Recommendation Letters
Letters of Recommendation are an Important piece of your Application.
Letters: Guidelines for Medical School Applications
How many letters of recommendation do I need and from whom?
We advise securing one nonscience and two science faculty letters. This approach will work most places, but you should check specific requirements at your state school(s) and any dream schools. Some schools give no specific guidance about types of letters (examples are WUSM and U MI); others have very specific criteria for acceptable letters.
What counts as a science (or nonscience) letter?
That is up to the medical schools. If the schools to which you’ll apply don’t have specific criteria for letters, you don’t need to worry about this question. If you are applying to schools that, for example, require a biology faculty letter and you want to know if your neuroscience course offered out of the psychology department will count, you really have to check with the admissions office of that school.
Resource for Recommenders from the AAMC - Guidelines for Writing a Letter of Evaluation for a Medical School Applicant: download (aamc.org).
How to Secure Strong Letters of Recommendation
The PreHealth team holds programming that helps students learn the best way to approach recommendation letter writers in order to secure the strongest possible letters of recommendation for your application. Watch the presentation below, from the PreHealth Team's Dean Brooke Taylor.
Securing Strong Letters of RecommendationWhere do my Recommenders send their letters?
Create an account in myprehealth.wustl.edu and follow the instructions. For medical and dental schools, you will be directed to send your recommenders a link where they can upload their letters. YOU must send your recommenders the link; the system does not automatically contact your recommenders. Other healthcare fields may have different procedures for letter writers. Be in touch with your PreHealth advisor if you need assistance.