Almost all health professional schools require recommendation letters as part of the application process, although the specfic letter requirements vary from school to school.
An example of a specific letter requirement would be securing letters from 2 science faculty and 1 other recommender. While the suggestions below can help you to get started, it is important to check with each school you plan to apply to in order to verify specific requirements.
When thinking about who to ask, the most important consideration is who knows you the best and can write you a quality letter! A quality relationship is more important than having made a certain grade in a course or having a letter writer from a prestigious faculty member. It is always important to choose the individuals who know you well and can speak about the competencies you have developed and why you would be a good candidate for your program.
General Guidelines for Types of Letters of Recommendation
Be sure to check with the schools you are planning on applying to regarding the specific types of letters required.
It is important to remember that your letter writer is providing an important favor in your career pursuit. It is a partnership to complete the Letter of Recommendation (LOR); the best etiquette is to always offer your willingness to help in completion and to respect the privacy and preferences of your letter writers.
When asking an individual to provide a LOR, it is important to consider the following:
Once the Composite Letter is finalized (late June), students will receive instructions on delivering their Composite Letter (which includes 3-4 individual recommendation letters) to the centralized application service(s).
Pre-Health Advising will not store/deliver additional recommendation letters outside of the 3-4 that will be included in the Composite Letter packet. If a student wishes to send additional letters, they will have the recommender(s) submit their letter(s) directly to the centralized application service.
If you are applying with a new Composite Letter or an exhisting Composite Letter on file from a previous cycle, please see the documents linked later on this page for instructions on entering your Composite Letter information on the centralized application services.
Medical and dental school applicants may choose to utilize PHA's recommendation letter storage and delivery service even if they are not receiving a Composite Letter. PHA will store/deliver a minimum of three and a maximum of four recommendation letters. These letters will be combined into one PDF Letter Packet and sent to centralized application services upon request. Instructions for applying for a Letter Packet from PHA will be made available in late April/early May every year. These instructions also outline how students wishing to apply with an existing Composite Letter on file from a previous cycle can request to transfer their Composite Letter to the new application cycle.
If you have an active netID, please Click here to join the PHA LOR Hub contact list. If you do not have an active netID, please complete the form through the ECAS Alumni Connect Service Portal.
Information on entering CL or Letter Packet information on CAS applications can be found below:
Students must pay the service fee before making a request for their letter(s) to be sent to a centralized application service. Instructions on how to make payments will be shared once an applicant's Composite Letter or Letter Packet is ready for delivery.
Emory will no longer store and submit letters for alumni more than three years post-graduation.
PHA's letter storage and delivery service is used only for the Composite Letter and Letter Packets to be sent to medical, dental, optometry, and podiatry programs. Students applying to healthcare professional programs other than the four programs mentioned above will need to work with their letter writers to have their letters sent directly to their Centralized Application Service or school, as appropriate. If you have questions about how this process works, please contact your pre-health advisor.