{"id":74,"date":"2020-04-27T13:40:49","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T13:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/prehealthadvising\/?page_id=74"},"modified":"2024-08-28T19:10:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:10:43","slug":"letter-registration-form","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/news\/letter-registration-form\/","title":{"rendered":"Requesting Letters of Recommendation"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- Inserted by Dropdownizer plugin. Forces video embeds contained in dropdowns to have a size --><style>.dropdownizer__dropdown iframe { width: 100% !important; height: 100% !important; }<\/style>\n<p>Graduate and health professions school admissions offices depend heavily on letters of recommendation. This is how the schools learn about those things that are not measured by a grade or exam score. Vassar does offer a Committee Letter for Vassar students and Alums applying to Medical School and Dental School. Most other types of programs request that individual letters be sent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to your personal statement, schools are able to learn about who their applicants are as individuals. Consequently, the most useful letters address both strengths and growth areas of an applicant, as well as personal any other appropriate personal and professional qualities. It is in your best interest to help your recommenders write the most accurate detailed letters possible but providing information about your experiences, activities, and goals. The best recommendations highlight your key characteristics and demonstrate those\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/students-residents.aamc.org\/real-stories-demonstrating-premed-competencies\/premed-competencies-entering-medical-students\">Pre-Health Professions Competencies<\/a>\u00a0through specific anecdotes and observations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is also to begin connecting with your professors early so that they can get to know you. Letters from faculty are typically required by all graduate and health professions programs. Ultimately, admissions committees need to know what kind of student you have been \u2013 and the best people to provide that information is someone who has had you in class. Some of these faculty members may also become a research mentor, another important letter to have if you are involved in research. Don\u2019t be shy, let these individuals get to know you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning to request a Committee Letter you must have a file open with the office. You can open a file by logging into <a href=\"https:\/\/vassar.joinhandshake.com\/appointments\/new\">Handshake<\/a> and scheduling an appointment with the Pre-Health Advisor. There will also be a process to during your application year for working with the Pre-Health Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Obtaining Letters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things to ask yourself when deciding who you are going to ask for a letter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Professors: <ul><li>How well did I do in class or lab? <\/li><li>What was my level of participation and engagement?<\/li><li>Did I project a positive attitude?<\/li><li>Have I ever met with this professor outside of class or the lab?<\/li><li>How long has it been since I have interacted withe this person<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Healthcare Professionals:<ul><li>How do I know this professional? (Obtaining letters from personal friends and family is not recommended unless you also shadowed the individual or worked in the office).<\/li><li>Did I show curiosity and reliability, and have positive interactions with patients and staff in the setting?<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Other Individuals:<ul><li>How do I know this person? Is it in an appropriate professional setting?<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Is it someone who can contribute to sharing how I meet the pre-health competencies?<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Timeline For Those Requesting a Committee Letter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>October\/November of the fall before you apply<\/strong>, think about who knows you and could write a professional letter that is also personal and positive. Ask yourself the questions listed above. You should be considering 4-6 people including professors, research mentors, health care professionals, and supervisors. Share your interests and goals with the person you are asking and then ask if they can write a strong letter of recommendation. Most likely they will say yes. However, in some cases they may say no. In this case, you should accept their judgement graciously and consider asking for more feedback about your goals and plan for study. Ask each individual directly and in person if possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>December<\/strong>, add the names of those who have agreed to write letters to your Intent to Request a Committee Letter form. Provide your resume, a statement about your goals and why you want to follow this path, a list of activities that are not on your resume, and any other information the writer requests. Be sure they know that they will get an email with a link for uploading their letter and that the deadline is April 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In<strong> March<\/strong>, send a kind reminder to anyone who has not submitted their letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Once the letter is submitted<\/strong>, send a personal thank you note - preferably using a thank you card and keep them updated on the progress of your applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Timeline For Those Not Requesting a Committee Letter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eight to ten weeks before the letter is due<\/strong>, think about who knows you and could write a professional letter that is also personal and positive. <em><strong>Look at the programs you are applying to and follow their instructions for the number of letters they need and who they should be written by<\/strong><\/em>. Ask yourself the questions listed above. Share your interests and goals with the person you are asking and then ask if they can write a strong letter of recommendation. Most likely they will say yes. However, in some cases they may say no. In this case, you should accept their judgement graciously and consider asking for more feedback about your goals and plan for study. Ask each individual directly and in person if possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A <strong>month before the letter is due<\/strong>, send a kind reminder to anyone who has not submitted their letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Once the letter is submitted<\/strong>, send a personal thank you note - preferably using a thank you card and keep them updated on the progress of your applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Graduate and health professions school admissions offices depend heavily on letters of recommendation. This is how the schools learn about those things that are not measured by a grade or exam score. Vassar does offer a Committee Letter for Vassar students and Alums applying to Medical School and Dental School. Most other types of programs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":257,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-74","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":639,"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74\/revisions\/639"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.vassar.edu\/pre-health-advising\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}