Recommendations are best written close to the time of association, such as after completion of courses, work or volunteer experiences. You may solicit recommendations throughout your undergraduate years. Special forms are available for this purpose although individual letters are also accepted. All evaluations received are held for the preparation of the committee evaluation, which normally occurs at the end of the junior year. Recommendations are marked on the Initial Interest Form, which you should complete as soon as you request a recommendation to be sent to the Committee for filing.

Generally, admissions’ committees look at the Pre-Health Committee Evaluation for comments on your:

The most important criteria in selecting people to ask for recommendations is who knows you and can speak for your qualifications. The composite range of your recommendation should attest to as many of the above areas as possible and to your own particular strengths and experiences.

Request recommendations politely—you are asking for a favor. You might want to provide additional information about yourself or arrange for a time to discuss your request. Avoid soliciting comments for experiences prior to college; political/religious leader’s comments are generally not recommended for these application areas. Recommendations from teaching assistants are acceptable but not preferred; they tend to carry little weight with health profession schools. If you obtain a recommendation from a teaching assistant be sure that it is co-signed by the faculty member in charge of the course.

The faculty appreciate genuine interest in lecture topics, specifically intelligent questions involving the need for clarification of a particular point or dealing with a subject which piqued your interest.

You may find an answer to an exam question conflicts with what you have learned. You could write a thoughtful, referenced note about it. After the faculty member has had time to read this note, talk to him/her about it, prefacing the discussion with "I’m not here to quibble about a few points, but I would really like to understand…" A friendly student who says hello and smiles will be remembered by a faculty member. It not only makes the faculty member feel good, it identifies the student as friendly and personable.

Students who enroll in an Independent Research Program will get to know faculty much better than those who don’t.

The Pre-Health Committee requires a minimum of three (3) faculty recommendations for use in preparing the Committee Evaluation. A comfortable number is between three (3) and six (6), but this often depends on your particular strengths and the contents of the evaluation. Recommendations written close to application may be more pertinent and can replace earlier or weaker ones. The Committee can advise you on selection.

According to the Buckley Amendment, you must determine at the time you solicit a recommendation whether you wish it to be confidential or non-confidential. (This is indicated on the final evaluation). The bias still lingers that confidential statements may be more valuable than non-confidential ones. It is your choice, although you might ask your evaluator which is preferred. You may read the non-confidential evaluations.

The Pre-Health Committee considers the recommendations in its preparations. The packet sent to health profession schools contains the entire recommendation comments, each identified by the recommendor’s name, rank, and association—course title, place of work, etc.

The individual recommendations and the Pre-Health Committee Evaluation are prepared for a special purpose and cannot be released to support other applicants such as for employment or graduate school. When soliciting comments for this specific application area, you might also obtain a general comment to be held by the Career Development Center (LI 69) or yourself for other possibilities.