Letters of Evaluation and Recommendation for 2010
Our school is participating in the AMCAS Letters Service for the 2010 application cycle. AMCAS will receive letters from AMCAS Letter Writer Application, Interfolio, Mail and VirtualEvals. As a medical school participating in this service, you are required to send ALL letters to AMCAS through one or more of the above mediums.
For 2010, we are offering 3 options for fulfilling our letters requirement portion of our Secondary Application. While letters from a Pre-Health Professional Advisory Committee (or other advisory entity) are the strongly preferred method of reporting from your undergraduate school, applicants who do not have access to such a committee may submit a packet of letters or three individual letters of evaluation and recommendation.
Option One - Preferred Option: Committee Letter
A committee letter is a letter authored by a pre-health committee or pre-health advisor and intended to represent your institution's evaluation of you. A committee letter may or may not include additional letters written in support of your application.
Option Two: Letter Packet
If your school does not have a Pre-Health Professional Advisory Committee (PHPAC), you may submit a packet of letters of evaluation and recommendation:
A packet or set of letters assembled and distributed by your institution, often by the institutions career center. A Letter Packet may include a cover sheet from your pre-health committee or advisor; however, in contrast to a Committee Letter, a Letter Packet does not include an evaluative letter from your pre-health committee or advisor.
Option Three: Three Individual Letters
If your school does not have a Pre-Health Professional Advisory Committee (PHPAC), you may submit the following three individual letters of evaluation and recommendation:
- Two letters from Science Faculty who have taught you
- One letter from other faculty or an individual who can provide an in-depth evaluation and recommendation
In addition to choosing one of the letter options above, we Strongly Recommend applicants submit two additional personal letters of recommendation, but we do not require applicants to do so. These additional letters must also be sent to AMCAS through the AMCAS Letter Writer Application, Interfolio, Mail or VirtualEvals.
If your letters are being sent by your undergraduate advising office, it is possible that office is using Interfolio or VirtualEvals. Once your letters are posted to Interfolio or VirtualEvals, they will be downloaded by AMCAS and made available to us. If you have a question about whether or not your advising office uses VirtualEvals or Interfolio, please contact your undergraduate advising office.
We will not track the receipt of your letters. You can check the status of your letters of recommendation through AMCAS. See the AMCAS 2010 Instruction Book for Applicants, http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/amcas2010instructions060209.pdf, for details.
About AMCAS Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation
http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/amcasletters.htm