask for a LOR.
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Letters of recommendation are a vital part of a medical school application. But they’re used differently by different schools. Some schools will review them before they offer you an invite. Some won’t review them until after your interview. Some won’t review them until before your interview but after your invite. So let’s remove that from the equation.
'Every school is going to do something different with those letters of recommendations. So you don't know exactly how they're going to be used. But just know they're important.'Click To TweetHere’s a template you can use:
“Hi Dr. Smith,
Thank you for allowing me to shadow you.
I’m interested in having you write a letter of recommendation for me.
Do you think that you can write a strong letter of recommendation for me that I can submit to medical schools?”
It’s that simple! Of course, say thank you. But the keywords here are “STRONG letter of recommendation.”
Physicians will let you know if they’re busy. And they may have different excuses for why they don’t want to write you a strong LOR. Maybe they just don’t like you and don’t think you’re going to be a good doctor. That’s their perception of you whether true or not. So they . may have a laundry list of why they can’t write a LOR for you so move one.
But if someone is willing to write one for you, great!
If you’re still starting with shadowing someone, set that expectation. Tell them you’re still starting and that you’re interested in getting a strong LOR from them. Ask them how long they want students to shadow them to get a strong letter of recommendation. Ask whether they have minimum requirements for writing a LOR.
Set that expectation. Be kind. But most importantly, it has to be a STRONG letter of recommendation.
As physicians, they understand this process. They’ve been through this process. They’ve had premed students come before you and ask for an LOR. And more likely, a lot of them didn’t ask properly.
Again, ask for that STRONG LETTER of RECOMMENDATION, and you’re all set!
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I just received my admission to XXXXX! This is unreal and almost feels like I am dreaming. I want to thank you for all of your help with my application. I cannot overstate how influential your guidance and insight have been with this result and I am eternally grateful for your support!
IM SO HAPPY!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP, IM INDEBTED TO YOU! Truly, thank you so much for all your help. Thank you doesnt do enough.
I want to take a few moments and thank you for all of your very instructive, kind and consistent feedback and support through my applications and it is your wishes, feedback, and most importantly your blessings that have landed me the acceptance!
I got into XXXXX this morning!!!! It still has not hit me that I will be a doctor now!! Thank you for all your help, your words and motivation have brought me to this point.
I wanted to once again express my heartfelt gratitude for your help in providing feedback during my secondary applications. Your guidance has been instrumental in my journey.
Just wanted to share my wonderful news! I received my first medical school acceptance! Thank you for all that you do for us Application Academy!!!
I am excited to tell you that I just got my third interview invite from XXXXX today! I can’t believe it. I didn’t even know if I was good enough to get one, let alone three – by mid-September. Thank you so much for all of your help and support up to this point; I would not be in this position without it!!
I wanted to thank you for helping me prepare for my XXXXX interview. Even in a 30-minute advising session, I learned so much from you. Thank you for believing in me, and here’s to another potential success story from one of your advisees!
I just received an acceptance with XXXXX! This is so exciting and such a huge relief and so nice to have one of our top choice schools! I also received an interview with XXXXX which brings the total up to 20 interviews! Thank so much, none of this would have been possible without you!
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