One of the most common questions that Dan and I get during interview season is about premed post-baccalaureate letters of recommendation. Applicants ask us questions like: how many letters of recommendation should I get? Who should write them? What should my letter writers emphasize?  This is an area where applicants can really struggle because there’s not much quality information out there specifically for premed postbac applicants.  We’ll take this one question at a time. Here are some of the most common premed post-baccalaureate letter of recommendation questions:

1. How many letters of recommendation should I get?

Different programs have different numbers of required letters (typically 2-3).  If a program says they require 2 letters but additional ones are optional, believe them that these letters are truly optional. More is not necessarily better. But there are good reasons to have more letters. For instance, if you’re an older applicant with several different job experiences, a letter from several different bosses from your previous job experiences may give a more complete picture of what you will bring to a premed postbac program. But there are also ways in which more letters could hurt you. For instance, if you select someone poorly who does a really crummy job of writing about you or if your letter writer has poor grammar/spelling.

2. Who should I select to write my premed post-baccalaureate letters of recommendation?

The most important thing to keep in mind is: what information are premed post baccalaureate programs looking for when they read your letters of recommendation? They want to see that managers/professors/ other people with whom you have worked can and will vouch for you. For that reason, it’s more important to have former employers/professors say extremely positive things about you. This is way more important than getting a famous researcher or a physician that you have shadowed once or twice to write a letter of recommendation for you. A professor who you’ve worked with and is able to honestly say that you’re a hard worker, that you spoke up in class, that you’re really smart and went out of your way to master the material is preferable to someone who is a physician that you’ve only had cursory interactions with. This same logic applies to employers.

3. Do I need to have a letter of recommendation from a professor?

In general, we recommend at least one professor and one employer for applicants who have been out of school for 2+ years. For applicants who are intending to apply directly from undergrad to a postbac program, consider two professors or one professor plus a previous employer/ manager at an organization which you volunteered at.

4. Any other recommendations for selecting letter writers?

Pro tip: if you can ensure that your letter writer is a decent writer, you will be better off than if you have a poor letter writer. Unfortunately, we judge others by how good of a writer they are. Prior to my premed postbac program, I had a brilliant boss who was a terrible writer. Did I choose him to write my letter of recommendation? Absolutely not. I chose his deputy who was a phenomenal writer. Keep this in mind! Poor syntax and grammar will be perceived as the LOR writer not feeling strongly enough about you to spend time correcting his/her mistakes.

5. What should my letter writer emphasize?

In general for the premed postbac application process, we recommend you emphasize the AAMC’s 15 core competencies. The AAMC is not just another random organization. They are the accrediting body for all US MD granting schools and operate both AMCAS, the application for medical school, as well as ERAS, the application to residency. Although these competencies are for the medical school selection process, these same competencies will serve you well in your premed postbac application process.

These 15 core competencies are divided into 4 categories:

• 1. Interpersonal Competencies, which consists of service orientation, social skills, cultural competence, teamwork, oral communication.
• 2. Intrapersonal Competencies, which includes ethical responsibility to self and others, reliability and dependability, resilience and adaptability, capacity for improvement.
• 3. Thinking and Reasoning Competencies, which is broken down into critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, scientific inquiry, written communication.
• 4. Science competencies, which is the strangest of all the categories and includes knowledge of and ability to apply knowledge to “living systems” and “human behavior“.

As to which competencies you want your letter writer to emphasize, this depends somewhat on how you’re trying to pitch yourself in the personal statement. Your story in your personal statement is really key here. Are you pitching yourself as a service oriented individual who wants to help disadvantaged communities? Are you pitching yourself as a future researcher? These details can really matter.

Conclusion

Letters of recommendation are important. Spend time selecting the right professor/ supervisor to write one for you. Work on your personal statement before asking someone for a letter of recommendation, and send them your current personal statement draft (it doesn’t have to be a final draft) if they agree to write one for you. And, as always, feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any additional questions!