Working with a Recommendation Committee

Before I write about the actual topic of this post, let me introduce myself...HI! I'm Jon, one of the new writers here at PMH. I'm a junior Bio major with an affinity for musical theater (yes, theater people can be pre-meds), zombie knowledge (everyone should have a preparedness plan), and gluten-free food (actually, I hate the stuff, but I hate Celiac Disease more....so ya). This summer (actually, in the next few weeks), I'll be starting that exciting/painful/stress-inducing/euphoric/hellish adventure into applying for med school. Here, I'll be providing some insight into the realistic DOs (and probably more likely, the DON'Ts) of applying. Hopefully along the way I'll also be able to give some other tips and ideas....like now!

So, depending on your school, you might have a recommendation committee. Generally, they're a big, bad, scary group of people (kidding!) that take all the letters of recommendation you get, read them, take out all the great things about you, and put it all into a composite letter, which is likely the first glowing letter of recommendation med schools will see. Some people might freak out and think, "Wait! These people hardly know me! How can they write a letter for me if they don't know me!" Well, don't worry! First of all, you usually have to interview with someone on the committee, so you'll get some face time. OH, and most likely (at least at my school), some of the committee members will be profs or advisors you've already had. See, people you're already familiar with! Here are some other things to remember...

1) These people are there to get YOU into medical school (and they've probably been doing it for years). They know what they're doing, and they WANT to work with you as much as possible.

2) If they ask you go fill out forms/do an interview/get other information in, do it on time! At least at my school, there is one poor soul in charge of organizing every applicant's letters, interview dates, interviewer, and every other piece of information. It would be nice if you got those things in on time so they don't have to rush.

3) Be nice! Be happy! Be thankful! This really goes beyond working with the recommendation committee and applies to life in general. No one wants to work with someone who's rude, inconsiderate, or just plain mean. Try brightening the other person's day just a little bit. When you're opening your acceptance letter to medical school, you'll remember how much they helped you get into med school, and they'll brighten YOUR day.

Any other tips? Questions? Let me know in the comments or, feel free to reach me by email!

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Comments

[Mohammad]

Great post Jon!

I love you advice about doing things on time, one of the main things that was stressed in the recent Kaplan medical school insider seminar, was getting things in on time. One of the deans said the following"

Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable"

Also I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the family here and hope to see many great posts from you!

[Thymur A. Chaudhry]

First thing first, Welcome to PMH! That's crazy you guys have another writer now, you're growing fast.

But besides that, our school has a recommendation committee too. Because of that, I'm nice to ALL of my professors, even though you should be anyway. I'm especially careful about this because professors always talk to each other about their students, so if you're on a professors good side, if they hear that you're a good student from another professor, they will think highly of you. Also, it'd be good for the recommendation as well.

Good luck applying, please do fill us in. Your wisdom is MUCH needed!!

:)

[Brian]

I love the quote Mohammad. I try and use that as a general principle in life and it seems to work when I use it.

Welcome to Pre-Med Hell Jon and great post. I actually didn't know a recommendation committee existed so now I'm going to go look for one at our school. :) I especially like the third thing to remember. A person looking at you will appreciate you so much more if they see that you're being sincere.

[Sparks]

Hi there
I accidentally stumbled upon this blog today, and I must say this blog is quite awesome!
As a pre-med from Canada + US, I am interested in writing for this column.
Please let me know!

chao

Sparks